reader response
blue to gray
sorry
it was a pleasant day
with winter weather in the fifties
to encourage going out
for
the day if
not
to ski
we’re in the East
sorry again
c l couch
(reader-response is a way to describe the process of getting into a book or anything with text; we read and then respond and how we respond by what we read and who we are is, well, important, ‘cause it is; here for a graduate-student lark, I’m applying the notion to reading the day and then responding, reader response to weather, as it were)
photo by Kourosh Qaffari on Unsplash
it’s day though so dark
taking sun and then moonlight
need new ways to see
c l couch
photo by Josep Martins on Unsplash
more: https://gumroad.com/josepmartins [from the photographer]
Barcelona, Spain
gray time
it’s gray
as if the lightest fog in front
so
light’s ironic
without evidence
but
knowing that it’s time
Earth knows
while
it’s whole around the sun
fractured
since making and
in time
shall have the splinters going through
the core
and
all of us
gray like these days
shall hopefully have left
gone
to
another world that has
tectonically
so far to go
c l couch
photo by NASA Hubble Space Telescope on Unsplash
quiet as a
I sit
on an old creaking
and solid bench
and could I be quiet
like that church mouse over there
I neither see
nor hear
but wears gray
with brown
and
needing to clean the dust of Earth
when drops of water I might
find
somewhere there
c l couch
photo by Zoshua Colah on Unsplash
Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, NYC, USA
The View You Know
Sun
Out front
Only afternoon out
Back
Both struggle
Not with each other
But
With gray
Black buildings
Black
Branches
Inside
Things are grayed as well
I could be reminded of ethical
Situations
But
It’s not school
I am
Nonplussed
Could use some learning to apply
To like
The gray
Maybe draw gray things
Try not
To think in gray
Until a situation might arise
Appreciate gray shadows
In the day
A gift
Close my eyes
Appreciate the fiery black inside
While I
Nap
Which seems
A gray thing to do
Maybe
I could try
To smell
Gray
To taste
As if from the air
To touch one of gray’s shadows
To listen
To
The words from gray
‘Cause
I could be missing out
On
A gray gospel
C L Couch
Photo by Henry & Co. on Unsplash
“In That Silent Mood” [given image title]
a few lines as if in part above the abbey
a few lines of nature
and of God
looking outside
nothing
grand to see
with no majestic sound
rather
the grandness and the majesty
are in the small networks
of the branches
dark tendrils
once the vessels of green leaves
then shall all be green again
after three months
when green
shall
smally
grandly
majestically
overwhelm impending gray
again
that is nature
and is God
the work
at least
in lines
of
seasons’ prophecy
c l couch
photo by Brussel Banda on Unsplash
Last Gray Day
Last day of gray
Someone
Says whose job it is to say
I guess
So maybe yellow tomorrow
Red
And orange
Burnt-umber crayon
Too
Though gray belongs
In autumn
In spite of its mood
By tone
Interesting
And
Cloudy days
Out back of fall
C L Couch
Photo by Fons Heijnsbroek on Unsplash
End of Gray
(sorry, here be, might be, a rant)
A gray day
Did you notice
Maybe you walked through
The lack
Of sun
Of blue
Well
By unnoticing
Normal enough
After all
We’ll have these back
The sun and
Blue
Won’t we
We also have
Perfected images
Machined and framed
And
Perched
Somewhere
Or we move our digits
Over
Surfaces of phones
Or manipulate
Tablet or
Desktop screens
Or in
Our cars
Or on still
More
Shiny and electric
Screens
(still more)
Actual
Sun
And blue
Will be back
Sure as seasons
Until
We learn to crack the Earth and
Do it
For profit somehow
Or in another madness
Say
Because we can
Which
Like nanites and A-I
Override the fears
We
Did not
Have the time or chance
To be informed
To have
Or
(much less)
Choose
C L Couch
Photo by Liam Hunter on Unsplash
Found deep in the woods with no explanation.
[photographer’s caption, adding a period]
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
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