New Calling
(sci-fi)
She had quit the complex
A while ago
A lay sister
“Mother” to the order
And the last one
Left
She had found a robe
Left by someone
Who had doubted
And she took
It
Wrapped it around her frame
Tightened the rope from which
Knots dangled
Then
Began her wandering
She needed shelter
Now and then
Sometimes finding a cave
Or what was
Left
Of a town
Sometimes hunched behind
A piece of wall that stood
While around
Hot wind or cold wind
Depending on the mood of Earth
Blew by
There was food
Mostly she tried to find
In
Nature
But would go with preserved things
If she must
She was no
Diogenes
She had no lantern
Though now and then
There was
A flashlight
She could use while the charge
Held out
And then the tube was
Useless
Unless she should need an abnormal
Straw
Now and then
Which she didn’t
She could make fire
She wasn’t looking for
The honest man
Another
Woman
Maybe
Other sister
From an order like her own
Another refugee
From ancient sanctity
In modern
Costume
Though regarding habits
And pardoning the pun unto
Herself
She practiced
None
No daily prayer
No minding
Of the liturgies of the hours
That she had often
Missed
Anyway
Due to exigency while
Mothering
The abbey
And now
She chose to
Ignore such things become
Anachronistic in
A planetary
Moment
In terms of humans gone
Mostly
She blamed men
Women wouldn’t do this
She had concluded
She didn’t look for God
For God must be
Allowing
Having let the world
If the human part alone
Go so far as to
Ruin
Nearly everything
And remove all company
Meaning
Companionship
So far
C L Couch
Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash
notes
lay brothers and lay sisters could and can take over practical concerns within monastic communities, while maintaining faithful identities avowed of their own
“none” would be another pun, regarding prayers at hours
of course, this isn’t real and isn’t prophecy (the future-telling kind)—rather Happy Hallowe’en!
Sable Invitation
My niece marries tomorrow
In Memphis
Yes
At Graceland
And
Yes
It’s Hallowe’en
Not only by occasion
But by theme
Her dress
Is black
And might be fitting
For a movie from the forties
That has a
Draping scene
With Barbara Stanwick
Or
Bacall
Or even earlier
With
Garbo
All of which to say
The dress is dark
Elegance
A masque after
For a reception
And there
Should
Be
Costumes
Watch out
Anna
That there are not
Seven chambers
The last room
Red
Really
Though I should be wishing
And I do
Wish
Happy wedding
And happier days of
Marriage
From your uncle
Too sick to move these days
From near
To far
Except
Like Thoreau
Perhaps
To wander in the mind
Farther than
Concord
Though more important
I do
Wish
Happy wedding
Happier days
Of
Marriage
C L Couch
Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash
(apologies to dogs—though my niece has a little dog, smaller than Toto, who’s named Éponine for the character in Les Misérables)
Candled also Candied Hallowe’en
Not a gore-fest
Please
Which means that
Franchised
Fields of blood won’t be
For
Me
A busy
Corn-maze would be
Pleasant
If the allergies
Go
All right
And there’s my heart
That has handled
Much
Though now is broken
Medically
Still can appreciate
Orange and black
Purple
Highlights
Civil costumes
Not civil servants
So much as
Witches white
With
Courtesy
Casper ghosts
And such
And of course
Sugar
For diabetes
Notwithstanding
But let’s have some chocolate
Please
Some chocolate
If I can do
(w for m)
Samhain at all
In appreciation of tradition
Tilting with the axis
Respectfully
If
Quixotically at the
Time
Of year
Then maybe those
Better-knit
Or not
With whom I may celebrate
Or who
May celebrate with me
Going
If vicariously for
The chocolate
C L Couch
Photo by Heather Green on Unsplash
Monoprint Texture
an abstract pumpkin patch? (not really)
(x = space)
x
x
this was written to a prompt, requesting that we each write a flash horror story; I chose science fiction and verse
x
x
The Haunted Spaceship
x
How did it happen
Everything so new
It shone until it didn’t
Dials webbed over
Levers tarred
Footsteps on the ladders
No one there
A crew long dead
Remains reduced
To bones and ashes
What had happened
Smiles into cameras
Perfect launch
More smiles
Funding possibilities
Enhanced
First step into space
This far
To chase the satellites
That sang of Earth
Sending the best images
Of us
x
So far away
Holo-communications
Brought them near
And we were glad to see them
The balanced crew
Representative
Diverse
And curious
Standing for nations newly
Treated into harmony
The fates of nations
Then
Riding along
x
Voyager 9 had sent
A message as a surrogate
That said
Basically
Y’all come
X-y-z coordinates were sent
Along with certain helps
To make the journey
Doable and done
And so went
All Earth along
x
And now a year or so
Into it
Passing a dark star in
Every way
Not foreseen
And then they started dying
Believing they were haunted
First
The ghosts in the machines
Entrails in food
Eyeballs in coffee
Someone did the research
On how to frighten Earthers
Locked in a ship
Passing through outer space
So far between worlds
x
The air grew thin
According to the meters
Hallucinations thus enhanced
Even if they knew
They drew within themselves
And then took to each other
Unlocked weapons
Made their own
Attacked with nails
So well-manicured
Pretending claws
x
The last two killed each other
There was no final message
The sun poured in
With unseen rays
Into chambers unadjusting
Atomizing everything
Except the ship
Become like consequences
Used to say
Of the breeder bomb
x
A resource now
The Everest now rests
A peak in space
Of our adventure
It waits
Someone will come
From either place
Who knows
Or doesn’t know
What happened
And what happens now
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
The Treat
x
One time
And a few more times
There were
Doughnuts
By Dolly Madison
Advertised during It’s the
Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
And other specials
x
There were eyeholes
We could barely see through
Well enough
But there were parents
And we did all right
And sometimes in other houses
There were scenes of
Evening parties we could see
(if not that well)
x
And there are photographs
Of a me I do not know
Because
I was on the inside
Trying to look through
And my imagination
Took me other places
Through the night
And the cold air
As I ran
To the next house
x
C L Couch
x
x
x
clcouch123 
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