My Friend from School, Steve
(add in your friend)
My best friend
Locally
Was Steve
And Steve was Black
Mainly
Though
He was my friend
He brought me in
For a while
Even to his house
His home
And he told me how difficult
It was
To buy that house
In rural Pennsylvania
Where selling to a Black
Man had been
Difficult
Though he had money
And persisted
He let my cat
Stay with him
Too
She liked to run around
The house
And try to dominate
Queenly
The feral cats outside
Near the barn
Steve
Had two lovely children
Long grown now
I haven’t seen them
In a long while
Though I imagine
They are lovely
Still
Inside and outside
Hard-working
Like their father
Also loving life
Like their father
Steve was ill with things
A combination
Or a last thing
Took him at the end
That should have gone
Differently
He should have had years
Of relative health
And joy on Earth
Even though
No doubt
He’s doing better
Where he is
We were friends
At school
Where we worked
His office was a friendly place
There were rows
And stacks
Of things
To appreciate
Mostly
It was that they were illumined
Embodied with his presence
Sharing wisdom
Sharing life
A resting place
Even
For others
For me
I miss him
Even sharply
Every day
He had a way
I miss his presence
He was easy to be with
Whatever the mood
He was my friend
I miss him
Every day
He had a way
C L Couch
I write this because it’s nearly the end of Black History Month. I can think of Black inventors and I do. And so many Blacks I’ve known with all the talents, attitudes, and contributions. But my famous friend for this month is Steve. He was a teacher. He was skilled. He was welcoming. He had a home and had a life. He is my professional and personal Black history. He should have had more time on Earth. He once called me his brother, and I have felt that strongly ever since. He was mine. He was my friend. I miss him sharply every day.
Photo by Dylann Hendricks | 딜란 on Unsplash
Pen Pal
It’s a bright day
Here
If it sticks
It will the first one
That we’ve had
In a while
I’m tired
Slept poorly
I had coffee with friends
Last night
Which most likely
Kept me up
Though it was good
Coffee
And how is it
Where you are
Just now
More importantly
How are you
I’d
Like to know
More important
Than
The weather
Without doubt
Though
You know
The weather
Has been an easy
Entry
(and
entre nous)
Into conversation
Except
Maybe
Anymore
With changing climate
Then
Who knows
Who’s affected
By
What happens
Climatic
Anymore
So would you
Mind
Telling me
How you are doing
And how safe
In any way
You are
Just now
Sincerely yours
C L Couch
Photo by NOAA on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
Piglet and Samwise
x
Piglet and Samwise
Would that
We could
Only think on them
To be them
Or to appreciate
Steadfast
Companions
And companionship
So close to us
x
They’re smart
Don’t miss that
They’re clever
Too
x
Sometimes they carry
Oh
So much
And are capacious
To take on our burdens
Too
x
They trim the verge
They stir the honey
In the pot
For consistency
Well
Of verge
And pot
Or rather
What’s inside
x
They have their homes
But leave them gladly
To find us
And then to journey
With us
When
They reach us
And we tell them
Or somehow we know
We’re moving on
x
You’re leaving
Then
We’re going with you
To the other side of the wood
Or through
Minas Morgul
Into Mordor
x
Like grace
They will go far with us
Wishing to go
The entirety
Of the calling
To adventure
x
And maybe they will
Or maybe there’s a part
We’ll have to go on
All our own
And then
To meet them later
(with success)
Someday to consider
Final matters
(then)
x
And in the mean time
There are parties
And there is
Conversation
On paths
Off the paths
On bridges
Inside when there are storms
Outside
After
x
Christopher Robin once
Said about his mother
Than when she left their home
To wander round
(that is, around)
The hundred-acre wood
Christopher had asked
Would she like him
To go with her?
x
She said no
But when I return
Greet me as if
I had been gone
A long
Long
Time
x
Maybe we always have
Such friends
As heroes or companions
Recalling
We are both
To each other
x
C L Couch
x
x
Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind.
“Pooh!” he whispered.
“Yes, Piglet?”
“Nothing,” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s paw. “I just wanted to be sure of you.”
― A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner
(cited at or by GoodReads)
x
Piglet, as you know, is the companion to Winnie the Pooh. Samwise (Gamgee) is the gardener and companion to Frodo Baggins, the bearer of the ring in The Lord of the Rings. Each separately or both together was or were mentioned in a sermon that I heard today. I’m sorry I don’t remember why. Jesus had companions, too, though that was not the pastor’s point (or they were not his points).
x
The story of Christopher Robin and his mother is told in The Enchanted Places, an autobiography.
x
Photo by Arwin Neil Baichoo on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Long-Distance Rates
(for Susan)
x
I live long distance
So must you
What with
E-mails
Texts
DMs
Chat rooms
And now the added layer
Of A-I
Bumfustication
x
Where are you
Where am I
We’re here
In our respective heres
We own our molecules
And due
The air we breathe
The ideal cycle of
Good air goes in
Bad air goes out
Oxygen
To carbon dioxide
x
We live with plants
They love us
For our air
And they make food possible
For us
x
Which makes me wonder if
Distance is
Migratory
After all
Driven by seasons
And circumstances
Dodge the volcano here
Fly around the first fire
Stay high
Over the earthquake
x
Closeness might be relative
With our relatives
(hah)
Or when we convene
From Mars
It will only work that way
In the irony of distance
Safe with colleagues in
The interplanetary room
Then
Even the distance
To the moon
Will seem as close
As Artemis
Hunting
Dancing
With her followers
x
But back
To you and me
Where it starts
And where it counts
God inside
They say
We say
And we believe
And let spirits
Manage that
x
Flesh is something else
We know
We zoom
And those are electrons
We hurry
But that’s style
x
We touch in the same place
And anymore
That’s miracle
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Resource Database on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Faith Alone
x
The Bible
Through a friend
Took us to Ephesians
Yesterday
Where we are saved
By grace through faith
One thing required
Of us,
To believe
x
Faith alone
Ignites the spark
As if the kindling
For the fire of grace
Were waiting
On the inside
All this time
x
Let salvation blaze
In heaven and
In testimony
While
Here we need to know
Whose means for fire
Rests
And waits
For the one thing
That matters
For a spark
A start
To save
x
Ephesians 2:8
(thank you, David)
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Andrew Seaman on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
2 poems about power
x
x
A Day without Power
x
The plug on the computer broke
Last night
I had what was left of
The battery’s charge
I thought about what to do
Without the use the computer
To get a part for the computer
x
I live in a small town
There aren’t big signs saying
Fix Your Computer Here
But I call a friend
And with real words we discussed
The problem
x
He knows more than I
And so helped me make a list
Of non-electronic possibilities
I moved on one of these
Using the car
(not a mouse)
Going to a place with walls
Not firewalls
Looking people in the face
And telling my brief story
x
We found something universal
That could fit
My machine
I purchased the new thing
That wasn’t cheap
But a day without
Going into two days
Was not desirable
x
In the world,
There are better needs
And bigger
I didn’t lose electricity
And I’m not in a war zone
I am poor
But there’s help to get me food
When need be
And sometimes other things
x
I am sick
And usually tired
But am ambulatory
And have lots of pills
That help
And there are side effects,
Which mostly thanks to taxes
And my age
I can afford
x
I tend to think your needs
Must be greater than mine,
More real
And more pressing
But in my larger story
There was one decent passage
I can share with you now,
Hopefully to hear
Your story, too
x
x
The Power of Friendship
x
We’ve been through COVID
Got our shots
More or less retired
From our jobs
We both believe
And sometime have
Good conversations about faith
We share books
We don’t shop
Or take trips together
We might cheer on different teams
He has a house
(mortgage paid off recently)
He is married
Has three children
I’m forever the third wheel
x
We give rides for each other
When needed
For tests or procedures
He’s gotten me to hospitals
When necessary
And sat through
Unovertly
Through many times of waiting
x
There’s power in this
Unplanned
We simply met through the department
And it’s been many years
Untypical perhaps
Too academic
I think we both
Like the mind
But there is more
As there is more to people
And a complex world
x
The future will provide
There is no prophecy
Apart
We have our issues
And our challenges
Together
What David and Jonathan
Might define
Or Gertrude and Alice
Something in the ether
And before the TV
Watching movies (us three)
On Friday
x
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Robert Linder on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Very Tall Bill
x
My college roommate died
I saw a blurb in a newsletter
Then went to find an article
He was a teacher
A theatrician
William Kennedy, Ph.D.
Known as Bill to most
And to me
He was a good guy
In the way that guys
That people
Can be good
He was ill
How badly I did not know
I guess the illness took him
At the last
His brother is survived
I knew him some
I knew Bill better
And sometimes wondered
What a pair
So oddly matched
His six-foot and a half frame
(I never really knew
the measurement)
My five-nine
Walking somewhere
At school
And the day we dared
Walk on the grass
Against a rule
To play some Frisbee
x
I am sad
Through and through,
It seems
So as if to feel numb
For a while, now
God take and keep Bill
Teaching
Writing plays
Making productions for
Heaven’s revue
I trust
There is Dad’s Root Beer there
In the green room
At the cast party
x
C L Couch
x
Bill taught and wrote, directed plays for decades in his scholarly, professorial career.
x
x
Comedy and Tragedy masks from the Princess Theatre, Decatur, Alabama
image by Marjorie Kaufman
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38298189
x
(x = space)
x
x
Starts with a Story
x
On a hazy
Saturday,
We talk about
The past
Long past
How the human genius
And the genius of creation
All ancient
Partnerships
Ask better of us
x
Look at the red curve
In Altimira
I think
An arch that goes much further
Than a count
A quota
Even for life
The lives of
Ancient companions
x
Red and black
Lines
So much more than
Counting
That have ancient majesty
A thinking of high places
x
Pointed Notre-Dame
Or round Saint Paul’s
May rise in tandem with
Ancient siblinghood
Reasons for the hunt
For the migration
After meals
For living
x
For living
x
C L Couch
x
x
The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber, David Wengrow
x
Bison in the cave of Altamira.
(image) By Daniel Villafruela. – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22778033
x
(x = space)
x
x
Doctrine for Three
x
In dim light,
Something was handed me
A gift
In the dark outside,
We talked about
His father
Who had died recently
Whom I liked
(whom he liked)
And of family, generally
x
His father’s legacy
Was to share outside
The family
I being one
I could argue worthiness
But then I’d miss the point:
Grace is free
It really is
Without conditions
And has to be
x
C L Couch
x
x
Anatomy of a dying stormcell. A stormcell dissolves over the San Francisco Peaks.
x
clcouch123 
Recent Comments