pre-season practice
before it’s official
it’s been official
sun
now
but temperatures in teens and singly
and snow on
snow
Wednesday with the solstice Sunday
light now
warmth really
to clean off our cars and such
streets and sidewalks
and
now we’re had rehearsal
practice of real winter
calendared
for
when she comes
daughter of mother Earth
or choose another
folklore
c l couch
photo by Hert Niks on Unsplash
we love like winter
days that underneath the cold
are warm with home
c l couch
photo by Simon Berger on Unsplash
snow and God—only one is white, the other all colors (2 poems)
the ends of Earth
in the north
though not quite there
we tend to think of
snow
this way
so we flock the marketplaces
with lists
for liturgies
and we might need these things
if
not for the not
we shall be
snowed in
hoping not for enough
but
honestly
for more than
with enough
perhaps
electric
and electrons
to share
folding chairs in parking
spaces
that should be public
though the chairs
are in an attitude of waiting
by
the doors
an encroachment on
an agenda to stay
clear
first inside the head
remembering
(or
maybe first)
the heart
the
spirit
to follow
then in the summer
those of us
not
south of south
shall fear the other
extreme
heat
with all the heat we might become
and that hear
on the inside
even
now
(based on being told the snow shall fall at midnight)
shall
and how shall God
love us when
we hate
whatever beside evil
with evil’s
agency
injustice
we may scorn these
and all the rest
be love
thoughts
emotions
plans
the new instinct once we
have faith
to love
when dangerous
or fragile
at the least
and God shall
love
yet somehow never
on condition
but
to love
which might make
salvation
a condition
as
decision
binding us both
with an amazing fear
not
comprehending though
we all somehow agreed to
live and
after
life
c l couch
photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash
On a Cold Easy December Day
By the way
I’m this brave
Before
The winter storms should come
Like in the moderating days
Of warmth
From spring to summer
I am appreciating
Even the end of fall
When
All pretty much
Has fallen
Covering
What is preparing to go deep
In hibernation
Soon
And now
Maybe in the midst of winter
With whatever’s fallen
Then
I can be brave as well
Even inside
White banks
Long columns of ice
Along the street
As I try to get by
And don’t
We all
In extreme heat
By correspondent measures
Opposite
The frozen time that should begin
Well
Any moment
Now
C L Couch
Photo by Will Turner on Unsplash
Hidden Ice
Hooker Lake, New Zealand
disseasonability
an easy winter
brutal summer
heat
in exchange for
the snow
fair exchange?
there is romance
in the snow
yes
and peril, too
but do we forget
(speaking in January)
that
there is danger
in the high heat,
too
not to mention
polar ice shelves
sliding into
sea
exposing land
which is interesting
though
in fact
we are losing our cool
so to say
and for real
the Earth is heating
and we need
the heat
and shall we forget
we need the cold
as well
sorry
we’re not halfway
keep talking winter
in the northern world
at least
and maybe ask
down south
how the summer’s
doing
c l couch
photo by Liana S on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
Nearing Full
x
The moon is yellow
The sky is blue
The clouds are silver
The stars are white
The branches have no color
Except the color
Of porch lights
x
It’s late again
The air is cool
Maybe in the fifties
Maybe forties,
Which is not so special
As a sign of autumn
In October
In these parts
But the days and nights
Have been too warm
Now the season
Is announced
x
We’ll have the chilly fall
And with the drop
To cold
At a propitious time
Beautiful leaf colors,
True
Autumn review
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Eleanor Brooke on Unsplash
x
Cool Runnings
It’s another dark day
Outside not inside
Inside the lamps are lit
Casting glows that make
Me think of a winter day
Someone should be telling
Stories next to the
Fire (there is no fireplace)
At least it will be a day
For imagination
Summer is a few days away
The forecast calls for
Temperatures in the eighties
But inside I will think
Of cold
Of wanderers across a frozen
Waste of buried land, aiming for
A rescue so that there
Might be a chance of home
After the questing’s done
It’s a day for a lengthy
Story
Maybe you will join me
Tell me yours
C L Couch
Image of Diana Wall
By Byron Adams – Portrait, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48699119
A Sneezy, Coughy, Whiny Day
(a symptom, only iamb beats)
I talk through a stuffed nose
And eyes that feel the swelling from behind
It is a cold, I guess
Who couldn’t do without?
It forces slowing down, I guess
I read that Alec Guinness liked the kind
That kept the soul in bed
With a good book
(sweet irony that once I read this saw)
A challenge breathing clearly
A rheumy kind of sense
A day with some discomfort if
I move around too much
So don’t
C L Couch
https://pxhere.com/en/photo/936841
The Cup of Cold Water
(“I was thirsty, and you gave me drink.”)
There’s nothing like cold water
If you’ve forgotten
Allow me to remind you
The aqueducts of Rome
Spiral wells in the Atacama
Oases here and want to be there throughout the world
The lack of it in Flint
According to recent studies
Not trusting my tap water, either
That’s all right, let them drink from plastic bottles
(we can have it with our cake instead of bread)
Tell that to the lack of wells in western Africa
And those who only have the wherewithal
For thirst
Other than the vine
No greater metaphor in Scripture
Yours or mine
Or simply keep the paperwork
That says we cannot drink
Or of the warlords who say,
I have water
So I win
I once drank water through the ground
Artesian promises
But
The pressure of the
Earth is not
Enough alone
To make it clear
To keep its savor
We have ruined all of it
I don’t mind filters
I’m glad for Brita
But too bad I cannot trust a spring
In the desert
It’s not the suddenness of romance
But the assurance of a poison
I’ll take my filters now
As long as I can
I’ll arrange fundraising for
Wells in real wilderness
But for the suburban places that were made into our own
We can buy
We can vote
We can find the difference
In the basics of thirst
The right to hunger
C L Couch
https://pixabay.com/en/flowers-cup-plastic-water-2690276/
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