maybe some relief
wet air into breathable
please the angel work
c l couch
[I don’t know if haiku might serve for whining, probably not, sigh]
photo by Emma Swoboda on Unsplash
[it might be hard to tell, the bird is singing]
safety patrol
I’m not sure if I ever
got
the white sash or silver
badge
and I’m not sure the office ever
worked
to make us
safer
crossing the driveway at
the edge
of
the school
but I wanted these
‘cause they
were
cool
the folk
that is
who wore them
sometimes I clapped erasers outside
into
the air
you know
and not against the red bricks
of
the walls
but there was no cachet
in that
no creeping up the gradients
of
cool
like the rising numbers
on the hopscotch
that
I tried
sometimes
but for lack of balance
rarely
like
the cool quantity
ever won
c l couch
photo by Joshua Sukoff 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
(x = space)
x
x
Cold Comfort
(without irony)
x
I’ve gone on before about
The cup of cool water
I mean it’s cool
And it’s water
And to offer it
Is so good
Is it easy?
In an applianced culture,
Maybe,
Where ice is a small push away
But in a desert land,
One must find the water
And if inside rock
The water might be cool
And we can offer it
To relatives
To friends
And strangers
Even adversaries
Enemies who might need
To drink first
Before starting negotiations
Or given simply because
The gift of water
Is small
Amazement
Brings peace to the home
And for any
Table
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Ilya Plakhuta on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
In an Anodyne Moment
x
Before the heat returns
And the noise
Before senses assaulted
Once again,
Taking hits against reason
And the cool of insight
May I say
While I can see
That there are good things
Happening
There are good people
Everywhere
And I am glad to be on Earth
Part, party, and partner
To all this
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Eskil Helgesen on Unsplash
x
Crazy Boy
(get cool)
Cattails
One word
Cat tails
Two words
When referring to the actual
Cat’s tail
Don’t pull at it
Cattails might not hit back
Cats with tails do
They should
That’s as much advice
As I have for you
My head hurts
And my nose
Yippee-allergens
I know they could be the other thing
I’m hot from moving things around
And I wish I had all my pills
In this uncertain time
There’s sun today
I hear the virus doesn’t like the sun
If it had preferences
But also doesn’t like cool weather
So my MidAtlantic spring might be
Salubrious for a time
Cool, sunny days?
I could wish them ‘round the world
For health’s sake
Light for buoyancy
Of skin and spirit
Enough cold, not too much,
To relax our ninety-eight degrees or so
Inside
C L Couch
recently, I read about the sun and about cold air in two different places where I think crazy people do not write or otherwise contribute
I am not a doctor and don’t play one on television
“Cool” by Leonard Bernstein
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
A Cool, Dark, Quiet Place
For optimal sleep, this is the
Room we need, certain
Voices say, though I think the sense
In it (in that) might be apparent
To reach out to the left or right
Then bring it in
Like muscles with a game ball
Lights out maybe with a care toward
Preplanning disorientation
From lack of light
We’ll need something soft, too, for
Our belly or our hip or our butt
Plus something for our head
Resting to the side or back or somehow with
The face pressed down
The coolness comes from moving air
Though climate control has become a
Denser thing, inside
As for quiet, we are on a noisy planet
Where some think noise is just for them
And could it harm the rest of us?
Let’s not think about that
In our cars,
On top of our neighbors
(I’m not bitter)
Cool, dark, quiet
And we sleep
I tend to think we figure
Other things might go that way—
Sex and, yes, well, rock ‘n roll
The play when that’s the thing
Our time in movie houses
Maybe for some exercise of other
Sorts, a walk at night, escorted,
Maybe in the rain
So I think we should vote for this
Approve efforts to make it happen
Good night to you
God keep you
God buy you
Goodbye
C L Couch
Photo by Ryan Searle on Unsplash
Heal’s, London, United Kingdom
Peace for All Time
(a three-part cycle)
1
Machine Language
Each moment’s a decision
To exhale,
To circulate some blood
To let the body stir for a while longer
To let the synapse burn
Brightly with mind-fire,
Transactions between what’s happening
And memory
Much of this is done for us
But there’s a partnership, I think
Between all parts
The automatic will take over for
The temporary
When immediacy of thought and movement
Are tired out
Call it sleep
Call it the second cup of tea
Taken on the porch
When for a time there’s nothing else to do
And this has been invoked
Because needed,
The ending of which we’ll debate
Peace an invention,
A transaction
Between all partners
Serving on the inside
2
Contrition
I won’t take it back
Not yet
I need to know the outcome,
Did I get anything I wanted
If penance is a prayer,
I’ll do my part
If it’s in bad feeling,
I’m already there
And counting
A return to normalcy
And what is that
It takes me out of this
Otherwise, I want
The special moments back
But it’s the future, now
Plu-imperfect
Please
Say them with me, maybe
All the prayers,
Then let’s move on
3
The Answer Is in Someone Else as Well
Inner peace
That’s cool
It’s not enough
If I’m in my chrysalis
And have no sight of yours
Or time
Where is my peace
If not in you?
This is cheating an invocation,
For it’s not a talk to God
But to you
The one nearby
And not inside
We need transaction, too
And more
You need to carry me
And I a part of you
A magic story in which twins
Keep a gem lit by the light force
Of the other
And there’s responsibility
In our story,
We will partner differently
That is, for real
Not to prevaricate conditions
But to say push on
Make peace because
We know each other now
To arbitrate
And there’s no other way
To build the day
That each must have
Into a present contract
As the future
C L Couch
Photo by Jarrod Reed on Unsplash
Where V Means Wild Geese
I wished I lived in someplace cool
It’s relative, I know
Cool to me would mean, well, cool
A northern clime, I suppose
But cool in the other way
James-Dean cool,
Which for me means a plethora for metaphors
The kind that blesses Mary Oliver
In her turn,
One season followed by another, each day
Therein a chance for some new bird
Or amphibian
Or wild flower, unbidden, that rises
I live in my small town with brick surroundings
I like it well enough
And, if I must say, there are worse places
Sometimes the days go gently by
Sometimes there is a thrill
Inside all right angles
C L Couch
Canadian Geese in Spring
Rennett Stowe from USA – Canadian Geese in Spring, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26301433
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