pointed leaves pressing
dark on glass before pale sky
wind returning rain
c l couch
photo by Homa Amani on Unsplash
“Waiting with frozen eyes.”
Tabriz, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran
well wishing
(tossing coins)
I hope it is a good night
for you
if a dark night of the soul
a time with turmoil from confusion
or from fear
or from confusion’s fear
more hopefully
or maybe a time of easy rest through
the dark that could go
peacefully
to dawn
or whatever hour
serves
for rising as a new day
for you
however night goes
God is with you
with you
anyway
if
to think on our own failing
actions fixable
(they
are)
and sometimes lovable
from
endearing flaws
we are these wonderful mixtures
after all
are
we not
oh
and if working third shift
then I hope it’s
good rest for you by day
to have the hours
as
impulsive night
and night for all
its goodness
and its call to rest
to you
c l couch
photo by Luo JunHao on Unsplash
when I searched “sleep” and “night” and such for images, the searches came back with so many photos of cats—more than people, more than dogs—which says something about us, I imagine
this kind of hour
gray
sky
black branches
black lines for panes
barely illuminated white frames
tall
in the old house
a saving grace of sorts
by
not seeing so much inside in this
dark hour
c l couch
photo by Tristan Colangelo on Unsplash
Black Hours
Black hours
Don’t have to mean
A dark night for the soul
Or for
Another part of
Self
An exclusive mediation
That must go
Sadly
Matched exhaustion
With frustration
Due to
Existential form
For
Sometimes
When I was done
With day
And daytime matters
Care for mother
And
Father-negotiation
With
House and home such-like
And also work outside
Of these
I could claim some
Time
And I was tired
I had some time
I took some time
And I was
Tired
Yet so many things
Were sunlit
Surface things were quiet
So
I could
Own
An hour or so
To sit and think
Like Pooh
Beside the jar
Or like the Satchel cat
That sits and thinks or sometimes
Only sits
C L Couch
Photo by Marten Newhall on Unsplash
The classic Dark Night of the Soul is a poem and also commentary by Saint John of the Cross.
Gospel according to for good or ill ourselves
a summer’s day
what is there for us
now
it is too hot
the rain too helter-skelter
flood or famine
for the ground
the seeds
the shoots
the corn that reaches
in both ways
we are
uncomfortable
the heat
too much
the night whose only solace
is the dark
but not cool temperatures
that are not
happening
hottest on record
set the year before
the year
before
and thank goodness
there’s no climate change
and that it has
(thereby)
nothing to do with us
we’ll keep
burning things
beyond what is
suitable
for Earth
sending ersatz smoke into the sky
and the chemical equivalents
dump in water
chemicals aren’t evil
as we know
they have no moral value
as we know
we do this on our own
discover poison
then we use it
to make products
to make money
for the products
and the jobs
that making all the poison
does provide
we need the jobs
we know this
we could
do something else
I mean both
searchers and
providers
we could
do something else
for Earth
and on our way to other worlds
we could launch
in all directions
a fleet of possibilities
against the poison
in favor or
the sanctity of everything
organic
and how about
ourselves
bless the Earth
and pray for it
we humans can
and ask the help of heaven
should that be
our wont
and bless each other
too
as far as humans may
without the sponsorship
indeed the surrogacy
from the Lord
who blesses first
and blest
and should bless or curse
our efforts
as they are
and
(Quijote)
as they should be
it isn’t hard
and it’s hard
goodness
we know it’s hard
to change a world
and severer
in a subatomic way
to change ourselves
the knights are out
(they’re Artemis
and Ares)
while corsairs with full sails
assail the edge of us
while we are sieged
from monsters in the hall
that came
from deeper parts
the deepest parts
of us
yet deeper still
there are solutions
like a treasure
to unearth
and bring to the Earth
starting with the skin
of us
and all our will beneath
new will
(if we will)
not
to recall the knights
but let them quest beyond
to share
their discoveries
there
while we hobbit-heroes
have our work
to do
and bless the work
in turn
O Earth
and Earth’s lord
that has been waiting for us
blessing only in small ways
while waiting for
the rise
of each of us
our families
and the world of us
quietly
yet firmly to say
we know at last
whose house this is
and whom
to serve
which is
the layers of creation
so serve the core
the mantle
and the surface
all the water
all the land
all the creeping
and the soaring things
that we may use
(with water
land
and air)
with apology
(both kinds)
in order to explain
excuse
and also
to define
and thrive
the Earth
is not one
and doesn’t have to be
so many parts
to allow
expressed
yet from the outside
(and the inside
on occasion)
see compressed
as of a jewel
in and of
the cosmos
joining with other lights
both
light and dark
that make the sky
and give us all we need
to dance
beneath
c l couch
photo by Man from Forest on Unsplash
Birch Grove on a Summer Day
(x = space)
x
x
Saint Light
x
Lucia
Giving birth
In spirit
And calendar
To solstice
Then to Christmas
The festivals of days
Sung by ancient voices
Variously doctrinaire
Also enculturated
Now
x
Santa Lucia
Lights
On wreaths
In Scandinavia
Illumined
In other nations
Other places
Say
In Syracuse
On Sicily
Where
Then
And throughout
There is
The song
x
Special food
(everywhere)
As well
To match the time
The separation
From
Ordinary drives
Today
x
Christian
And also enculturated
Much like the season
We inhabit
Of so many
Days
The stories
With their membership
On hearing
x
Close to solstice
So also for
The timing
Of these broader days
Say longer nights
For fears
In all of this
x
Small lights in the darkness
‘Til banks of angels
Set the stars on fire with
Announcements
x
Here is the day
Here is the sky
Fear not
Winter is not the end
We promise spring
With longer days
Dressed
Inside
Outside
Green and health
x
So for these colder days
To north
And scalding days to south
We without angels
Maybe
Maybe offer news
As gospel
Good news
And
Oh
So many stories
To tell each other
Through
Seasons’ hardships
And hard feelings
x
Also then
Some for
In fact
Bonfires
Like the angels and the stars
Though mostly
For the axis of the Earth
x
The smaller lights will do
But sometimes large
For dancing near
x
‘Til later on
In spring
And then the fall
The equinox secure
The balance in
All better things
x
on Santa Lucia Day
(13 December 2023)
x
C L Couch
x
x
x
(x = space)
x
x
Shadowlands
x
Plato
C. S. Lewis
My hand by
The computer light
Shadows with shadows,
I suppose
With something firmer
On the other side
That could be relied on
For an eternity
Something waiting
Something inspiring
An ideal
A world of ideals
That’s what we learned
In school
So what have we here?
Which world shimmers
For the other
Though we presume
The other world’s better?
What do we sense here?
What do we make?
What lasts?
We have our treasures
And we try to keep them
We use guards
We have alarms
Things might fade anyway
Or break
And we keep making
Stockpiling art
With care
In both kinds of caves
Like those who aren’t so well-
Obsessed with money
Or better
With a hope for all
The way we might stockpile food
And why not
Against the day
Except for exigent hunger
(there should be enough
for both)
x
Yet if they’re right
We’ll have it all again
Art and food
Anything of profit
By virtue,
Perfect there
And permanent
And with ourselves, perhaps,
Polished and redeemed
As on this side
We sometimes polish
Precious metal with
Satisfaction after
That self-effacing
Might be and become
A shimmering
Evangelism:
Grand art, you see,
And easy,
Arduous science
For both
x
C L Couch
x
x
the verse alludes to Plato’s allegory of the cave
x
the title is a term that is a metaphor for mortal life
x
x
(x = space)
x
x
Ex-Temporaneous
x
It’s a dark day
Not enough for a
Ritual outside
And there’s rain
The sun tries
To come through
In patches
Dark hours nonetheless
x
That might be spent
At midnight
In the loft,
A vigil
And an offering
Prayer life in the dark
Ages behind that
x
Maybe a candle
Of the kind
That does not curse the darkness
But slices through it
If in, well, a fuzzy way
Batteries included
Diffuse Light and shadow
Diffuse
With unscripted words
Everything
Partnering
For the message
For the words
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Zoran Kokanovic on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
About Some Light
x
It’s dark:
Light a candle
(It can be electric)
To know the darkness
In relationship,
Which is the way to know
Nearly all
Good things
x
Knowing things
In relationship
(well,)
It can be electric,
Maybe a shock
But mostly learning,
Reflecting (hah) on
Brighter
(darker)
Currents through
Creation
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by PhotographyCourse on Unsplash
x
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