full of grace
Tuesday’s child
what
kind of grace
I wonder
doctrinal or
looks or
manners as in good at dinner
or knows the steps
for
a party
maybe it’s the kind of luck
that person shall
have
the good kind if not
grand
as things fall together
for school
or work
or family
by belief the certainty of heaven
after
such an afterlife secured for
in feeling by the clear and
dovetailed angel
management
of
life
full of woe
(a Wednesday poem)
finally
some color outside both windows
nothing brilliant but
tingeworthy
and shall there be honest fall
or shall this aspect of climate change
cause too many to fall brown and
withered
from too-soon dessicated
branches the season
unseasonal
went
too hot too long
for riotous autumnal virtue
c l couch
photo by Ahmad Odeh on Unsplash
Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival 2018
four more-or-less October poems (three poems narrative while one verse plaintive)
who takes the autumn time
fall
and I’m not ready
too cold too
fast
so
where were the colors
coming over weeks
as hot moved to cool
then to cold only at night
for
a while
yet
look at me
hear me
complaining
while
it was in the eighties well into
October with random
reason
or Earth turning
for all the heat returning
but frankly
the trees look like veterans
of the wasted early
season
green leaves with withered edges
an attempt at red now brown
meaning
late fall by climate change
and should we peak in wizened fall
from trees worn out by
normal waiting
for
the riotous return
and
it isn’t look
of course
alone
but touch the cooler wind
to smell the gradual passing
to
think on the mortality
but now breaking cycles
of the planetary model rest
to sleep under
into blade risings
with
spring
then who took the time of fall
MidAtlantic
everywhere and that would mean
south
what should be the verdant
growing time
ambassadorial
the orange cat
who
came to say hello then
walk right
in
to look for corners good for
rubbing faces
with new levels
chair
and stool
and bed
on which to leap
as if after
to plant a catly explorer’s
flag
to chirp and then
to cry a
little
signaling the visit done
and for us to go upstairs
to find
the unlocked door through
which
this pumpkin neighbor
had escaped and has come down
to call
a sibling face behind the door
of timider variety
now
waiting for the rascal-story
men’s Bible study
thought
I’d give a try
there were three plus
the proviso that
where
two or more are gathered
one
man I knew
the other not so much
but
we went on together through
the video
and readings
with
discussions on the way
and then
requests for prayer
and I asked for
my niece
and abashedly then
for
myself
and
by the way
we had gelato at the start
while
I heard tales of Italy
from two so much more traveled
than myself
so
I could learn
because they’re nothing like
well
like being there
to insurance companies
thanks
to your insurance
I’m suffering
treatments have been identified
by experts
you won’t let me have
the help
I know I’m just one person
whose numbers move through your
machine
so easy to ignore
while you gear your promotions
through yourselves
over my health
but
goodness
I wish I could feel better
from the summer’s infections
it being fall
now
and
you know
I could feel improved
but
you won’t let me
c l couch
photo by Mauro Lima on Unsplash
golden late-sun tree
Earth regardless tilts away
climate change stalls fall
c l couch
(next I’ll be writing about how cold it’s gotten)
photo by Conor Luddy on Unsplash
two weeks in
there is
sun
and no new color
no brightness after fading into fall
the irony of
seasons that they meld
and then they live
set
on their own
c l couch
photo by Alexander Lunyov on Unsplash
At Last for Farmer’s Exigency
I hear
Thunder
There is wind
Pushing dark-green leaves
Around
Maybe the sky is
Bullying
Or maybe
There’s an announcement
Only
That the sky isn’t falling
But the water table’s
Rising
C L Couch
Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
a little chappy-book of poems
Anyday Fog
Fog
Fog today
A Dickensian lesson
(get started
on Bleak House)
To know
That like the existence
And the movement of the fog
There is connection
Between all of us
Regardless of economy
Or privilege
Or barriers
Presumed
That as far as the single race goes on
Do not stand
Aloof
We are connected
That is the way of things
Do not forget
But relish in it
The reality
And all the possibilities
Together
Or stay apart
Behind our barriers
So-called
To let the fog move
Inimically
Exuding fear and guilt
As we forbid ourselves from
Seeing
(without eyes)
And acknowledging each other
The fog connection
Irony
For there it is
Well
Then let
The better lesson of
The real thing
To a greater thing
Take over
All our humanhood
That should lower unnecessary things
In the way
Then let in
The light
(more than light)
Too Easy
Blindness
Blindness chosen
Not the sense
But the lifestyle
Even
A cause
That in the dark
We shall strike
And have our way
Forgetting
(among other things)
The anthologized
“Dover Beach” that
First-year students
Are foisted
To read
With the “ignorant armies”
In the night
That clash
Who wins
Who loses
No one knows
Except that blows are struck
And there is wounding
And humanity destroyed
By degree
Those who are blind
For real
Know the sacrifice
And the ridiculousness
In selecting darkness as
The quality
For sight
And shall we choose
To be ignorant of each other
Shall we fight
From distances too great
To know much beyond
The switch
Or the button
We could draw near each other
Rather
Withholding our destroying
Part
To leave the great part
Of curiosity
And even peace
Let go
Learn who is my neighbor
On the planet
How might the Earth do better
If we re-trained ourselves
For nature
The greater challenge
To
Like military
Pull back the extremes
To repair
Then prepare
For what’s next
To know
Who is next door
Not to pry
Or lord
Or anything overlording
Or pervasive
To learn each other
As we are
Even the agendas
Learning how to speak
To listen more
And to understand
(lessons in language
might be
the first thing)
Allowing curiosity
To be positive regard
Respect
The better agenda
Knowing which virtues to use
To influence
And which to use to
Be changed by
As we grow
In and with
Those we have relegated to
The other
As an objective distinction
(no such thing)
To render targets
Rather
Than people
Simply put
Do not destroy the world
That’s rather stupid
But put down the guns
(the buttons and the switches)
Find food
And drink
And other fixing things
With which
To approach
Nourish
And give the world
What is the real
Fighting chance
Family Game Night
(we can do it)
No one wins
No one loses
Leave that to
Real games
And remember to embrace
Congratulate
Game-winners
While in the world
We do better
With nothing like a game
At stake
But how we live
Together
Make enough
The base for everyone
Then all we reach for
After that
In other words
Feed everyone
Because
We can do it
(Rosie
says
we can)
Provide everyone
With something safe
To drink
Shelter and the opportunity
For education
Of ourselves
And the world
The unpeated past
The glories in the present
(let science say
amen)
Maybe
Remembering
The God who made
Everything
Is waiting
Withholding Armageddon
‘Til there’s faith
In the outcome
For those who choose
To care
And believe
In the world
And the living
Selves
And neighbors
It’s simply
Really
Embrace good
Eschew evil
Learning the two
More how to build
Rather than
Destroy
It’s easy
Each can prosper
After all are well
In fact
Prosperity
Will grow
While all are fed
And drinked
Have shelter
And the means
For education
Will the problems end
No way
But we’ll have a go
With advancements and
With possibilities
Which is
The world growing
Which is how it was
And how
It should be
By us
Eden
With the walls let down
The best Eden we can make
Yes
For billions
Living well
And each other
Has a chance
To go from there
To growth
To gold
Whatever might seem good
Without extremes
Of anarchy or monarchy
Rule one by one
And by assembly
Which is how
The world’s growing
(at its best)
Anyway
Grow on
Absent Lion
(not that there’s climate change)
Well
Winter’s MidAtlantic
Ended
Seventy
In western parts
So where’s
The lion
Seems not
To have arrived
There’s always
Aslan
For always good
A sign
Of faithfulness
And power
In faithfulness
There are other lions
Some as
Metaphors
Others in fact
Don’t go
To meet upfront
The real ones
For their strength
Is in
Predation
It’s the qualities
And made-up stuff
That make
The lion
Useful
(leave the real ones
out there)
As we can make
The lamb
Render its own qualities
For our own good
And at least
In these parts
Earlier
In March
What’s Blue Is Blue
Maybe this is all
I can do
For now
Write against the blue
Until
The retinas
And other parts can’t take it
Then leave
The machine alone
And even
Wonder
How we do this
All
The time
Go see
The eye doctor
Maybe she
Will know
What is healthy
What is useful
What is
Disciplined
For health and
Productivity
To ease the headaches
And the
Stress
Maybe from blues
Though maybe
I need to play the blues
C L Couch
Photo by Vestfoldmuseene on Unsplash
Pen Pal
It’s a bright day
Here
If it sticks
It will the first one
That we’ve had
In a while
I’m tired
Slept poorly
I had coffee with friends
Last night
Which most likely
Kept me up
Though it was good
Coffee
And how is it
Where you are
Just now
More importantly
How are you
I’d
Like to know
More important
Than
The weather
Without doubt
Though
You know
The weather
Has been an easy
Entry
(and
entre nous)
Into conversation
Except
Maybe
Anymore
With changing climate
Then
Who knows
Who’s affected
By
What happens
Climatic
Anymore
So would you
Mind
Telling me
How you are doing
And how safe
In any way
You are
Just now
Sincerely yours
C L Couch
Photo by NOAA on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
Released
x
Winter starts tomorrow
Summer to the south
There is no snow forecasted
(in the north)
For a while
Another drier
Warmer
Winter time
Which is all right
For fear of snow
Blizzard and ice
That keep us in
With or without
The victuals we might need
(for all precautions)
But in terms of sleeping ground
The frozen seeds
The insects
Everything that hibernates
The warmth unseasonal
Won’t help
And we’ll awake to spring
Plus winter in the south
That isn’t right
That imbalances
That takes away the timing
That Earth needs
And all upon it
x
Yes
There’s climate change
And eldritch melting
At the poles
Interesting for observation
And for extracting mammoth bones
Maybe not so promising
For what else
Might be released
Into the air
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by yasin hemmati on Unsplash
x
A Climate Change
(an issue in iambic)
We had rain yesterday
The kind of rain that soaks
Into the ground that that needs it
It’s still too warm for autumn
But the wind, I think,
Is trying to be cold
There is some color in the leaves
The brilliance in their own tradition
Hasn’t happened
The days we want to call crisp
As in Frostiana,
Which is persistent, begs a fire
Inside or in a ring at camp
Life in the north, I know
The south of Earth doesn’t have to care
I think it does
C L Couch
Photo by Irena Carpaccio on Unsplash
clcouch123 
Recent Comments