3 poems about things turning such as certain times of year
hurry up
hurry up
let’s get me out of here
not
to the grave
despite my age that is closing in
on the classic threescore
and ten
but more peace
as I keep asking
which means I’ll need the wherewithal
to get there
which I think means
money
and assistance
more assistance in the way
of people
who are stronger than my heart-disease-ridden
body
can manage anymore
though
I’ve always needed help to move
who doesn’t
though now the urgency
is different
I believe
one more place this time
perhaps
one last place
in which to live
and
you know
hope
to live
please
which goes for a plea
I guess
I mean beyond the wordplay
in that we plea
yet
add a couple letters for more courtesy
with which
to ask
plea
as in deal
as in crime
plea
as in asking because it’s not only desired
but also it is urgent
what we want
or need
or offer in an intercessory
way
a petition
as it were from you
through me
and not that that should make so much
a difference that it’s me
but asking
anyway
on your behalf
of God
or the spirits of the world behind
under
perhaps
even
to add in some miracle
by magic
which isn’t doctrinal
I suppose
but how close the miracle and magic
maybe in the timing
at least
as in
was the miracle the parting of the sea
since by those who
know
purportedly
not an unusual occasion
though parting in the time
to save
the Israelites
and even close upon the enemy
with hurried wheels
following
with many deadly points from spears
and arrows
and yet
whatever passed for armor could not save
but they were
saved
the refugees
those who would become the desert-dwellers
as if to earn the promise of
new land
but
to bring it forward
there are needs
there are miracles
and
(arguably)
of magic
and I wish
not that it’s a lamp
inside a cave
I pray
(more earnestly)
that
what you need you have
possession
or direction
or some healing
as only the one who provides
may provide
knowing
what and how to time
miracle
magic
and everything
my friend
it’s time
another ashy day
goodness
we’ve had a few
days
right
for Lent
I guess
we can wear these days
upon our foreheads
should we wish
late is wan
but shows some color
after all
light gold
a kind of uneasy glaze upon
it all
not that the day is
bad
that’s up to us
and it isn’t hard to look at
but I think the day should have more green
and I’d think you would
too
not only for the sake of light
but the beginning of
you know
that verdant time
note
hurry up
please
it’s time
(titular frame based on a repeating part of “The Wasteland” by T. S. Eliot)
Shantih
photo by Anton Luk on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
Mille Grazie per Preghiera
x
I feel as if
I should offer
A prayer
To God
For something
x
Gratitude
Confession
Promise or
At least desire
To do better
x
Petition,
Intercession
Plus my own things
x
I’m not sure
How that’s the praise
That’s called for
While it seems
Mostly like complaining
x
Except to say thank you;
Maybe there’s praise
In that
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash
x
sorry for any Italian language that I broke
x
thank you
x
Narratology
Intermission
It’s a new gray day
We had a thunderstorm last night
Hard to tell from the second floor,
Which is too bad
Because I like watching rain
It wasn’t the kind that cleans out
The humidity
More like a tropical experience
Hot and humid for the next spate
Of days, our daily rainfall
Followed by more closeness
In the air
Sigh
Keep the breathing on the inside
And hope the air-conditioner
Holds out
Interaction
The headaches are a little less
I feel more like
Talking with people
Or a pet
A quiet day
But not silent
Though once again
The mean noise from upstairs
Continues
I have to get out of here
I looked at a place last week
A garret, I could call it
To be romantic
But I expect higher ceilings
Wider windows
In my life of La Bohème
More importantly
And to the point or searching,
I need these
The claustrophobe inside
Requires them
More sighing for a disappointment
This time as much
In myself
Intercession
The world is still on fire
If only it were a matter
Of volcanoes*
Bad enough, though we could
Work on them together
There are the metaphoric fires
That are deadly, too
The kind we set
In a plan
To burn up each other
My dear world is on fire
Why must we do this?
Calling it a crime is not enough
When enforcement is
In question, too
I used to think the cops
Were on my side
I still do
As for other people,
There are all kinds
Some see a protest
As an opportunity for
Stealing so much more than
Civil attention
And there are guns
So many guns
All around
Without the trained sense
To use them
Much less over-use them
So people die
On all sides
How many didn’t have to?
Let’s not leave it with a question
Let’s answer them
In memory
To bring the count down
And then out upon the canvas
In this case,
The opposite of conscious
I know I preach
But there it is
I want my world better
It want to leave it better
Than I found it
You should, too
So should we all
Ask for this
Ask for peace
Then let us make it happen
Shooting something’s easy
Keeping a farm
Mining a mine
Building a rocket**
Assembly in a factory
That’s hard
You want a challenge?
Try building something
Raise a barn
A house
A cabin in the woods
Make art for many to love
Compose an inspiration
Maybe on a page
In a mural
Or a house
Or in fixing the plumbing
Anything can be
Larger than it is
Convenience
Comfort
These can be inspiration, too
Or simply means for
A good conversation on a Sunday afternoon
(there should be peace in that)
Voting is an inspiration, too
Don’t forget
Or take the government you get
(cheating nationwide and
in the world notwithstanding)
Talk out the world
Talk out the trouble
Better yet, listen
And fix the plumbing
Feed everyone around you,
If you can
And if you can’t, then enjoy
What is given
Or otherwise provided
Maybe a pot-luck
Like the kind at church
Maybe a pot-luck for the world
That is my intercession
Feed the world
Provide safety in the water
Make good wine
In memory of Cana
Or don’t, if it’s not
Your disposition
There are problems
Hear them
Then get help in fixing them
There are problems
We have a way to go
To have the world
Better than we found it
C L Couch
*I looked up the plural spelling of volcano. (Once-and-future English teacher.) Some say the spelling’s interchangeable with the e. Volcanoes (with the e) seems more traditional and typical. Also the e in interchangeable.
**I was watching October Sky over the weekend.
Photo by Jorik Kleen on Unsplash
(there was no note, but I believe the bridge is in the Netherlands)
Almost Heaven
(phrase from artist John Denver)
Kanawha, Nicholas,
Greenbrier counties
Earth gives way
To water and to fire
In the anger of the
Skies
Prometheus surrenders
To the whim of
Dionysus,
Touched with the
Power of Poseidon
And sport-attitude
Of Zeus
We reach over gods
Toward better
Intercession,
Praying for the
Tendril touch that
Holds the earth
And sky
And all the heavens
Because on land and
Other West Virginia
Lives, an ocean’s
Upheaval falls
Drowning, splitting
The ground on
Which we alive yet
Strive to stand
West Virginia Flooding Kills 24; Search and Rescue Efforts Continue
https://weather.com/news/news/west-virginia-flooding-severe-weather-outbreak-news-impacts
N is for None (Prayer)
Antique for afternoon, partitioned prayer
Often over memory—petition, supplication
In none lines I pray for you, intercessory
Neighbors who are fighting, maybe more
Friends who are generous and persevere
Family that grows in number, challenges
You who take part here to have your days
Maybe none is for infinite, three by three
And on, asking-prayers, loving perpetually
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