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Mammoth Find

Mammoth Find

Something fantastic was
Found under OSU—now,
In my part of the land,
OSU stands for “The”
Ohio State

Here, however, we’re
Talking about Oregon,
Where by the way members
Of my family have
Attended

Though none ten thousand
Years ago, which is the
Counting of this find—
Generally, we (and I
Mean you and me) were
Around as early wanderers

And inhabitants and so
Might have run from the
Massive body of the bones,
When enfleshed and nature-
Armed, we have now
As a mammoth—you
Know, the woolly kind

We’d have eventually
Turned and hunted down
The one in stone calcified
That we treasure now

Free away from
Primal scenes and needs
We may make friends
And maybe make amends

With its bones dryly,
Comfortably
Without tooth and claw
To rend in red our fragile
Skin

We (less bravely, perhaps)
May say:

Welcome, Ice-Age ally, to
Our better art and science

(“Nature, red in tooth and claw”—In Memoriam, Tennyson)

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Psalm 16, a song of (USA) Thanksgiving (Day)

Psalm 16
a song of (USA) Thanksgiving (Day)

The Canadians had their day already.
I wonder if that’s because they’re
more easily, readily thankful.

In the USA, there’s so much to
be thankful for. I grew up in
Pittsburgh, and I like returning
there. Pittsburghers tend to
speak their minds, and their
minds are good. (Their driving’s
better, too.)

I have family. The five of us with
spouses, children of the new
generation, and pets (old, new). We
are scattered, which is sad, though
in our ways we keep in touch.

Friends I have, a small circle. And
I have made it smaller. Not the
happier of moves. But the friends
I have I cherish. They are good
for me, so good. They circle out
in nearness, which is the sense of
those we know and how and when.

I live alone and often feel the
peace of that. (I first typed pace
for peace, and I enjoy that too.)
I sleep badly, which means I have
hours of the day to be awake
and doing such as this. Would
someone else put up with that?

Hannah, my cat of nineteen
years. She is gone now, and
eighteen years were pretty good.
Then she faded fast. Not bad,
all in all. She was the queen and
I her knave. She ruled in blessed
benevolence, scolding me for what
is apt within the catly-noble
mind (which means daily
reprimand for not mind-reading
every whim). Still good, good-humored
company. Now a loss, though better
she go first. She awaits me on the other
side, ready to scold me what else I
missed in mortal time.

Mostly. I have you. Lord, I
know you love me anyway and
always. You love me in darkness
and in light. I am perpetually
astounded. And, yes,

thankful for this, all this, the
plenty that you give.

Thank you, Lord—Love, me

0

Blogging 101, “Who I am and why I’m here”

My Response

posted in the Commons

I am Christopher (Couch). Mostly, I’ve been a teacher. I took Writing 201, sort of put a blog together, and now have posts, responses, followers, and friends. What to do next is my current concern. I’d like my blog to look more like a blog–more like my blog, I guess. I’m looking forward to getting to know folk here. Thank you!

now more of the rest of the assignment

I do keep a journal. I don’t keep it well. Recently, however, I resumed journaling daily (nearly always daily).

The first suggestion I received about having a blog was from my spiritual director. I guess he liked the way I express myself about big matters. There are some things (beyond blogs) that don’t confuse me, and one of these is the process of faith.

Why believe? How do we know we have faith? How’s do we know there’s a God to have faith in? Why do we sin? Why is there evil? Does love prevail? The responses to these are not pat and are not easy, especially when the struggle’s on. But I am more than willing to talk about it all, keeping the communicating respectful.

And I post my own thoughts, anyway—not to evangelize so much (I’m a poor evangelist) as to share what’s in the room and keep the door open for visitors and friends.

My interest is ecumenical, by the way, much more so than sectarian. There are many traditions and those who follow no tradition. All deserve respect and appreciation.

So I want to blog because I’ve been encouraged. Because I’ve tried it and gotten good response. Thanks to Writing 201, I’m corresponding with folk from many time zones, many nations. I am thankful.

It’s been poetry, response to other’s works, and bits of general commentary. But, practically (and creatively) speaking, I think I barely have a blog. I selected a picture and was given a name. Maybe I picked the name; at best, it seems to have been a matter of negotiation with WordPress.

I’ve learned to post and can read another’s post except I do that pretty much in response. I’ve not been out there, so to speak, in anything like the fullness of blogging cyberspace. I’m not sure if I could find my own blog without using another’s as a touchstone.

So I need to learn a great deal more. Thank you!

7

a poem to say t.t.f.n. to Writing 201 and friends

Our Way, Friend and Friends

(“My Way” is a song written by Jacques Revaux, Claude Francois, Gilles Thibaut, Paul Anka—popularly recorded by Elvis Presley and by Frank Sinatra)

“And now, the end is near
So I face the final curtain”

A melancholy song about endings
Though it’s kind of a conceit

Not based on final assessment
Or judgment in life

But an expression, a claim
A kind of righteous claim on life

“Regrets, I’ve had a few
But then again, too few to mention”

Yes, we have regrets, and I don’t know
About too few

I would change things; so, I
Think, might you

We don’t act, we don’t choose
In a vacuum of discretion, since

What we enact, from inner to outer
Performance, affects others, too

It does—we might think, one by
One, we have no power

And what we do does not matter
But we do, and it does

“The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way”

Well, the blows fall all around
And others are affected, too

The song is a cheat—though I like
The tune—for there is good

In the reality of knowing we are not
Isolate, even in responsibility

We work together, however
Unconsciously

So let’s do it consciously
And so we have: we have worked

Together, and for what we’ve made
I’m thankful

Thank you, thank you, each and all, for
Making it, not one

But more than one
For doing it our way

Our way, better
Our way, real

Our way, our way

C L Couch

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