hymn contemporary
the church’s one foundation
(still) is Jesus Christ, her lord
the church is she
like the damsel in distress
needing rescue
Christ is the hero
drawing her
from the drowning water
cutting her ties
by the villain
to the railroad tracks
like a melodrama
and why not
we’re talking about
villains and heroes
and mortgages
and the need for something better
as in more
than who we are
and we go on to sing
that Jesus will not fail
which is not bad
which is good
in a hero
coda
next hymn
or next version
the church will be a he
and will be rescued
by a she
by the female hero
who is Christ
like Zenobia
or Boudica
but better than the Romans
defeating the inimical
forever
and other genders
or what is genderless
in life
that has life
the organic
I suppose
the inorganic
too
there is a Lord
not only over all
but who is all
to make the rest
only a little separate
in the deified scheme of things
by identity
and purpose
and will
c l couch
("The Church's One Foundation" is a Christian hymn; this morning a contemporary fusion of the hymn was shared)
photo by Jefferson Santos on Unsplash
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Be, My Soul
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Be still
(imperative
second-person subject
that is
you)
This
That doesn’t mean
Don’t move
As much as to quiet
Everything
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The rush of blood
The frantic function of our organs
The ragged parts of breath
Meaning
The ragged parts of spirit
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Smooth out everything
For a time
And in that time
Hear
More than ears
What God might say
Or you and God
To each other
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C L Couch
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“Be Still, My Soul,” a hymn by Kathrina von Schlegel (1855)
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Psalm 46
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Photo by Felix Mittermeier on Unsplash
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(x = space)
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Let Angel Minds Inquire More
(two poems)
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And Can It Be
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The stakes are doomsday,
The life of the world
There are sides
There is disbelief
There is, as people have,
Denial
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What comes next
Is mystery
The greedy hope to outlive everyone
At the cost of everyone (else)
There is delusion
All around
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Maybe we’ve given up
On bomb shelters
Except the big ones no one knows
The war is still blue
With cold
There are madmen all around
Maybe madwomen
Maybe not
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That They Should Gain
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There are those who gain from this
While the bombs are kept at bay
(in bays)
Accruing
At the cost of someone else
Reducing supply,
Raising prices
Getting us used to
Three dollars a gallon
Against the early day
When it was thirty-five cents
Or the day
A while before
To fill the tank on two dollars
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Should we lose it all
Maybe not in war
Maybe in destroying Earth
In other ways
(we know these, too)
We won’t believe
It is that bad
Or we shall gain it all
Back again
And more
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In less
We think there’s more
A trickster’s game
The raven sometimes has a plan
To teach us
Something
There is hope
In its cry
It cannot be
Too late
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C L Couch
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with thanks to Charles Wesley, brother of John
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By © User:Colin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48615973
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(x = space)
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Remembering a Song Often Sung on Sunday Night
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O God, our help in ages past
Our hope for years to come
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It’s Sunday night
And the chapel service is ending
We’ll all be leaving soon
To ponder Monday morning
Then what should be done tonight
That might be done
And what will be ignored because
The sabbath time
Is measured, still
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Our shelter from the story blast
And our eternal home
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Sometimes it’s too dark
And quiet
The winter will be worse
Not to be bored or frightened
We don’t fear wolves
Or wolverines so much, anymore
Except the allegories
We encounter Monday morning
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Time like an ever-rolling stream
Bears all its sons away
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Daughters are as sons
All are borne by mortal time
Away from what we know
Into a mystery
That we believe has
A final solution
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They fly forgotten as a dream
Dies at the opening day
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The scripted dream
Cannot be retained
Maybe it’s a contract
Between imagination
And the ages
Some keep a journal
About retaining something
The week begins,
Regardless
With the night, the dawn
And then the waking hours
Everything we know
Pushing away
What subconscious rules there are
When sleeping
Plus working out in
One brief act after another
Who the playwright is
Who will not let us
Keep our lines
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Amen
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C L Couch
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Photo by Deleece Cook on Unsplash
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clcouch123 
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