The Last Month of the World
Immanuel
With humans God
Or some such
The point being that
We celebrate
We even
Have some special songs
Only to announce
That God is coming
Though God won’t be here
But
In twenty-five more days
And how shall we fill the time
Decorating
Shopping
Going to the movies
The Oscar-hopefuls will slip in
In time for
Consideration
And the wars and famines
And atrocities continue
Maybe
Unabated
Maybe with a thought
Toward easing up
By the twenty-fifth
As a universal
Holiday
As in
You don’t have to be in the selected
Group
You don’t have to believe
As I imagine there were atheists
Between the trenches
On that eve
In 1914
Though I’m thinking
The world is often an awful place
Awfuler
This year
And I’m thinking nothing will
Change by then
The end of the month
This
Year
Then
More’s the pity
As some say
More’s the loss of life
Of limbs from the
Otherwise-knit living
Of heath through
Preventable disease
Or the lack
Or loss of
Fire
Through more attention paid
And even floods be lessened if
We did not pollute
So much
And there are twenty-five
Days
To fix everything
And
Well
I don’t think it will
Happen
Because it might
Take
Twenty-six days
Maybe even thirty
C L Couch
Photo by Lucas George Wendt on Unsplash
(x = space)
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A Gift from Western Asia to the World
(on the day of Saint Nicholas)
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God
It’s dark
The light is coming
Like Immanuel
Who’s here
And always coming
To the call of the season
Advent
After all
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Like the advent of the airplane
Or hybrid roses
Bred intentionally
Everywhere
x
For good or ill
We co-invent new things
And yet in a dark street
Like my own
With one light for company
You came into
The world
Seemingly deserted
Certainly bereft
Of a savior
Who would match divinity
With barbarism
To save us
All barbarians
x
Who knew nothing
Of an inner life
With you
Except by accident
Of prophets
And some other heroes
So that we knew of virtue
And your name
Beyond your name
But in a real way
To have such things
Well
We were lost
x
And in that town
Razed and rebuilt
So many times
Under one light
You came
Nicene
Human and
Divine
To bridge the damnable gap
That we had built
Through consequence
Of sin for will
And simply keeping
Only
To our side
x
To bring us over
Come to us first
As at the first
There was creation
And now
Reconciliation
For the one-sided
Who remain
Lost that way
x
And shall you give by grace
To every generation
Hope in each one born
Offered many times
In each one’s
Life
To appreciate what’s on the other side
Of you
And us
To model the walking over
Four ourselves
And for our children
x
And shall we call this grace
Of something else
It is the same
The offer of salvation
Through bridge-building
In the flesh
Of your child
The child that’s you
And us
Somehow
x
The advent
And the miracle
On arrival
x
Such wonder
Such bliss
A reality
In the making
That the world needs
And typically doesn’t know
Until we meet you
And teach us
All about the bridge
Live on both sides
At last
And then offering
By will
To take us to the middle
And we both
Also with steps of our own
Pass to the other side
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All of which to say
Merry Christmas
Maybe we’ll see you
In this room
At this place
On Earth
And everywhere
And at the bridge
The most
Extraordinary gift
You are
For us
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C L Couch
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Photo by Darya Tryfanava on Unsplash
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