(haiku for fall, starting in a grumpy mood, I guess)
(1)
well that’s enough of
haiku play and fancy with
no work proof for pay
(2)
the hour is done now
leaves have fallen into water
growing into green
(3)
old and new worlds tilt
leaning could be tree-delight
as dancing solstice
(4)
water purify
as on our other planets
with true air command
c l couch
photo by Mathias Reding on Unsplash
New Pages in a Book of Hours
The liturgy
As clouds for notes
Against the sky
An antiphon of leaves
As wind
Blows through them
As candlelight
Reflections
Off of water
And should anything
Feathered
Or mammalian
Be chirping
Chittering
We’ll take that as
Responding to
The sun as celebrant
C L Couch
Photo by Ginabell Andujar on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
Rising Seasons
x
I wasn’t counting
But there are vehicles that do
And they and their movers are
Confident
It will be another
Weekend of rain
Eighth in a row
Tomorrow
Saturday
And Sunday
And certainly
The sky just outside now
Is gray
The leaves are wet upon the ground
This time of day
It’s fall
x
It’s fall
We should expect some damp
Maybe in all seasons
But this is chill
Descends with leaves
Dissembling
That is
Dissolving
That we’d rather drive through
In sunlight
Brilliant light
And also dry
To pass through
All the colors
Dryly
Reclining
Divinely resting
Into winter
x
Our weekend sights
Set
For somewhere in New England
x
We want what we can’t have
Enough rain
To build the tables up
Again
Dry days and dry roads
For touring
And school
And time off
Simultaneously satisfied
As well
x
Well
Why not want things
There are always ponchos
And we need the rain
And schools have holidays
Sometimes
Sometimes that work
x
Then
Elsewhere
South of here
Or west
Or in another region
Of America
All Americas
Or in Africa
Or Europe
Far-flung Asia
The Pacific Rim
Or an extremity
Of white bears
Or the other
Where the penguins
In the photographs
Line civilly
Awaiting who is next
To slide into
Salt water
x
For you
In any of these regions
It must be so different
So wonderful and different
Where you are
And now
x
And maybe you will share
The weather and the climate
With those of us
Not there
But here
x
Meaning in the MidAtlantic
The Northeast
The Midwest
The Northwest
The northern South
And wide parts
Of Canada as well
x
Dry or damp
Let’s move
Adroitly on
All and any
All the pathways
That we have
Any of which
In any part
We hope
Might lead toward peace
x
As any of us might
Might wander
There and figure
In the sunshine
Or the rainshine
Depending on an attitude
A tolerance
Endurance
For the weather
Errant sunlight
Or the shade
For the interests they support
And for our own
About peacemaking
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Daniel Frank on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
courage
(compash)
x
the brave leaves
are in fact
leaving;
the wind has done its work
there is inescapability
in the season passing
if I wrote useless things
upon electronic leaves
perhaps my season
will be passing, too
x
it is a pledge, I guess
the old word tontine
a formal offering
to work
to put down
to express
to depict
to make my painting here,
unfit for a museum
maybe for local work
the verses in the subway
a slogan on a placard
should I reach
and arrive so far
x
like glory in the sky
parochial sky
parochial of one
should I hear myself
out there
constructively
x
c l couch
x
x
photo by jeremy bishop on unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Leaf-Taking
x
Leaves change
As time changes
As time changes
Green becomes memory
Until green times
Return
x
Leaves of pages
Change
As time changes
As time changes
The memory of reading
Reading now
x
C L Couch
x
x
x
x
Photo by Chinnu Indrakumar on Unsplash
x
Photo by Roman Trifonov on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
This Autumn Morning
x
Gray with
A patch
Of red
Inside black
Branches
Red leaves
Attached
Maybe until
A winter wind
Comes to
Take them
Through the
Air until the
Breath’s expired
Then gravity
Must have
Its way and
Like the roots
We can see
And-or touch
Must lie upon the
Earth
And inside
For a while
x
C L Couch
x
x
Joshua Tree National Park
Photo by Matt Artz on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Waves
x
What do I want
To say to you
That it’s a lovely day
In an eccentric way
Everything is played down
The takeover of fall
Changing tones on trees
And on the ground
Everything played down
Under a graying sky
With brighter sunlight
Coming through
From time to time
As if the wind
(I see it on the leaves)
Were pushing the clouds out
Or the sunlight in
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Fineas Anton on Unsplash
x
Fall into Night
Having slept late,
Perforce,
To my condition
It’s too soon
Now, the three-o’clock
Time when
The day turns
As it must
Toward autumnal
Night
And we notice,
If subcutaneous,
The knowing
Sense of
This;
Inside autumn leaves
We face
Alternatives:
To go dry-wilting
Into brown days
Or to
Flame like novae
In glory of
Expiring red,
Yellow tears or
Tears,*
Last bright orange
Bleeding
Dwindling into
Joyful or stressed
Evenings
Of our
Distinctive seasons
*reader’s choice
clcouch123 
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