rest with
rest with
I think of thick
cloth
maybe with a scent of earth
and what is
the scent of resurrection
I don’t know
the face
for fear
for shame of looking
but I can’t help
but rest
against the folds
and a little ways
inside
I rest
and I don’t know the surface
of the ground
beneath
it could be firm
it could be clouds
if could
be fire
but for the company
I’ll keep resting
maybe fall
asleep
daring and remarkable
in the Earth-turning
and somehow homely presence
of the Lord
c l couch
for Easter Monday
photo by Clément Falize on Unsplash
Hearing a New Commandment
Bread and wine
For body
Wind for spirit
Earth
For creation
These show the nature of
The Lord
In closest metaphors
Like mustard seeds
For faith
And there are other metaphors
For appreciation
And
For learning
But these are things we have
And may know
Easily
Even rather thoroughly
That any might believe in
What they represent
And so
Have faith
In the intimate way
The better things are and have
Been made
Bread
Wine
Wind
Earth
Learn
Believe
Love
Live
C L Couch
for Maundy Thursday
John 13:34-35 (and in Matthew 22)
Matthew 11:15, 13:9
Photo by Assad Tanoli on Unsplash
house of affliction
it’s a hard story
and an odd
one
about Lazarus
who died
and Jesus delayed in coming
to the family
while Lazarus was ill
so Jesus was not there in
time
to Bethany
maybe
to heal Lazarus
while alive
and
didn’t we know by now that Jesus could
do this
though now he couldn’t fix
even with mud
or adjuration
because
Lazarus was beyond
even extraordinary healing
but his
spirit gone
the body wrapped and thus entombed
and when
Jesus got there
did he not receive some scolding
for his
lateness
though such comments borne in love no
doubt
and Jesus moved now
toward
the tomb of Lazarus
regardless
and
even though he was warned
away out of
practical considerations of
how might be the body after time
had
passed
but Jesus
as if all could know
was
sad
as if stricken for the life of Lazarus now
gone from Earth
and
we know
Jesus
wept
and then turned from crying
toward
commanding as
he might rebuke the storm at sea
or take on the Pharisees
of the day
ordering the gravestone to be pushed or pulled
away
and then
more stentorian
I think to call
to
shout
that Lazarus should
come out
and
still wrapped
in
shroud cloth
did
Lazarus
appear
and there should be fear
with reason
and then after the certainty of life
the certainty of
joy
and
for those who think
only a God
if God
can return to life
even on
Earth
well
here’s our story
of a human only human who
got to do that
not
to show us how but
to return
and then to show us how
c l couch
John 11
image provided by Europeana at Unsplash
the question of this evening
(responding to “Now the Day Is Over”)
evening draws nigh
the old song
imposes
for the song becomes
well
rather maudlin
melancholy
minimally
there is a prayer
and that’s fine
for Jesus to keep us through
the night
but
some will ignore
all this prayer
to fire up
the evening hours
instead
so lie low tonight
or charge
the time there is
to pub
and such
though morning comes
and with it
some responsibility
unless
retirement
has taken over
as an age
or
attitude
and then
what then
a song of peace
results in consternation
for there is much to figure out
by night
by day
rebellion
indifference
extremes cut through
by rest
c l couch
(the song often sung in my college chapel Sunday night—here, sorry, the assurance questioned
Now the day is over,
Night is drawing nigh,
Shadows of the evening
Steal across the sky.
verse 1)
photo by Joshua Sortino on Unsplash
“Sometimes you just have to look up.”
(caption given)
the better reign in hell
(the devil says)
I exhale
you exhale
too
you better
unless it’s your time
in which case
breathe in peace in heaven
where there might be no breath
no need for it
or perfect air
in which to take one breath
or many breaths
forever
and water
such water
drink
wash
whatever
simply walk by
and feel the drops escaping from
the movements toward the
temple of the savior
and the monarch
one of the three
with three in one
and we might be three in one as well
each one of us
flesh
spirit
divine affiliation
life in heaven
noisy
quiet
safe except there were those hints of war
a ruin here and there
perhaps
not because the crafters couldn’t fix them
but because even in heaven
we should learn something
and there was rebellion
after all
or will be
and I don’t know who choses
maybe only angels
and
maybe we’re fodder on the Earth
the middle Earth
while in heaven we mortals-immortals now
much make our choices
too
renew our vows
toward one way or the other
cheering our side on
toward Armageddon
here
and so it seems
by prophecy
on the Earth we’ve known
and might know best
for a while
at least
new to our citizenship in heaven
closer to the leaders
Jesus with his love
Michael with his sword
the Spirit issues strategy
the rows of heaven
know
while God commands it all
and weeps
within a quiet hour in heaven
and maybe all eternity
cosmic
and ethereal
a time for tears
before the onslaught that’s been called
since Eden
or before
when the devil became serpentine
and with all fauna
was given a place there
and something honest
of its nature
but now
there is new gleaming
for the fight
that only one side wants
with one agenda for it
and on two plains
the ranks line up
for the first
and only battle
ever
to determine who shall win
heaven
with eternity
itself
and the reward
of breaking self from all
affiliation
to determine free
without direction
code
or morality to guide
no restrictions
or parameters
only
self
that shall lead to self-destruction
though the devil doesn’t care
for being lord of everything
that’s wrecked
against sub-lordship
subordinate if to only one
in heaven
the lordship
is what sells the angels on its
side
each one a monarch
to its own
and on the full-dimensional plane
that angels have inhabited
in all ages
in the ageless way
and that’s what is withheld
that everyone shall be a lord
of nothing
material
abstract
but over a lack of existence
more and more
in victory
so-called
lords of nothing in particular
having lost all matter
of all kinds
perspective the last thing
to go
perhaps
but something
and then nothing
which shall be the reign of hell
after
exhausting love
until only judgment
must remain
c l couch
photo by Sergio Capuzzimati on Unsplash
A Little Prophecy for Friday
(any day—and I hope it’s good for you)
When everyone had
Gathered
In whatever room
Maybe
A second-story place
When he appeared
The first thing Jesus said was
“Peace”
A signal for the resurrection
Maybe
That now a time of resolution is
At hand
That reconciliation is
The way of things
And that
of course
Is what has happened
In that
The way of Earth has changed
Or
Rather it is on its way toward
Being finished
And peace is the new order
Any victory
Through peace
Peaceful understanding
Peaceful
Action
We may announce
Maybe in a Pentecost-al way
(with red
balloons and
such
all environmentally
worked
out)
That a new order is at hand
That
Sorry
Isn’t new
(no merchandising
on it)
The joy that was in Genesis
Unending
Without flaw
Is at hand
And all for us
And God
And God with us
And if the cosmos has
Fallen
With us
Then
All material
And who knows
Maybe issues
Will have their first
Finality
As well
C L Couch
John 20:19
Photo by Ronald Cuyan on Unsplash
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
One of the Least
I’m sorry
But
I feel badly for
The goats
Though I suppose
We should
Think of them
Like the Dwarfs in Narnia
In the last
Battle
Which is not
To think of them
At all
For their will
Leaves them behind
While we run on
To real
After-judgment
Narnia
But what if we
Had fed
The goats
Clothed them
Visited them
In prison
And was that all for naught
Nothing worthwhile
Investing
For their intransigence
Regarding
Faith
Beyond what was the walls
They knew
I don’t know
Presuming
We who do the asking
Are all sheep
As well
And are we saved
So securely
Well
Yes
We are
Which is not the issue
Being that
Of superiority
Of calling
And of giving
In that
We can’t guarantee
A thing
For an outcome
And
Don’t bother trying
Keep giving
With the basic things
Maybe the abstract
Sometimes
Should the goats
Want
A conversation
I don’t know
Poor goats
I’m sorry
Poor sheep
Too
I guess
For knowing
And for loving
A goat
Or abstractly
All the goats
Matthew 25:31-41
C L Couch
Photo by Devon Wilson on Unsplash
some poems for Easter, if you will
Easter where It’s Easy
I put things
In small baskets
Left them at
The neighbor’s doors
Came back upstairs
Let oxygen return
To my limbs
(heart disease
not being
good
for nimbleness)
There
That’s Easter done
In some months
No doubt
The Great Pumpkin
Shall return
Oh
Yeah
There’s the part
Where Christ arose
From the grave
Defeating death
Securing life
For everyone
Believing
There’s that
For Easter
Too
Beyond suburbanites
Like me
You know
I could have left things
Only for
The neighbors
Whom I like
Or those
I know at all
But then
I’m uncertain how
That might undermine
The meaning
In a holiday
And then
Christ
Well
That was for everyone
And maybe the whole Earth
And other parts
Unknown
(to us)
I think without
Favorites
Or an agnostic tally
So by comparison
And not so much
Considering
Degree
It might be that
My bits of color and
Artificial grass
Upon which is chocolate
And some crayons
Might be
For everyone
I do not know
As well
And like
The little angel
A small and silly gift
Unto
The Lord
Who lives
So we might live
This Easter
And
Always
Abashed
Evangelism
And how’s that
For perspective
But
I come around
At last
And now quiet
For blue consideration
Of the coffeemaker
And
An hour for
A strange-thinking
Fool
Day One
(for Easter)
And who shall
Shoot whom today
Where shall
A missile
Go
Who shall be dispossessed
Of home
And anything
Of safety
While working toward that
Anyway
For family
The causes should be
Bad enough
Old age
Or diseases
Even
Accidents
That happen
But the cruelty
Of human will
At play
Rendering
And rending
Oh
So much
Of us
And Earth
As if we needed reasons
For our mourning
And Christ comes down
From the cross
To weep with us
To say
Please
I have done this for you
Can you not live
Can you not like life
Enough
To act
So much more
Than bullets
Blades
And missiles
His arms out wide
Again
Over a scorched
And parching Earth
Where the graves
Know prosperity
And some
Human
Secret
Coffers
He brings them down
To embrace again
With all
The Marys there
To help
And the
Beloved
Of disciples
The art of love
Nestled now
In quiet museums
But take it outside
Please
Is his
Command
Though it sound like pleas
Spoken through blood
Toward a forsaking
God
Who never left
Who left a story
And now leaves the truth
In resurrection
For
We could all do better
We could all
Do life
And more
Would come from heaven
Toward the end
Though without guarantee
In worldly terms
(so much of Spirit
and of doctrine
frankly
invisible)
To do this
Anyway
Unwarranted
Without a warranty
Nothing like safety
Like a trophy
On a shelf
The shelf come down
Eventually
Within the ambition of
Another generation
Which means
Our reasons might
Be unseen
Too
To do them
Anyway
Do life
Do love
There
I should be at church
But I slept in
Which is itself
A kind of miracle
At least
A gift
Besides
I don’t know a church
And my hair’s too short
And I’m still
Too tired
My coffee’s warm
I need some
More
The blue light calls
As if I were
At K-Mart
There
My distractions call
And I know it’s Easter
Sunday
And that’s something
Not enough
For God
I guess
And any
Who might miss me
There
Though by my experience
There
It might seem that absence
For discretion
Rather than outright scorn
Regrets all around
Might be
Valor’s better
Way
Which is to say
That I don’t like it there
So much
They don’t like
Me
And so it’s safer here
With blue light
And more coffee
And I could
Turn on something
For a church
On Easter morn
First Family
And what happened
By that morning
When the Marys
John
Arrived
By then
There had been moments
First and only
When the Earth’s guards fell away
The stone fell
From its post
And
Inside
Well
Inside
Where we had thought
Had desert rot might happen
And instead
The area inside
Must have broke apart
For miracle
And cleanliness
(for our
suburbanite
concerns)
Was there a flash
A hidden rumble
While hell fell apart
So great
Was the escape
Were there explosions
Through the night
Of grace
And miracle
Surprise
Even
That so much should happen
Well
After three days before
When all was terrible
In loss
Of death
And cause
And hope
How did heaven and Earth
Play
In that place
That spot
Of resurrection
Of the spirit
And the body
So that the body
Left
Leaving graveclothes
Leaving everything
Of death
Behind
And gone
No death
No need for herbs
Though love had brought them there
And as it
Turns out
Witnesses
Instead
To absences
And then some words
Surprising
And portentous
To all human ears
For history
How love
Abounded
How round
And I imagine
They could play
Around the empty grave
On that first day
In the morning
When all woes
Were overtaken
By surprise
And is
Prophecy worked out
Always
A surprise
A minute
Of an hour
Of joy
And then
The world
Must know
And ready for
Rise and fall
Of faith
By evidence
Of testimony
Then appearance
More meals
Together
Then a risen Lord
For good
‘Til everything
That’s good
Returns
C L Couch
Photo by Peter Herrmann on Unsplash
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