disseasonability
an easy winter
brutal summer
heat
in exchange for
the snow
fair exchange?
there is romance
in the snow
yes
and peril, too
but do we forget
(speaking in January)
that
there is danger
in the high heat,
too
not to mention
polar ice shelves
sliding into
sea
exposing land
which is interesting
though
in fact
we are losing our cool
so to say
and for real
the Earth is heating
and we need
the heat
and shall we forget
we need the cold
as well
sorry
we’re not halfway
keep talking winter
in the northern world
at least
and maybe ask
down south
how the summer’s
doing
c l couch
photo by Liana S on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
Hellish Season
x
It’s summer
And it’s hot
The sky too dense
With particulates
Of fires
And there’s
An irony of floods
And there is war too hot to fight
Yet fought
There
And in
We’ve heard
The war at home
x
Too much heat
It could seem
For sin
And yet not (yet) hot enough
To forestall
Our trying
x
And should
The hellish rise
In us
Around us
There might be balm
Valued
And adored
x
Christ
(of battle
of
the coming of the Lord)
Spirit
And angels
Come with mercy
Like cool liquid
On fevered heads
Once bodies
Have been taken
From the fray
x
And then the heat
Might break
A cooling rain
In fact
Begins and lasts
All the next day
Like the fourth day after
Three days
Of terrifying
Awesome
Blooded battle
All battles drawing blood
But this
Specifically at Gettysburg
x
Four days at Gettysburg
The fourth day for rain
To wash the field
To mist the ignominy
Either of retreat
Or too much victory
x
C L Couch
x
x
(after three days of accidental, built-up, pent-up, exhausting, murderous battle, starting on the first, the battle at Gettysburg was done and on the fourth day there was rain—ironic for the nation, being the Fourth of July, of course our independence day for the USA)
x
Photo by Henrique Sá on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
two poems for July
x
x
x
Watch Your Dogs
x
Dogs don’t like fireworks
Many veterans don’t
All kinds of people
Be with them
Sit with them
Support K-9 programs
Support people
Not everyone likes fireworks
x
x
x
x
x
Hello, July
x
Hello, July
It’s hot and humid here
Not much more to say
But, well
x
There’s a lot of green
And other colors, too
Not like fall
But everything that lives
Does fly and otherwise
Visit us a season
As if
Forever’s come to call on
Bees and butterflies
x
The fireflies
Still have a season
Though, like strawberries,
They flourish in June
Around here
x
Storms appear and fall
Blow things around
Hot and wet fronts bumping
Around
Generally, we say
We need the water
x
x
x
x
Flavor of Hibiscus
Photo by Michael Dziedzic on Unsplash
x
x
x
C L Couch
x
Cool Runnings
It’s another dark day
Outside not inside
Inside the lamps are lit
Casting glows that make
Me think of a winter day
Someone should be telling
Stories next to the
Fire (there is no fireplace)
At least it will be a day
For imagination
Summer is a few days away
The forecast calls for
Temperatures in the eighties
But inside I will think
Of cold
Of wanderers across a frozen
Waste of buried land, aiming for
A rescue so that there
Might be a chance of home
After the questing’s done
It’s a day for a lengthy
Story
Maybe you will join me
Tell me yours
C L Couch
Image of Diana Wall
By Byron Adams – Portrait, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48699119
High Level
There is a mourning dove visiting
Outside
Have I mentioned that,
He or she?
It pushes its tail feathers through the
Padding I pushed in from the other side
Next to the
Baffles of the air-conditioner
In the afternoon, the bird is gone
I push the padding
Back
In the morning, it returns
To push the foam strip through
With the tail again
I want to negotiate
The bird may stay, but I need
The air
It’s hotter than the season typically
Affords,
And I write on my side
For now, it’s only us
I’m not sure what it’s doing, she or he,
Building a nest maybe
Mourning doves
Aren’t good at that,
Though I’m impressed with the
Chartres-like, circular
Labyrinth design
Of round, broken sticks
Arranged, frankly, more like a coaster
For my mug of coffee than
An avian home
For old or new
We’ll work something out
If not, winter finally will
Drive
Us both away
C L Couch
photo by Terry Johnson
clcouch123 
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