Earth out
last one here
before the last ship leaves
think about
turning off the lights
who knows
we could come back
or someone
to try the switch
light up our story
if only
a little
while it’s so hot and hard to breathe today
c l couch
photo by Piotr Gaertig on Unsplash
(x = space)
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Bilateral Stimulation
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Two candles
What do they mean?
That it is Sunday
Sabbath day
A day in Advent
Second Sunday
The candles on the wreath
Have meaning
The wreath has meaning,
Too
The lights remind us
Of the spirit
Also of faith
And how one fortifies
The other
There is more prophecy
Remembering
The job skill
Of the prophets
In not only future-telling
But foretell the present
As well
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What is happening now?
There are wars
Not for the first time
There drought
And the effects of drought
There have been
Flods as well
Ironically
We and nature
Have our moments
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There is politics
To trouble a way through
All
While not addressing much
And proposing less
Unless we press
Where governments allow
Or where they don’t
And here the prophets
Help us,
Too
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Two candles
Twice as strong
For support
Twice the light
For inspiration
Two times
The investment in the season
In our learning
Or reminding
Of an illuminated world
To come
Plus how each of us
May offer light
Into the world
All wintry to the north
Summery to the south
Though one
Season everywhere
Just now
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Adore the story
In the advent
Of the Lord
Into the world
Light the way
Even with small lights
Even the light
Of one
Though look for lights to add
Look around
Let senses say
Shadowed
And unshadowed
We have each other
In all seasons
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C L Couch
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Advent 2
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Photo by Rainer Gelhot on Unsplash
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(x = space)
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A Count of Days
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The Sabbath comes
And in ten days
And counting more
Is Hanukkah
Lights and chocolate
Latkes and other gifts
Of earth
And from each other
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Blue and silver
Days and nights
The nights show off the lights
That show the miracle
When we got our temple
Back
To find it desecrated
And no fuel for lamps
We lighted them anyway
And they burned eight days
For us
And for our faith
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We’re not perfect
We need to keep commandments,
After all
That remind us
And our neighbors
And the world
But we own miracles as well
As the menorah
And the gifts
And the food
And the blue nights
Shall show us
As the first time
The grace and love
And strength of God
For us
In faith
And you
In yours
If we may say,
Welcome to our festival
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C L Couch
9th of Kislev (after sundown), 5783
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Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash
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Modranicht
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Maybe I need a break
Go somewhere
Look at lights that others
Have put up
Phantom merrymaking
On my part
No, wait, they were put up
For me and others like me
To go by
To gaze at from afar
Appreciate the rainbow lights
Against the snow,
If snow,
Against the dark
Of night
Of loneliness
Of season’s night
Of season’s loneliness
That say, we’re here
And some of us
Are here for you
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C L Couch
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Modranicht, Night of the Mothers (a Yule celebration, now Christmas Eve)
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Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash
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(x = space)
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Advent 2
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Shall we light
Two lights from
One light
To move the meaning out
A little
To say this is a season, now
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As the light is shared
So should we share
Our hopes
And dream
Intentions
For more light
Of our own making
For mercy
And a thoughtfulness
Toward love
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C L Couch
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Photo by Carson Arias on Unsplash
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Christmas in July
(for the editor of a local newspaper)
I think it was largely a retail invention
I think it still is
There was a movement
For a while this year
To display Christmas
Or holiday lights,
But I don’t think it took on
Maybe was subsumed
By a trenchant desire
To be normal,
Which evidently has to be
A retrograde feeling
Too bad, since lights on houses
In July would be cool without,
You know, being cold
At least in these parts
I’d be up for Aussies and
Kiwis joining the movement,
Too
Lights and music
Maybe a sensation or two
We wouldn’t have to call it
Christmas—how much does the
Birth of Christ resonate, anyway?
We could be respecting of
All the good traditions
(there are many)
Frankly, nodding toward
Colors, maybe music
Gift-giving could take a pass
Let’s use what we already
Have
For fun, adding a toy penguin,
Maybe a dinosaur (also
stuffed, not stuffing us)
Or two
Not to make it chaos
But, to borrow from another
Celebration, a cornucopia
Inclusive, somewhat organized
Revelry without the stress
The other days have had
A campaign, then,
For all the senses in community
Unseasonal holidays in July
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy
C L Couch
Photo by Sandra Grünewald on Unsplash
The Best Is Yet to Come
The best is yet to come and, babe, won’t it be fine?
Dancing, crooning
Love songs
Ties and gowns or overalls and pinafores,
Doesn’t matter
There is glitter in the air
The lights of romance
There’s music from a combo
Ain’t it all fine?
There has to be more of this
Not an increase
Or exaggeration
But ongoing
The laughing, dancing, crooning combo
Always at hand
To have and have again
Not a party without end
But reasons to
Celebrate that last
The kind of work
(exertion of energy)
That heals
The smiles from musicians, which
Can say
We are free at last
And we love you
And an audience
In equal measure grateful
Taking part
Tomorrow there will be other things
And there will be tomorrow
For now,
There’s confidence
In this place of music
Fancy lights
(not the kind that blind)
Hands clasping on the dancing floor
Maybe we’ll go outside
Not because nature is tame
But because
It tames us
With its own lights of night
And gift of rock
For a dancing floor
This is a vision
Of necessity
Because the flesh that hears,
Touches, and responds
Should go on in some way
Call it paradise
The life renewed
That hasn’t lost a note or a step
C L Couch
“The Best Is Yet to Come”
written by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh
Frank Sinatra and Count Basie performed and recorded for the album It Might as Well Be Swing (1964) and performed and recorded by many others.
photo by Manuel Inglez on Unsplash
Parque Natural de Sintra-Cascais, Sintra, Portugal
Dialogue
Atlantis at night must be beautiful:
Lights once-Greek quietly
Illuminate the shores and other surfaces
And textures
Gold outside, silver-lit within;
We make it up, naturally,
Because we need to
Because
We want to wake up tomorrow on
An unknown shore that has
The best of what we are.
C L Couch
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