(x = space)
x
x
(sorry, this is long—and rather existential)
x
x
World without End except It Ends
(a kind of rhapsody)
x
And how are things
In Ukraine
And how are the Rohingya
The indigenous in
Amazonia
(where it
turns out
no tall women
cast like
Gal Gadot)
And in NZ
And the USA
x
And how are they recovering
From earthquakes in India
And Pakistan
(and give thanks for rescues
from the mines)
Plus the quakes before
In Syria
x
Dealing with the aftereffects
On Maui
And now a new spill
Of a million gallons
In our
Gulf
x
We go to war
Nature beats us down
And yet I’m quiet in a minute
(coughing slightly)
With the morning sun
And branches
Scraping a Hallowe’en hello
Against the window
x
And the kitchen sink
Is stopped
And there are fruit flies
From the bananas
That I dared to buy the other day
And sinuses
And heart disease
That go on
x
And there is not a feeling
Of assessment
Or of judgment
Things are the way they are
It is what it is
We are dust in the wind
Qué será
Será
(every generation
needs this lyric)
x
I am safe for now
That’s why
I don’t feel bitter in the world
Except sometimes
When the thought is thought
Or something happens
Even though there’s faith
x
And there is faith
Nothing extraordinary
One might think it
Feel it
Commonly
And every day
Through prayer enforced
In every hour
x
Faith in God
More than each other
Though in each other
Too
And even in the world
God help us
(and God will)
While we have the world
Not each for each one
But
(Dumas
D’Artagnan)
One for all
x
But faith
But hope and love
That’s how it goes
With the greatest
We are told
Is love
And have I love
Have you
And does it keep us
From the Trough
Of Despair
x
And to correct
That’s ancient Greek
And economics
While the giant is
Despair
And there is challenging
For Pilgrim
The Slough of Despond
(funny how some college readings
don’t stay with you)
x
Right or wrong
We have the world
And ourselves
We breath
Sometimes in contemplation
Seeking mysticism
Or simply get us through
The day before us
As we dread it
Or we fear it
x
There is a war zone
Though I don’t face
Maybe with you
Blood and disaster
Lack of reason
All of explosions’
Randomness
But there is a war zone
One big one everywhere
It’s spiritual
(big deal
you might say
in which
there are
no broken bones
no wishes
for a ceasefire
in so many other places)
Though it is real
x
It wants to pull us down
To smother
Or to drown us
So that we cannot
Look out clear
Or up above
For quotidian metaphor
Since underneath miasma
Or on the other side
Of despair
There is source of faith
As well
Reason to hope
Impetus to love
x
Shantih
I’m nobody
Too
Let’s not advertise
Keep it simple
Keep it quiet
Layer the world’s noise
Above
On all sides
Below
x
For on the breastplate
It is etched
That the source is everywhere
(like Savoir Faire
je ne sais quoi
and so stay
chez lui)
x
Hurry up
Please
We have no time
The Rider’s on the loose
The Dark is rising
Look for holiday scenes
Also in
Roll of Thunder
Hear My Cry
And even
Murder mysteries
(looking at you
Louise Penny)
x
And how have the spirits
Told us over ages
Still listening
By the adept
God blessing the dispossessed
Living within
Unjust environs
x
We devalue
The supernal
Yet look for it
In seminars
And everything
That tells us about God
Without God
Which is okay
I guess
Money that’s wasted
Must be wasted on something
x
Set God aside
(God is used to this)
How are we knit
Regardless
Well
Through capillaries
Synovia
All the ways our bodies
Work
More or less
x
In floors
Between skyscrapers
(yes
I know
‘til they fall)
In rivers moving through
The plains
To make grand canyons
x
Through overlays of roads
We lay of web
There are great potholders
With a better need
For infrastructure
But look at the lights
From space
The synaptic pattern
Of our world
x
For now
We got one
We have each other
x
And how are things
In Glocca Morra
I feel
I have to say that
And the tune go through my head
All day
And what is yours
x
We sing
If only through our brain cells
Maybe through memories
Or if we must
Out loud
x
As many say
(and sing)
The extraordinary
In the ordinary
We must have this
It parallels
The things made not
By us
But for us
After all
x
What crowns creation
Us or sabbath
And besides the heads
With angels dancing
For a count
Who really cares
Since God wears the crown
And that is that
x
A crown of Earth
Some think
Though it isn’t
There
x
Worlds of all kinds
Aren’t crowns
Or bear them
We visit
Truly visit
And we know
x
So let ambition
Have a better end
Reach in all directions
For what’s
Next
What is today’s
What’s in the hour
All the hours we
Are given
And have left
x
Let’s not be
Moribund
In attitude
Not while there is
So much
For us
And that we make
To make
To last
To prosper
Even in
Disposable economies
x
There is grace
With
Gracia
In the world
And intrusions of miracles
All the time
And we medically
Constructively
Artisanally
Make our own
x
What shall we make
Though
As we know
We don’t take it with us
Even cells
But leave things behind
That in eternity
Is dross
But become
Legacies
For those still
Living here
x
All the names
All the actions
All we own
Or think we own
They matter
Though all matter
Be reformed
(as in re-informed
and in
the usual kind
like Protestants
now let’s all cheer like Protestants
which is in the movie)
x
Nothing lasts
And everything lasts
It’s our memory
And God’s computer
Accounting angels
Excused from the heads of pins
To do the real
Work
In magnificent
And terrifying shape
Which is why
They’re always saying
Do not be afraid
x
Don’t be afraid
Though
There are fearful things
We can resort
To faith
Hope
Or love
Or simply
Painfully
Endure
x
Enduring’s good
(so’s faith)
For keeping us
Around
‘Til something better
Happens
And maybe resolution
For what has hurt
Has wounded us
For so long
Or a day
x
Hang on
Hurry
Or don’t hurry
We have the hour
Candlelight
Inside the mind
And with our bodies
Move ourselves
Whole or partial
Through the day
x
Dear ones
God is here
And we are here
Our touch is easier
For flesh
x
So let flesh
With spirit bless
The first
A mortal blessing
Less to bestow
But we can do it
The second
From an origin
That is not us
But like us
We are like
x
And let there be amen
If this is prayer
Or in another attitude
Say grace
That isn’t grace
But the best
We might do
x
C L Couch
x
x
(bye, bye, M—, well, you know who)
x
Photo by Justin Wilkens on Unsplash
The Yazoo River out of its banks near highway 61 North. Flood waters up to the levee road.
x
clcouch123 
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