manna
the kind that doesn’t keep ‘til the next day
God
forgive us
and help us
for
our daily bread
please
and we might forgive but need the bread
regardless
and there
is
something about stones given for bread as in
don’t do that
but
feed the children
and feed everyone
as
a spiritual need
that our bodies
serve
and that connection is the way it is
the way we are
and we have the capacity
to give
as well as to consumer
to do the sharing of our lives
which we
are also made to do
and so forgive
and
don’t offer stones though if begrudgingly
to give the bread as well
or
if we’re merchants sell the bread
for us
to take home
or to bake
maybe with interest
maybe with need because
this is
the world we know
in which we must make what we shall use
and provide
to use
and this is family
this is neighborhood
and
for some of us
what we resort
to
when the war or the wildfire is on
c l couch
photo by Benjamin Jauregui on Unsplash
Wilderness for Real
(before the angels or the promised land)
So what happens
In the wilderness?
We think more about its passing
Forty days in the wilderness
Forty years wandering
The desert
How were they led
Without any leading?
There was no direction but
Not to find the way
One day in a wilderness
Without means except
What might fall out of the sky
Stone into bread
Water from rocks, that is
And are we to live by miracle
For many days?
The holes inside of desert walls
Holes within holes
Drive in a couple pegs
To make a shelf
This life was considered wisdom?
There must have been
The company of food
If not of people bringing it
Water must have gotten there
Somehow,
Meaning wisdom must be patronized
Sponsors for each hermit
If not a dining hall
Is a hermitage allowed community?
Is there companionship
Inside the wilderness?
Who would be alone
To hear only the heart
Wait for nerve flashes
To shine behind the eye,
This is loneliness enough
The creator hasn’t left
Each one is not a pocket watch
Inside a deist vest
There is loneliness in wilderness
Underneath there is companionship
Something we feel
Less than God
But more than ego-censorship
Affords in crowds
Magnets are not good for us
They draw us without thinking
When we can get away
Or accept it, anyway
Because it happens
Something in us owns
The time, the chance
To say, this feels like home for now
I’ll stay here while I can
Even as a long-withheld surprise
I’ll learn
Employ some craft
Commune
It shouldn’t last forever
Then I get to return
Maybe encounter you
Before returning,
All changed
C L Couch
Photo by Arto Marttinen on Unsplash
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