Truer than Stone Is True
(our flesh-and-spirit undertaking)
God of the moment
Of the now
That’s
Split so small
It might
Take an infinity
To
Undertake
Let alone
To explain
To each
And all
Ready
And unready
Though it seems
That
We get what we get
Passages
For understanding
A world to get
To know
With everyone outside
To help us
Good or ill
To know
And maybe we have hope
When we have hope
(even before)
Which is
That small
Thing
In the box
Left over after evils
Have escaped
Too easily
Allowed
To flash
To make themselves
Seen
And heard
Then offering a taste
Of something
That is ash
Or brimstone
When
Frankly
Revealed
While there are other stories
And our senses
For us
Of reality
Of those with strength
And faith to move
Beyond
Uncertainty
To undertake the tasks
Of earth and air
To nourish everything
With water
And more
For encouragement
For growth ourselves
In strength
Of understanding
Toward
Accountability
Even
A generation’s worth
The heroes
Of the small
Even minutiae
Who are ranked in heaven
Among
Those only statued
For a time
On the mortal
Planet
But those remembered there
Without such things
And yet
Deserving more
Shall have it
(though
simplicity
will do
fine)
Once awakened
And brought through
The gate
To something better
Than Valhalla
No more waiting
But
The hero
One by one
And all
Together
(yes
like D’Artagnan
or better
for reality
Jeanne d’Arc
or
Hildegard)
To know here
And to be known
And
Do I say
Therefore think small
And keep one’s
Spirit there
Though small
Is relative
In that
The atom’s
Small to crack
And then
Behold
More than we can manage
Safely
What’s
Small
Worthy
(more
artifact
or talisman)
Might be
Inside the house
Or in one’s head or
In
Another’s heart
And shall we love the one
And help the one
(be helped)
Then help the other
Which is also
Love
Applying wisdom
Of the ages
(so to say)
Or an insight
Fresh
Arrived
Synaptically
From the good angels
On our shoulders
(also to
say
and most likely
from
cartoons)
Jokes
Impractical
Remembering humor
Is what
Saves the world
Too
Starting with the nation
Of a few
Laugh at the devil
And do not mock each other
But
Laugh between ourselves
And in the room
Because
There might be
Needed
Even healing
Health
In that
Then remember whom
We love
And whom we serve
In
No order
Frankly
Self
The other whom we love
The stranger we don’t know
Yet may
Pray for and give to
When time and means
And faith
Call out
With
The God of all
Quite simply
With each one
Has made
Like
Clay
To shape
And has grown
Like crops
From
Seed
And bring to heaven
As on
The best journey
If so difficult
To
Undertake
Yet worthy of
The first
Step
The second
With companionship
Even unaware
But up to us
To keep the series
Going
Toward
The edge
Of what
We have ever known
And then
Quite frankly
The next
Step
Much easier
(if unknown)
Of
The journey on
C L Couch
Photo by TEAcreativelife │ Soo Chung on Unsplash
I had tea with a monk in Seoul, South Korea.
[photographer’s caption]
Jogyesa Temple, Gyeonji-dong, Seoul
fixin’s
there is war
there is disease
there is famine
there is drought
that causes
famine
though despots
are as likely
if not more
to bring on hunger
in the folk
like you and me
there is corruption
beyond the natural
(though
we waste
enough)
there is the irony
on a blue world
of not having safe water
guaranteed
anywhere
thanks to our being here
the
poisoning residents
so war
disease
hunger
famine to hunger
lack of safe water
despots
and corruption
which is before the count
the destruction
caused by nature
that we call
our mother
time to time
raging as well
under Great Spirit
who must weep in bouts
while spelling anger
how we melt
the valleys
that his hands
pressed and made
mother nature
father spirit
(or
switch the genders
or
add to them
certainly)
leading the cosmos
and our lore
about the cosmos
and whom do we respect
what
to we respect
there’s self-respect
and what do we do
with that
other-respect
perhaps
though mostly as a type
I think
so good that we can envy
or so bad
we can relate
and so vote for
well
these are our problems
aren’t they
and listing them
might help
but as
or followed by
a plan of action
certainly
and not let sado-masochism
make our only world
for habitation
no
we can do better
I am sure
and you are sure
and when we’re sure
we’ll reach out
in spirit
and in flesh
to make it better
make the wounds better
like parents
with Band-Aids
small doses of antiseptic
under
small kisses above
then really get
to work
to make the world
cleaner
through and above
well
everything
not a purge
(never a purge)
but
to fix
and rebuild
then to design above
something to say
and fairly
journey
on to other worlds
c l couch
photo by Nicolas Gras on Unsplash
And in Conclusion
Believe or not
There’s God
It’s up to you
Wonderfully
Up to you
For faith
In what’s unseen
By unseen
But what’s evidenced
In
Nature
Even by extremes
More so
In love
And everything
Beyond ourselves
Affirming
What is in ourselves
That we know best
As flesh
Combined with
Spirit
My
We really are
Something
And should mean it
Fantastic-made
And beating certain odds
For now
To have been kept
And then
To keep ourselves
And we should know
The value
Beyond chemicals
The market fluctuates
Bur the worth
Of what’s internal
As eternal
Is forever
And the price
As might be reckoned
Also needed
By
The world
It seems
Paid
In faith
And love
And also paid
In full
Perfected in a life
Both human and
Divine
And in divinity
We pray
Our own spirit
And our flesh
Shall pray
Even with life
And life’s devotion to
What’s good
Resisting evil
And when giving in
To evil
Then returning
The question
Which is
Stronger
Which is more
At last
Answered
With wounded conviction
Scarred believing
And we may
Return
Or
Yes
Never having left
And maybe to eschew
When needed
Older
Siblings’
Attitudes
Toward prodigals
We have
We come back
And now
We all remain
In faith
Uneasy in the world
As uneasy
To the world
Which says
No evidence
No faith
According to our rules
Though evidence
Invisible
Like concepts
Be
Working all around
But
Speaking of invisible
To start
At least
Remember one’s
Great value
That is
Your own
And don’t forget it
Stay alive
Forgive
And be forgiven
Knowing that life and love
(unscalable
though scalable)
Keep us
And keep us going
In the valley
To the top
Depth
As well as height
And in the mind
Between
Then knowing well
Of one
Reach out
To one
And then another
And let groups
Of faith have strength
With courage
For each other
Goodness
Do I sound
Like an epistle
Well
Enough courage
In the one
To be
And more
To join
A model
Maybe
Understand of the one beyond
Or go the other way
Let the one
Be model
For you
And for us
Either way
Have faith
Remembering greater love
But keeping oneself
Precious
And unstained
Though knowing
That God loves
The stained
As well
And we should love
The stained
As with the wounded
All around
Such things
As shall be lifted
But for now
Need caring
As with the pristine parts
And also those
As practice now
For everything
All Earth
And heaven
Flesh
And spirit
Renewed
C L Couch
Photo by Ivan Bandura on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
having been incarnated
x
oh
God
we say
you’re born
you’ve slipped inside
the pacing
of the world
flesh cells
adapting
to our measure
to our growth
and our decay
three score and ten
how does it
feel
x
I guess you knew
what this was
and is the human part
surprised
by mortal beats
the skipping
of the heart
outside
the rhythm
as we say
of the spheres
x
and are you well
will you
catch cold
or get mumps
have influenza
as our children must
from time to time
it seems
x
and you
will endure
(you must)
though it won’t be
so comfortable
with chicken pox
x
and then
grown-up
to feel
all that we feel
and think inside the vacuum
the shell
of thoughts
inhabiting the skull
and not much further on
nothing like
the mindset
you must know
inside eternity
and Godhead
x
and there are feelings
in the chest
desire
for the nation
yes
and only
for your own
because you are
humanly
entitled
x
yet what shall you have
when your body
it turns out
is for a cause
even
perhaps part of a plan
to cheat mortality
like the stratagems
of Pharisees
or statues of
self-styled kings
or emperors
x
Rome and Judea
and there is Parthia
and Britain
way-off China
and there’s India
and there are first people
everywhere
who belong
where they have moved
and stopped
and finally
no place to move
with what they have
for moving
x
all the people
of the Earth
post-Alexander
and never having known
Alexandrian expansion
or Roman roads
connecting
a known world
x
yet
are you here
for these
everywhere
which means
you might be here for us
here and now
x
I suppose
the other two
of you
will out
while you alone
are limited
while you must live here
with only us
for easy company
and reaching out
like us
often alone
sometimes in groups
though only through the shell
as we must beseech
mortally
unto the Lord
with questions
asking of a will
we do not understand
yet we believe
is there
x
how frustrating to be human
welcome here
we wish you well
we really do
because should we encounter you
there are stories
about something special
from you
something even
we don’t know
rescuing
about you
even in the flesh
x
c l couch
x
x
photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
3 poems, when you have time (one poem about observation, one about reading, one about war taking all)
x
x
Observe and Report
x
For preamble
Nothing like
The burdens of a people
Upon Joshua
Or Caleb
x
What’s petty
What is meaningful
Too often
I don’t know
I pick up a stone
It’s not a park
There are no regulations
I take the thing with me
Becomes an artifact
At home
x
I am reminded
Of the Earth
We are set on
So many layers
To the center
Countless to go out
Again
To try to count
x
Clueless
It and I
While it’s supposed to be
And I think I should know something
About the atoms
The formation
Its place
Near my fingers
When I found it
When I take it up
Look upon it
Now
x
x
Read Me
x
Not unlike the words
Commanding
Alice
To forward
Her adventure
x
Words
Well
Words have
Such value
So the lines are short
While
Reading slowly is advised
Going slowly
Generally
x
Yours should be read
This way
As well
x
Time is a treasure
Though we should parse it out
Surrender it in particles
x
Not worrying so much
About the measure
Since the bill
Of sale
Is not our own
But investment the creator made
Inside creation
x
So let’s take our time
As said
Although again
It’s not our own
But lent
At best
And for our use
Simply
As use
x
Please take time to read me
I’ll take time
Reading
You
And then there’s
The needful time
For vital
As in lively
Response
x
x
War and After, After
x
The wars go on
Again
I can’t imagine
The explosions
The dust
The rubble
And the blood
Beneath
x
And the things of blood
Of bodies
That once held the lives
Of souls
While here on Earth
x
Now stolen
As if by gods
Self-styled
With machines
Black and pretty
Smithed
In hell
x
And this is metaphor
Impressions
The real thing
For those alive
Is all about
The running
Avoidance of more anything
Like that
Again
x
And then it happens
There is more
It’s worse
Nothing inside ourselves
Ever
Really
Gets used to it
x
And then
Maybe there’s a moment when
The silence rings
Notes of nothing
Anymore
While looking
Touching
For flesh containing life
We might embrace
To take
And to offer
What we have
x
And there might be people
Come from
Too short a way
To find us
For ourselves
To treat us
Representing
Something clean
And institutional
Away
x
We might be taken there
Where
Objectless walls
Close in
With noises in the distance
Or have we brought them with us
And is it noise
That closes in
The distance
x
We need medication
Sedative
To leave all this
Except for bodies
That have names
xxxxxWe cherish both
xxxxxWe want them
xxxxxHave to search for them
xxxxxTo know them
xxxxxAnd to have them
xxxxxOnce again
x
Though we might have to settle
In without response
While life is measured
Sometimes
Without
The power to the building
And their efforts
And the dust
And rubble
That came in with us
x
The war
The damning war
The reason we say bloody
For the worst
Things we can think of
x
Fleshly containers
Holding flesh
Until they must
Let go
x
Who are they
What are their names
Who are we
Where are we going
x
War take all
Peace for the remnant
The ghostly revenant
Left over
The dust
Of everything that’s taken
For what’s left over
To remain
x
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Ansia Lasa on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
the way of all flesh
x
I thought about the title
first
title of a play
before that
something scriptural
x
three to five acts
the sphinx’s riddle gives us
four
x
there are tickets
paid
throughout mortality
the kind that
with a kind of magic
should become
the summons
of a claim
on erosion
loss of property
with less
with which
to pay
for greater need
x
but who
will be our advocate
who
will pay
x
there is no way
in this
unless history
plus the present
and guesses toward the future
should break
for a while
then reassembled
with adhesion
in the blood
of reconciliation
x
the way of our flesh
fleshly
otherwise
prevailing
x
c l couch
x
x
Photo by jurien huggins on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Flesh, Spirit, and Everything that Matters
(for Easter)
x
Good Friday becomes Easter
x
Good becomes better
Good becomes goodest
Abandonment is over
The teacher has returned
And the homeowner
And we each have a place in that home
It is so large
And always adding
x
The wounds are healed
There are reminders;
Mainly (surely),
He is alive
x
There was no question that he died
We wept, we keened
We buried
There was a stone
There was a guard
There was no doubt in this
The emperors
And would-be emperors
Clinked their glasses
And sat back,
Sighed
That’s done
The conspiracy is over
Plot succeeded
And we can blame other people
x
God and people are
Reconciled
Through life and death
And life again
The absurdity of the final miracle
Over death inexorable
Unavoidable
x
And NOT forever
What?
x
This is what we know
And now through resurrection
We must believe that
Death is not all
It is not inexorable
It is avoidable
We may die
We might sleep
If so,
We will awake again
How does this happen?
x
It is God
Who has a part in us
Who made us
Who is spirit
And flesh
And everything that makes up
A creator
And a lover
And a savior
Immanuel from Hebrew
God with us
x
We walk a bridge
That wasn’t there
God is on the other side:
In fact,
We can find out
God is on both sides
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Joshua Sortino on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
silent flesh
x
god made into flesh
while divinity wasn’t noticing
x
how else could perfection
give up eternal everything,
knowledge and power
and everything we want
and some of us think we should have
right now
x
jesus, god and human
how hard must that be
and who among of us would do it
knowing invincibility would be
a memory, only
x
as mortal, god would know us
as god might know a deer
or a rainbow
or unrequited love
x
that is, from the inside out
from the other side of creation
x
god will know us
as we live
give up a cure for every illness
prevention in perfection
x
excruciating
loving
all love because
there is no other reason
x
c l couch
x
x
notes
x
reading a prayer that mentions (I think) God made flesh (or maybe it was human) in a baby
x
thinking of an old hymn whose lyrics I find haunting (with a haunting melody):
Let all mortal flesh keep silent
And in fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded;
For with bless in his hand,
Christ our God to Earth descended,
Our full homage to demand
x
Wellcome Collection, London, United Kingdom
The Body
x
Body Counts
All of which to say
We can be spiritually minded
And love this life as well
Of flesh and blood
And stuff
I have a body
Inside’s kept my soul
When the soul leaves,
There is a counting
So many spirits in Virginia
So many from Sri Lanka
More from Palestine today
More from Yemen
There are tries at genocide
If my enemy does not exist, then
I no longer live in fear
The fear of retribution
From another side
Notwithstanding
We say to a better place
But we do not know
We do not know
A better philosophy’s required
To convince us
That somehow all this
Leave-taking is all right
There’s a medieval notion of
Purchase for ransom
The devil has our souls
Jesus paid to free us
But what should have been gold
Turns out to be blood
Payment required
For ancient sacrifice
And deals made
Once outside paradise
And with his blood mankind hath bought
One of the older Christmas songs
(hence the faulty use of
mankind, though it)
Teaches us,
Which does not mean to
Long for heaven over
Earth
This life is yet worthwhile
It’s all right to guard it
And regret its passing
Not as an end to
Suffering (that’s good)
But as a gift we’re given
And would just as soon
Not have to return
It’s all right
The old, old story says
We get to have it
Once the shell is gone,
We’ll get a new one
For now, though, that’s a mystery
And one not to manipulate
Of tyrants or
The gross indifferent
Keep us on the inside, Lord
Help us with reasons
With resources to
Live it on the outside
C L Couch
Image by Schwoaze from Pixabay
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