Outside to Play
(borne out of neighborly annoyance)
Well, it’s quiet now
I have a moment
Not at five-thirty when
Everyone above had to stir
And drop barbells when waking
Maybe the human’s gone
And the dog is dreaming
Of bigger places
Than the third floor
Grass just outside the door
Where rabbits might be
Chased but not be caught
So that there’s always fun
Dog fun
Rabbit fun
C L Couch
photo by troy williams on Unsplash
tennis ball retriever
God Is a, Sí, Dog
God keep Schnitzel the
old poodle while he’s here
(the dog, that is). He had
a brother who went first
and not so long ago. Way
back when, the poodle jumped
out of the enclosure, too, and
so my sister took both dogs.
Weiner and Schnitzel (my
brother-in-law’s a chef who’s
funny, the kind of guy who
makes friends waiting for the
cashier in the store). Old
Poodle’s had a good life,
I think, with a home and sunshine
when he wanted it. Both dogs
used to sleep like Yin and
Yang ‘til they outgrew the beds.
Now Yin must wait for Yang
when all the dogs will play on
heaven’s lawn, fed and watered
after.
C L Couch
Photo by Joe Caione on Unsplash
All Dogs Come from Heaven
There is a puppy in the building
I like her
She likes everyone
She is rather all legs and nose
Just now
And a tongue and rounded teeth
That want to nip and sandpaper everything
We know how unconditional
The regard of dogs can be
They want to love us
Forgive and forget
All the rest
All human caprices
Go, dog, go
C L Couch
Go, Dog. Go! is a story about (fast) dogs by P. D. Eastman.
Photo by J-S Romeo on Unsplash
Here, Good Dog—Here, Sport!
(the only pet my mother let my father name)
Thank goodness, people keep dogs
We brought them into
Our caves
They are our responsibility
In turn, they are our sentinels
Our friends
It’s said they can turn wild
So can we
If you’re reading this and you have a dog, then
Thank you
If you are reading and you are a dog,
Then I’d so much like to meet you
C L Couch
Image by martaposemuckel from Pixabay
(3)
A Lesson from the Story
In The Horse and His Boy
A young person is punished
In the way she caused
The wounding of another
Aslan is very present there
In Narnia
Potent and immediate
The good thing is that
Judgment’s taken care of
Neither need worry over it again
A moment’s wrong
Another’s retribution
And we are clean with God
Again
Not bad, pre-Apocalypse
Before the book is opened
One last time
For good
A Grown-Up Narrative
Some adults with ADHD
Say they don’t like the medication
I understand
They feel the edge has been
Worn down
Lacking what is needed
Sharp awareness to get through
Each day
I understand
And, seriouser still,
The feeling that oneself has
Been worn down, too
Filed in every way
I have a medication that
Calms me down
Cools me
I’m thankful for it
Am I less of me?
I think parts of me that haven’t
Got to surface very much
Now have a chance for rising
And for air
Am I less of me?
If I am, is that so bad?
The peacefulness, it might
Be worth it
For the fuzzying of awareness
(I know what’s around me)
The challenge of the
Deeps of spirit I must swim against
I feel for those like me
Like themselves
Who favor the back stroke or the
Breast stroke
When one should not have to be
In the pool
I know it’s more than metaphor
Metaphor’s a pointer
Everything gets real
After that
Not Tonight, I Have a Headache
I’m sorry
I never got it right, you know
I must have a life
To offer it
I must have built something
And I didn’t
Praise and all impressiveness
To those who have
Who found enough for themselves
And to share
That is the way
That is the way of life
It secures the present and
Leans into the future
C L Couch
ecumenical?
(3)
Unplanning
I’m not sure why
A cool breeze
Always comes across as surprise
I’m thankful, really
I think if I arranged it,
I’d be particular in the wrong way
Overly concerned (if at all)
About temperature, humidity
Air pressure
Something about millibars
I’ll simply sit here
In a chair I hadn’t planned
If it rocks, that would be another boon
And if silently,
Would be relief
For my neighbor’s sake
The Only Kind that Matters
Bread used to be square
I saw it in a movie
‘Course then I’d have to say
Bread was black and white as well
I’m not how they pulled it off
What kind of protractor
Tyrannized the baking pans
I guess someone decided
That homey bread must have
A curvy bunch up top
But then began the crust wars
We’ve been waging ever since
Maybe after ends of eggs
The Lilliputians take this on for us
We’ve got toast to make
And victory in croutons
Squared
I think I sat in churches
And at funerals
For which paper fans were
Handed out
For trauma’s or heat’s
Sake I am uncertain
In our machine age
And cushioning our chairs
The paper fans seem to have
Gone away
Until the other day
When a friend presented me with
One of these, I’m not sure why
I hold it now, and I recall
It was the day of our town fair
And we’ve had record-breaking heat
This year
So folk wandered up and down
The street, bearing square
Reminders of mortality
You see, the name the favors bore
Was of a certain
Local institution
C L Couch
Photo by Nathalie Ehrnleitner on Unsplash
Dog
Maybe we invented
You, brought you
Inside
Wolves bark in
Packs for their own
Reasons—do you
Still know?
You are fur and teeth
And if we carve
Them down, you
Still have claws
In canine thinking
In taming you, we
Take ownership
When we don’t, we
Lie to you
And God and will
Need a better answer
Than Cain gave
For a sibling, also
Abandoned
But there can be
Love in what we do,
And you improve us
Family is larger,
Home fuller, our
Blood chemistry is
Better when we
Pet you
(Hence the virtue in
The name)
Our company for all
Friends, your
Impulses toward
Concern and toward
Protection
These guard us—
And there’s a human
Promise in what we
Owe you
Parvo and
http://abc27.com/2016/07/06/libre-the-puppy-continues-fight-for-his-life/
Promise to Tame and Wild
The manatee, the tapir,
And the platypus are
Abducted
The black-and-white
Ursus of China cannot
Find bamboo to eat
And the smaller one
Inhabiting wild Australia
Needs eucalyptus more
And more from us
What are we doing?
We make captive that
Which impulsively is
Unaware of borders
Save maybe the divine
We slew the passenger
Birds that only send
Messages now as
Phantoms (I’ve seen
The statue)
We tame, we kill—a
Time for everything
The brave dog who
Saved the children of
Nome (I’ve seen that
Statue, too)
How about time for
Leaving what’s created
Not by us in better
Care, surrendering
Our Eden-promise, if
Need be,
Rather to leave alone
What we cannot care
For with respect for
Great and small
One Dog, Two Cats, Two Dogs
I’m with the dogs again;
I should set out a shingle
Neighbor’s dog (the only
Dog from whom I’ve
Received real hugs)
Friends’ cats, exercises
In indifference, until I’m
The only one to feed
Them
These two dogs in the
Family are older, whiny,
And demanding
I love them both
What kind of irony that
Saint Francis helps me
With my pets but has not
Yet arranged for the
Curing of my allergies
clcouch123 
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