Which Life Will
It is a day for remembrance
The ships are sinking deeper
Parts of other things
Relevant
Are found below
Now and then
A surprise attack isn’t good
Not for defenders
And all our planes and ships in tows
Exploded one after another
And the people
The people mattered more
And the loss of them was grand in scale
And awful
Enemies to allies
Plans
To rebuild the world
Maybe we learn from these great wars
That great is relative
(like grand)
That loss is terrible
In the unnatural aspect of the thing
In which we kill our siblings
And our parents
And our children
The nations’ lines that
Might come back
Rearranged
While those who live within
Might not be caring more
Than the chance
To live on either side
Though lines may
Determine policies
Sometimes
Ways to live
Perhaps
Challenges to
Pride
A pride I doubt those
Gone
Might feel
Anymore
Though we don’t know the afterlife that well
As for this life
Well
There is that learning
Before we add more numbers to
The world at war
C L Couch
Photo by Luke Scarpino on Unsplash
lamentation is a season
(for Memorial Day 2024)
sad remembrance
the activity
and the state
of sad remembrance
who has died
and is ahead of us
in honored state
or imprisoned
inside something
of
we don’t know what
or in what part
what nation host
sought pride
in this
rows of
flags
metal stars
on metal sticks
symbols of
faith
the Star of David
or Arabic
or a cross
or blank for those
with no tradition
save
to have died
mortally
to save
and at the monuments
here
in England
France
perhaps in diplomatic squares
in Africa
and Asia
also in the
Anzac places
there will be some
marching
and many will salute
and we’ll officially remember
or in homes
the absences
that war
and war-like actions
they responded to
have made
we’ll tell stories
and we should
we’ll hear new parts
and oft-repeated
passages
and both are good
and sad for
reason
for the purpose
of our meeting
we’ll also celebrate
though maybe
not so far
that we forget
what we should recall
and have a flag for
and a photograph
whatever sort
of tableaux
with a little more
to say
this was our aunt
our uncle
our ancestors
or our parents
or our children
or
our neighbors
we lament
and also adulate
this day
c l couch
(the preacher preached from Lamentations and about Memorial Day today)
photo by Tanner Ross on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
Five through the Ocean’s Gate
x
I shirk
From contemplating this
I love the water
Love the ocean
Love the walk along a portion
Of its rim
At early morning
x
I’ve never been out far
No cruise
Or transatlantic anything
To look out
At waves without horizon
When there is the slightest haze
Along our edges
As if the clouds
Were now
Rimless warnings
Of an endless
World
Along the top
Let alone to think about
Below
x
They are there now
It seems
Their bodies
Anyway
They died in that below
Circuitous to
The wreck of all the wrecks
One of the sisters
Whose names were too large
A hubris
For an invitation
From the trickster gods
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Five of them
Five of us
Someday officialdom
Will offer numbers with
Technical reasons
For us outside
The families
Conclusion
So we can move on
To other stories
To think about them
Once a year
Perhaps
x
Exploration
Research
Play
All are valid reasons
Human reasons
To go down
Into the blue
Though without expectation
I imagine
That there would be
No returning
x
Sorry
For your loss
We must do better
Say it months from now
And years
With meaning
And with safer
Measures
Though adventure
Is a chance
And cannot change
From that
x
C L Couch
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Missing Titanic Sub Crew Killed after “Catastrophic Implosion”
Helen Regan, Adam Renton, Rob Picheta, Aditi Sangal, Elise Hammond, Matt Meyer, Tori B. Powell, Mareen Chowdhury
https://www.cnn.com/americas/live-news/titanic-missing-sub-oceangate-06-22-23/index.html
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Photo by Inés Álvarez Fdez on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
An Officer Is Mourned
(William Lebo)
x
It’s on TV
Today is a memorial
For a local cop
Who died when shot
Back of the house
Whose killer was then
Killed
The loop was made
The circle’s closed
There is black
There are flowers
There are photographs
There is the coffin
Good things are said
By the pastor
It is a few days before
Palm Sunday
x
C L Couch
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Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
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clcouch123 
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