Dawn Patrol
1
The light is up
Gray light of
Normal dawn
It’s pretty much a wash
Just now
Though I think there is a promise
Of more colors
Like crayons
Beneath the single tone
Which I guess is a crayon color
Too
And hip
Gray trends
After all
Though I prefer the brown tones
Then add in some orange
Then the rest
The dawn
It will have these
But also start
With pink
And be a marvel
Sunrise
On Earth
A rival experience
In the Solar System
Because we also rise
With air
And with water
And with fertile ground
Sometimes planted
Sometimes fallow
In relationship
So that life
Might be obviously abundant
While we guess about the others
Out there
Here
2
The gray is lighter
Now
And there is more
The movie’s almost over
And I’d like to think
Maybe I could sleep at last
And
For a while
I don’t know
I guess I could let you know
Though you have troubles
Of your own
Of course
I know
C L Couch
Photo by Matias Luge on Unsplash
ain’t together
(roaming like clouds or cellphone signals, I apologize)
anticipation
like the ketchup
rain
should come
at any moment
through
the unrelenting gray
to the west
and south
severer things have happened
and
I think
we
shall get the dregs
of it
flooding tempests
and tornados
well
it’s windy
now
though I don’t think
shelter-driven
though
of course
I could be wrong
and I’ll
be looking for
a doorframe
after all
and you be safe
unless
you be
stormchasers
then
I don’t what
to say
how about
God speed with you
and make wings
ahead
blow you the other way
when exigent
need be
coda
I’m sorry
we aren’t going through
what you go through
in Ukraine
or in Gaza
or
in parts where the same things
happen
and we don’t hear about
so much
I’m not talking about
bullets
killing or
explosions
the terror
then the thirst
and hunger
after
the infections
and the awful
draining
fear
for families
and I’m not in Philadelphia
where someone had to shoot
at Muslims
having Eid al-Fetr
at the end
of Ramadan
and I’m not everywhere
where white folk
hate the Jews
or anyone who’s not
so white
(I guess I mean
pure
ethnic white
whatever hell that means
as a thought
or an
agenda)
anyone
that is
whom we’re afraid of
as the next
majority
in number or
otherwise in power
well
I merely
started talking
about
weather
and by
implication
climate change
but
maybe
everything’s extreme
anymore
and the peace of moderation
sometimes called
the swing vote
might be desired
more than
ever
or I’ll only speak
for me
from a kind of centered place
that I hope is not
the hurricane’s
but God’s
eye
c l couch
photo by Clay LeConey on Unsplash
with at the start a reference to a TV commercial from the '70s
(x = space)
x
x
sun ascending blue
(haiku)
x
sun ascending blue
into gray imagining
a turn in fortune
x
c l couch
x
x
photo by jack levick on unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
This Autumn Morning
x
Gray with
A patch
Of red
Inside black
Branches
Red leaves
Attached
Maybe until
A winter wind
Comes to
Take them
Through the
Air until the
Breath’s expired
Then gravity
Must have
Its way and
Like the roots
We can see
And-or touch
Must lie upon the
Earth
And inside
For a while
x
C L Couch
x
x
Joshua Tree National Park
Photo by Matt Artz on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Waves
x
What do I want
To say to you
That it’s a lovely day
In an eccentric way
Everything is played down
The takeover of fall
Changing tones on trees
And on the ground
Everything played down
Under a graying sky
With brighter sunlight
Coming through
From time to time
As if the wind
(I see it on the leaves)
Were pushing the clouds out
Or the sunlight in
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Fineas Anton on Unsplash
x
Slow Glass
The birds are quiet today
The sky is still
Precursors to rain, perhaps
Earlier, I saw a squirrel outside the window
On a lower branch
The animal stopped, gray arches for
Its back and a brushy tail
Turned one way and then another
We, smaller beast and I, looked at each other
For a while
Already out of reach
We could afford to stare
Now we might serve as memories
To each other, through the glass
C L Couch
“Light of Other Days” is a science fiction short story by Irish writer Bob Shaw. It was originally published in August 1966 in Analog Science Fiction and Fact. The story uses the idea of “slow glass”: glass through which light takes years to pass. Bob Shaw used this idea again in later stories.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_of_Other_Days
Photo by Daniel McCullough on Unsplash
Old Times There
It’s an unordained day
Unornamented, too
Too soon for everything like that
Late November, cold and chilly
Sky flat with pale gray,
Everything else dark against it
A perfect day for candlelight, I think
Maybe pretend it is an older time
When caves were justified
Along with houses
And people might keep moving for
A life
A livelihood as tinkers, fighting
For hire, or maybe storytelling
In a common room
Manor or pub
(I don’t think churches or temples
were lent out)
Small town, desert place,
Or greater city
Told, though I think sung
Maybe couplets, maybe rhymes
A language we will never speak again
Food and drink for fees,
Maybe coins
A night to sleep inside
Up and out next day
To travel to whatever
In an older age provides
C L Couch
Photo by Moodywalk on Unsplash
Some magic is happening in every moment, have a close look.
On the Agenda
When all is gray
Not boring but not
Inspiring
Where do we go
A psalmist looks to the hills
The hills are not the source of strength
Though they look strong
Gratitude has no tone and is
Every shade
The day could be on fire, after all
The psalmist knows
But relief might come
Over the horizon
Or through cables, now
And satellites bouncing rays
Invisibly
To send the word, machine commands
Binary data for agenda-forming
Open or in hiding makes the difference
That’s a problem with gray
It’s hard to see,
Texture’s a challenge
Direction is unclear
But it could be a vacuum
Not only vacant but absconding
With material and hope
Help out with everything that’s left
Someone else’s day
Might be on fire
C L Couch
Photo by Greg Shield on Unsplash
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