irony

(x = space)

Cold Comfort

(without irony)

I’ve gone on before about

The cup of cool water

I mean it’s cool

And it’s water

And to offer it

Is so good

Is it easy?

In an applianced culture,

Maybe,

Where ice is a small push away

But in a desert land,

One must find the water

And if inside rock

The water might be cool

And we can offer it

To relatives

To friends

And strangers

Even adversaries

Enemies who might need

To drink first

Before starting negotiations

Or given simply because

The gift of water

Is small

Amazement

Brings peace to the home

And for any

Table

C L Couch

Photo by Ilya Plakhuta on Unsplash

Ukraine

Commemoration of an armistice.

Remembrance, acknowledgement, and honoring of all veterans from all wars, everywhere. What do the warlords care? They care for strong backs and arms that shoulder fearsome guns. But in a democracy of feeling, the rest of us know individuals. Hopefully, we know their stories and we tell them.

What do I know? I know their service is a wonder. Their sacrifice a heartbreak. Their strength shoulders the mind.

I went to Gettysburg in late December. I felt it the saddest place on Earth. How many open battlefields have we? How many can house or canopy the service of the dead? The preservation of the living?

Yes, there’s Flanders Field. Somme and Gallipoli. Israel and Egypt in week-long wars. Massacres in India and China. Killing of indigenous that maybe should be classified as war.

Why do we have war? Elihu Root claims that it has to do with keeping peace, an irony of iron substance. The New Testament asserts it’s because we ask amiss. We ask for things we cannot have. And so we take them.

I don’t know. I don’t know anyone who favors war except in movies. I don’t think real people do that, favor war. We fight so there’s an end. We fight so that the fighting stops.

Will there ever be a battle in Antarctica? Can we keep one place clear?

I hope we cherish veterans of service and of war. And the peace they promise.

note

This is from my journal entry for the day. I wrote a poem, which I should post. Not because it’s great but because it’s timely. When I wrote about the day this way (excerpt above), it seemed appropriate, too. Hope so. Hope you’re all, veterans and civilians, really well. If not, I hope you’re better soon.

https://albanyvisitors.com/explore/veterans-day-parade/

The Albany’s Veterans Day Parade is the biggest Veterans Day celebration west of the Mississippi.