tenebrous
the devil wins
today
having turned the human forces
in the world
toward
death
humiliation of what’s good
even perfect
that traditions
say
came to save us from
ongoing
serpent
temptation
the twisting of what has been made
so good
bad
grotesque
the evil these point
toward has
won
without awareness
then
of three-day’s waiting time
the good is gone
or
must hide
surrender to new nothingness
of faith
and hope
and
love
c l couch
for Good (ironic) Friday
photo by Aleksei Agafonov on Unsplash
After the Day Before
(Holy Saturday 2024)
It must have been terrible
For those in sadness
And in terror
Who forgot
Or forsook
The prophecies were shared with them
The new ways to live
That scandalized
Now turned into fodder
For new charges
And arrests
It must have seemed
That everything was over
One and done
And extraordinary
Story
Abruptly ended
Like a battle
In blood and
Death
And loss or victory
While hades had the victory
And underneath
The devil had to laugh
While all they could
Do
Was peel in hiding heat
Freeze the blood from moving
Every hope
Removed
Left on that trash heap
For a hill
Three deaths
The day before
And now
Did anyone count
Toward
After
Or maybe there was only dust
Thrown on the synapse
Of the mind
Heavy stones upon
Like confession
The heart
C L Couch
Photo by Ian Keefe on Unsplash
an empty cup
(for Good Friday)
fill it with water
for we are thirsty
fill it with wine
that we might have some truth
fill it with vinegar
for discipline
fill it with blood
to sanctify the ages
fill it with love
that we might drink deep
c l couch
photo by Anita Jankovic on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
a promise to make do, make better
x
nature will not mind
if we go outside
to kill him on the hill
far enough
away
from the glory
of our temple
and the palace
and the city
x
maybe if we pledge
to clean up the trash after
make the hillside
beautiful
maybe re-purposed for
a cemetery
or something
x
nature will not mind
if we control things
for a while
until
we have what we want
x
God appears
approving of our final plans
which means
our enemies are gone
or prostrate
and we are left standing
everywhere
to rule
from being right
x
pause
x
what’s that
it’s dark
it shouldn’t be
there are noises
above and below the ground that
sound eldritch
even the cries from people
over the sobs
from the few who weep
honestly
x
and now the earth is
split
and through so many places
so that we have to add to burying
xxxxxwe have to fit in
xxxxxmore to till in
xxxxxnail over
xxxxxthen varnish
xxxxxor whitewash
x
nature
we want to be your friend
we only need you for a while
to go along
with a simple execution
over and upon
one of your hills
x
come on
work with us
play
with us
x
we know you like to play
we experience
the seasons change
even through
our
desert places
x
but then
the wilderness will change as well
when paradise is made
because
God is on our side
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Dylan McLeod on Unsplash
x
(o = space)
o
o
Nothing Good
(Good Friday)
o
X
Saint Andrew’s cross
Peter’s cross is upside-down
Francis
Who was not crucified
Favored the T, it seems;
He received stigmata
o
The shape of history
The record of our story
Told in a symbol
Without words
One who knows no words
Inked or engraved
Still knows the story
Holding close
The symbol
Of enmity
Prevailed,
A death upon the cross,
Then hidden in the ground
o
There, that’s done:
Both broken discipleship
And keeping pristine empire
Are served
o
Such a cruelty of days
This day
To call it good
Nothing good about it
Really
We were at our worst
Nothing good about it
o
C L Couch
o
o
o
(x = space)
x
x
Good for Someone
x
He cried out,
Then death was quiet
Silencing everything
At last
x
And was there keening,
I think so
For a time
Then silence imposed
By Jerusalem,
By Rome
x
The Earth exhausted,
Unknowing silence
That was a matter of salvation:
Now we say not dead
But sleeping
x
Sin is quiet
For a time
(for three days)
Waiting
Wondering about
What will happen next,
What it should
Do
x
Sin awaits
A guideline
Now that
God is dead
x
Should there be smirking
Or a party by
The gates of hell
While Earth
And all humanity must wait,
Though we must think it’s over
Why might we think
Something new
Should happen now?
x
We forget our stories
Let go all prophecy
We had our
King for a day
The welcome of a hero
Who has died with open wounds
Somehow bleeding
For the rest of us
New ritual
Or sacrifice of old
x
A burial is proper,
If hurried
To be done by sunset,
Sunset all;
Wounded and sleeping
Earth is covered over
With a stone,
Setting a guard to
Keep it all that way
x
Cruelty is tired
Everything must sleep
For a while, now
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by kyle larivee on Unsplash
it seemed like mother nature wanted to spotlight this fellow
x
Feel It
(think it through)
We call it Good Friday,
I’m not sure why
Because it was good for us that
Jesus died and,
Like the best sin-eater that he was—
King for a day and fool
In the world’s eyes—he
Consumed our sins in
Ignoble majesty,
A perfect person without sin himself,
And died
Otherwise, we should call it
What it was, the
Awful Friday
Terrible in blood and wood and metal,
The sounds of weeping
And of cursing,
‘Til the sun stopped shining and the
Earth was split
Because he died
I sit sipping ginger ale and
Nibbling toast, while
I try to write;
This
Is no version of the meal
That instigated things, though
We call it “last”
If I want, I may take part
In re-living and remembering this
At church
There is no last for me
Or you,
As there was for him
Though we might feel it in
Fear and isolation
There is something more—frankly,
I’m not sure
What it is exactly—and
We can have it
(inexactly)
Because there was this
Good death today
C L Couch
Photo by Ave Calvar on Unsplash
Holey Week 6
The Rite of Reconciliation
(Good Friday)
Today is an awful day
Tomorrow will be worse
The certainly of death
And burial inside stone
With a heavy rock in front
To certify the edict
That this one had to perish
Officially executed
The end of a movement, too
And all the trouble pricking
Consciousness he caused
The subcutaneous agenda
The wife of Herod should be pleased
Another body to dissect
For an abomination-treasury
We learn today that life is cheap
That perfect people die
What hope for the rest of us
Whose morality is mingled
With selfish purpose,
Craven understanding
Caiaphas has won
Pilate has been mollified
Lip-service to Rome
The mob will lose its agitation
Everyone will leave
The oppressiveness of daily life return
I guess no one anticipates Masada
Those who should know better still
Will suffer
Grim happiness is undercut
By that which greed denies
There is a lesson here
It will be hardest on believers
Who do not falter
Who must face the scorn of those who
Will not look at them at judge them silently
The faithful hurt in many ways
The killing spirit spread throughout the land
No one in the firing squad knows
Who shot the fatal bullet
Unanimity in anonymity
Everyone’s a killer
The ire today is awful
The void tomorrow will be awfuller
We say now we wouldn’t do it
Look around, we do it every day
C L Couch
Aerial view of Masada (Hebrew מצדה), in the Judaean Desert (Hebrew: מִדְבַּר יְהוּדָה, Arabic: صحراء يهودا), with the Dead Sea in the distance.
Andrew Shiva / Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25671212
Deconstruction
The sky cries into
Chiseled ground
Wedged open by sin
Up on the hill
The day is night
And love is hate
All things turned over
As a shovel upends soil
To dig a grave
C L Couch
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/194288171402151308/
Jill Lesoing saved to Meet Me In Montana…
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