newly
I’ve been drafting for hours
and keep coming
back
to something like this
the Earth tilts
as it tilts
and we may claim distinction
of
the days
this
season counted
for example
is the new year for the church
having
started some days
ago
other years have begun
and others will begin
with
the world’s big one
or big night for
it
coming
in some
weeks
sip
of champagne at midnight
all I need
(sorry)
all
these beginnings
and often
we’re glad
maybe relieved
to close what has gone on before
behind
locked
what our psychologies
might need
but this is time
and
our inventions
and they’re interesting
(time
and
inventions)
anthropologies for an Anthropocene
age
and as we have new starts
what shall we count
anew
and could it be
unusual
as in
say
feeding the whole world as it can
be fed
by all of us
say
if most of the Earth’s children
might not have to go to bed
when hungry
and
the world might have safe water
and actively believe
in
the elimination
of
diseases
maybe we could say
like beginning at a crossroads
as at railroad Xes
(if
trite)
to stop
look
and listen
then when all clear move along
and
having stopped to get
to know
to hear
we might go in clarity as well as
specificity to help
roofs for homes for
all
some real
open moves toward peace
that don’t involve threatening
so
much
or
even victory
then there’s the chance
to learn
secured for all
maybe
at any are
and
I keep drafting about new years
and seasons
and
keep returning to the theme
of need and meeting
need
which is its thesis
too
and could be our own
a direction
an action plan
what have you
for
counting
uncounting new years
and
all the seasons
all of this the time
to help
I guess that’s all
except
to say
yes
we’ll make mistakes
but we’ll be
building
rather than hoarding or tearing
down
c l couch
photo by Ravi Kumar on Unsplash
uncommon unsense
the prophet helps
a widow
and
when the prophet needs
ravens helps with food
making up for that business
with the ark
all the people needed food
and so food
fell
needed water
too
which poured for them
from barren places
and so
wandering the wilderness
still cannot
be comfortable
but
at least keep folk alive
meanwhile
by
basics
David thinks he needs Bathsheba
though that is
another kind of interest
not
like food and water
whatever the king might feel
he needs
as he wants
food and
drink
from her
blind
needing sight
the lame to walk
the awful sick to have some healing
that
provides a reason
there are stories
too
of prodigals repenting and returning home
of
good Samaritans while
Samaritans are not credited
so much
of parents withholding stones from children
so that giving
bread
has fulsome space as
well as love
need
and response
and
I suppose when honest
still the answer might be
no
or no
for now
frustrating how the interactions
go
in our relationship with divine
whose terms are
to
keep the evidence
of such
unseen or
otherwise unsensed
c l couch
photo by Vadym on Unsplash
At Last for Farmer’s Exigency
I hear
Thunder
There is wind
Pushing dark-green leaves
Around
Maybe the sky is
Bullying
Or maybe
There’s an announcement
Only
That the sky isn’t falling
But the water table’s
Rising
C L Couch
Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
so I wrote about all sorts of serious stuff, then encountered an advertisement with these cats who were presented with the stuff of perfect pleasure, then found myself writing about them and that, and then wrote of dogs as well for ecumenicity’s sake—enjoy (please)
cosmic cats
(dramatic dogs)
1
nice cats
noisy
cats
could be siblings
certainly assuaged by
special cat food
mom has used the last
for them
and they are happy
for the moment
thankfully
dad is at the store
getting more
good food
longer-happy cats
what more
could
pet parents want
2
cats
have a k
and comic sound
while
dogs
is softer
and adorable
both were wild once
and even
now
we should take
care
for impulse
becomes instinct
upon
how they’re treated
so
treat them like home
and they will live with you
and guard you
love you
in their trained
and wild
ways
3
there are allergies
also pills
and sprays
and shots
I was allergic
to my cat
which I found out
ten years into having her
so guess who stayed
she said I could
as well
we keep our pets
and they
keep us
and so the ordered
more chaotic
world
is kept a little better
for a while
longer
c l couch
(our pets, of course, include more kinds of creatures)
photo by Callum Shaw on Unsplash
more pamphleteering
(3 poems, rebel with a pause or as the cat might say a paws)
Flawed
There are days
When there are
Nothing
But flaws
Maybe the kind of
Flaws
That might be fixed
Or re-trained
Or re-adjusted
Somehow
Or they are flaws
The kind
That remain
About which there is
No hope of changing into
Something good
Or even
Little more
Than barely
Tolerable
The cracks in the walls
And maybe
The foundation
The leaks
In the roof
As well
With divots in the yard
And even cuteness
In the squirrels
Is mollified
By the way they overrun
The feeder
Set
You know
For birds
The wider spaces
Might be grand
The siding
And the brickwork
Nearly perfect
And all the paint inside
Looks
Pretty good
Though what we see
Is the crack
That happened because
Things that have been around
For a while
Develop lines
And sometimes
The lines
Widen
Not minimized
To their resemblance
Of a mischievous
Stream
Upon a map
You might say
Well
It’s all just attitude
Isn’t it
And I have to say
And maybe anyone whose
Flaws are
Evident
Must say
Nope
The flaws are there
They’re real
And they’re lasting
Although
You’re right
There is an attitude
Over
Which to consider more
And
Or course
How to deal with what there is
The flaws that threaten
Should be addressed
Do-it-yourself
(-myself)
And/or
(preferably and)
Done-by-others
To be fixed
Enough
For more than jazz
For life outside
The venue
In the sudden daylight
Too
Some lines
And cracks remain
Which is real
For they are real
Endurable
Even considerable signs
Of endurance
Even achievement
And attraction
As what is
Structure
Shall
Last longer
Attraction
If we understood
That certain flaws are fine
(beyond
fine lines)
And it’s all right
And even good
They last
As if to say
In an encounter
To oneself
This place does not have perfection
As agenda
This place
Is grand with age
This place is welcome
This place
Is home
Denizen
The word
Today
Like the old game
Is
What shall it be
Watermelon
Lamp
Radio
Nostalgia
Love
Intransigence
Toward love
Why don’t we love
Ennui
Fright
Movie
Safety
Home
And are we safe at home
(another game)
And
Well
It’s relative
Against
A dying planet
And those who away
Who
Looking in
Might say
This is
Such a resource
Such an opportunity
Why did they let it go
So badly
There are wars
And also there is
Nature
Aggravated
By themselves
To greater storms
And harsher seasons
So far from
Design
That yet is evident
Maybe we should take over
Maybe we could help them
Save themselves
From of course
Themselves
For we know how this goes
So it went with us
Before the next-to-last crisis
Set us on
The edge
And all we could do
Then
Was try to find a way
To widen the edge
And then
If we could
Build back from either side
Because there was
Our abyss
Of destruction
All around
And that’s it
Isn’t it
We survived
And got
To this place
Where we are here
Cleanly
And with confidence
Today
At home
And in our orbits
Far beyond
And we must leave
These to it
To their Earth
And come back in a while
Should there be
Some unity
And health in unity
To have a planet
Have a world
Wet with life
And creatures
Green
And blue again
As it seems now
But it is pushed
They push it
Their own world
Toward something like
The line
We knew so well
Grind
(for the first day of spring in these parts)
Now it’s a cold
Day
Because we’re into spring
Last week
It was warm
While winter breathed
Hot upon the leaves
And sleeping
Lawn
Beneath
Topsy-turvy
Then
In fact
He says
At noon
It will be colder
Coming days
Sigh
When to plant
When to turn
When
To work
To play
To dance
What should lie fallow
Really should
For variegated futures
In the land
Although
We need what’s planted
Every day
Not merely
Grocery-store expectation
Anymore (that
does not
recognize the seasons
when the berries
or the lettuce
might be ready)
but the need
To feed our animals
To weave our clothing
Out of wool
Even to work the leather
And best-guess
Nutrients
And timing
Year-round
Of course
To feed our children
On our farm
And in the city
And all over
In the wilderness
Made worse
(beyond appreciation
in and of itself)
By droughts
And wars
We’ve heard of
And it’s a guess
But I think it the way
We have them that
The cows
Need milking
Every day
And there’s that magic
In the harvest
(unreal)
That should happen every day
Releasing everything
We want
That we want
To believe
Is always
(anymore)
Fairly gathered in
A world of expectations
Fiercely specific
On a faded Earth
Running out of time
If
We’re not careful
And
We’re not careful
C L Couch
Photo by Yuri Malishenko on Unsplash
a little chappy-book of poems
Anyday Fog
Fog
Fog today
A Dickensian lesson
(get started
on Bleak House)
To know
That like the existence
And the movement of the fog
There is connection
Between all of us
Regardless of economy
Or privilege
Or barriers
Presumed
That as far as the single race goes on
Do not stand
Aloof
We are connected
That is the way of things
Do not forget
But relish in it
The reality
And all the possibilities
Together
Or stay apart
Behind our barriers
So-called
To let the fog move
Inimically
Exuding fear and guilt
As we forbid ourselves from
Seeing
(without eyes)
And acknowledging each other
The fog connection
Irony
For there it is
Well
Then let
The better lesson of
The real thing
To a greater thing
Take over
All our humanhood
That should lower unnecessary things
In the way
Then let in
The light
(more than light)
Too Easy
Blindness
Blindness chosen
Not the sense
But the lifestyle
Even
A cause
That in the dark
We shall strike
And have our way
Forgetting
(among other things)
The anthologized
“Dover Beach” that
First-year students
Are foisted
To read
With the “ignorant armies”
In the night
That clash
Who wins
Who loses
No one knows
Except that blows are struck
And there is wounding
And humanity destroyed
By degree
Those who are blind
For real
Know the sacrifice
And the ridiculousness
In selecting darkness as
The quality
For sight
And shall we choose
To be ignorant of each other
Shall we fight
From distances too great
To know much beyond
The switch
Or the button
We could draw near each other
Rather
Withholding our destroying
Part
To leave the great part
Of curiosity
And even peace
Let go
Learn who is my neighbor
On the planet
How might the Earth do better
If we re-trained ourselves
For nature
The greater challenge
To
Like military
Pull back the extremes
To repair
Then prepare
For what’s next
To know
Who is next door
Not to pry
Or lord
Or anything overlording
Or pervasive
To learn each other
As we are
Even the agendas
Learning how to speak
To listen more
And to understand
(lessons in language
might be
the first thing)
Allowing curiosity
To be positive regard
Respect
The better agenda
Knowing which virtues to use
To influence
And which to use to
Be changed by
As we grow
In and with
Those we have relegated to
The other
As an objective distinction
(no such thing)
To render targets
Rather
Than people
Simply put
Do not destroy the world
That’s rather stupid
But put down the guns
(the buttons and the switches)
Find food
And drink
And other fixing things
With which
To approach
Nourish
And give the world
What is the real
Fighting chance
Family Game Night
(we can do it)
No one wins
No one loses
Leave that to
Real games
And remember to embrace
Congratulate
Game-winners
While in the world
We do better
With nothing like a game
At stake
But how we live
Together
Make enough
The base for everyone
Then all we reach for
After that
In other words
Feed everyone
Because
We can do it
(Rosie
says
we can)
Provide everyone
With something safe
To drink
Shelter and the opportunity
For education
Of ourselves
And the world
The unpeated past
The glories in the present
(let science say
amen)
Maybe
Remembering
The God who made
Everything
Is waiting
Withholding Armageddon
‘Til there’s faith
In the outcome
For those who choose
To care
And believe
In the world
And the living
Selves
And neighbors
It’s simply
Really
Embrace good
Eschew evil
Learning the two
More how to build
Rather than
Destroy
It’s easy
Each can prosper
After all are well
In fact
Prosperity
Will grow
While all are fed
And drinked
Have shelter
And the means
For education
Will the problems end
No way
But we’ll have a go
With advancements and
With possibilities
Which is
The world growing
Which is how it was
And how
It should be
By us
Eden
With the walls let down
The best Eden we can make
Yes
For billions
Living well
And each other
Has a chance
To go from there
To growth
To gold
Whatever might seem good
Without extremes
Of anarchy or monarchy
Rule one by one
And by assembly
Which is how
The world’s growing
(at its best)
Anyway
Grow on
Absent Lion
(not that there’s climate change)
Well
Winter’s MidAtlantic
Ended
Seventy
In western parts
So where’s
The lion
Seems not
To have arrived
There’s always
Aslan
For always good
A sign
Of faithfulness
And power
In faithfulness
There are other lions
Some as
Metaphors
Others in fact
Don’t go
To meet upfront
The real ones
For their strength
Is in
Predation
It’s the qualities
And made-up stuff
That make
The lion
Useful
(leave the real ones
out there)
As we can make
The lamb
Render its own qualities
For our own good
And at least
In these parts
Earlier
In March
What’s Blue Is Blue
Maybe this is all
I can do
For now
Write against the blue
Until
The retinas
And other parts can’t take it
Then leave
The machine alone
And even
Wonder
How we do this
All
The time
Go see
The eye doctor
Maybe she
Will know
What is healthy
What is useful
What is
Disciplined
For health and
Productivity
To ease the headaches
And the
Stress
Maybe from blues
Though maybe
I need to play the blues
C L Couch
Photo by Vestfoldmuseene on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
I Need to Resupply by September 22
x
I need some breakfast,
Hobbits
x
Bagels are gone
While only a couple swipes
Of cream cheese remain
x
One piece of bread
For toast
And if I search my shelves
I might the last of peanut butter
x
Inside the fridge
Maybe some juice
And don’t worry
I have coffee
x
I’m sorry, hobbits
x
This is grim fare
And certainly for hosting
x
I have to hope
There is no
Unexpected party
x
I have wine and beer
Should you
Wish to come
Later on
You know
Respectably
But you’ll have to bring
(so sorry)
Your own food
Maybe to share
With me
x
Oops
x
I have a nice collection of maps
For treasure quests
To offer
x
C L Couch
x
x
The twenty-second means the birthday of Bilbo (and Frodo). There could be or should be an (expected) unexpected party, then.
x
x
(x = space)
x
x
Yet Another Pledge
x
Enough money
For food
That’s what she says
And the spokesperson
Iterates
Enough money indeed
Food insecurity
We call it
Issue-words for hunger
I suppose
And do we understand
Who needs to understand
How it is
To miss the money
That our planet should provide
Since birth
x
For us
Perhaps
A tissue argument
So thin
To be unreal
Like the gossamer wings
On made-up creatures
Though this hunger
Is for real
And threatens to take lives
And takes them
And this forestalls that
Worked somehow
To succeed
For under twenty dollars
Each
And there’s a t-shirt
That
No one can eat
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Jeison Higuita on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
A Living Season
x
Food and water
Bread and wine
For mass
And other celebrations
After
x
Liturgically,
We note salvation all the time
Symbolism’s good
The real things
Are better
When they meet our needs
To lift the worldwide press
Off a crushing world
(metaphor again
they teach)
Are better
x
Symbolic food
Give actual food
Safe water in the present
Wine to seal the deal
For those who allow
As in that crass (unclassed) and useful way
We might worship
And also act in the world
x
Give money from a distance
Distribute packages
Place clean rims of containers
Upon parched, maybe dying lips
When everything’s all right
We’re fit
To talk about the rest
Negotiate
For healthy people
x
All this would make a season
Health is good for the economy
Living without
The need to bury
‘Til the righteous time
Worked into the primal design
And a pattern
For humanity
x
That make us better
People for the moon and Mars
Keeping us whole
At home
A home to have
And to return to
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Rebecca Matthews on Unsplash
My husband and I have begun a few new ventures after getting back to ‘normal’ from the house fire we suffered in Feb. this year. I now make handcrafted soap, and he bakes bread and cookies. Our new neighbors love us, as they get to enjoy the fruits of our labors!
x
clcouch123 
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