better news
1
better news
that God loves us
and sent
the child of God
to
live and innocent and perfect life
and then to be
killed
by the powers of the world
and the princes of the air
and
yet not have that be done
be it
and there is so much
more
because the child came back
up to Earth
if that was the direction
out
to all
to offer the child’s resurrection
from death to life
to a life for each of
us
and life that goes on
forever
finally
on a renewed Earth
beside or somewhere near
or in
a new heaven
and that’s our job
believe
2
feeling Christian
this morning
or
recalling who I am
and
that God sent God through
the Spirit of the Lord
so that
not only this
sect
but the whole world of us
might
believe and so be saved
from death
and
for this day and
the next and
on
be saved from sin as well
the whole word
John 3:17
remember to share it this way
a gospel for everyone
3
and will
we guess at
for
fun or profit
or in what we might
take
as the conquest of space
whether or not
Jesus
came to Mars
on comets
inside asteroids
and
shall Christ be there
awaiting lunar Artemis
as we
begin again
which is all right
‘cause Jesus has saved Mars
comets and asteroids and
first for us
the moon
for
the silent planet speaks again
and all that happened
here
to revive and fallen
pick us up so we
might
carry on again
miracle
new song
and our own arriving
c l couch
C. S. Lewis posits a cosmically quiet Earth and us in Out of the Silent Planet
photo by Petri Haanpää on Unsplash
in this late season
it is bright and
hot
yellow
emerald like Oz
dark branches hold up spring
fullness
blossoms’
debut
voices to whispers in the trees
dismal bouts are done for now so
that
the moon should look clear
in its expressions in
the night
c l couch
photo by Simon Berger on Unsplash
Gradient Light
It’s late
In that
The mid-autumn sun
Sets
Much earlier
Than summer’s
I rose late
Because there was
Strange peace
In the house
Perhaps
Perhaps
And inside
Me
While it is green and blue
Still
Lit by yellow
Yet I know
The coming darkness
That hints already
Shall
Arrive
It will be night
And with some stars
Perhaps
Or that bright
Waning moon
We’ve had
These past nights
A gift
Of supernal light
From
Evening
Crafters
And a surprise
For being
Large
In the sky
The
Brightness of the Lord
Even
In waning
C L Couch
Photo by Charles Postiaux on Unsplash
A Trip to Europa
There might be oceans there
Of water
Fit for life
As we are fit for life
The novel warns us
But we’re going
There
I think some fellow-feeling draws us
As if
We’re all in the ice
Reflections
Of ourselves
Maybe the way
We should have been
The way
That denizens
Might have us
Now
C L Couch
(Europa Clipper)
Photo by NOAA on Unsplash
Apollo 11 at Fifty-Five
What shall we say
Of the lunar landing
Aldrin
Armstrong
Collins
The many who built the ship
Built the rocket
The many who were on the crew
That day
Whose words and switches
Made things happen
I was there
With the nation
With the world
With the Soviets
Disappointed maybe
Angry
Though I think impressed
All the same
And also many were
Admiring
I believe
Other democracies
Might have been
Envious
Too
That the USA pulled off
What fictively had happened
Already in
Novels
And in the movies
(sometimes
first as novels)
Too
I’d like to think
That all the human spirit
Was attending
That was alive
That day
Astounded
And admiring
One small for a person
One giant leap
For humankind
For all of us then
And now
(and
does this verse
look like a launching
maybe
the beginning
of a landing)
C L Couch
Photo by Sebastian Bjune on Unsplash
[if I could have found an eagle landing on the water, well, maybe I would have posted that for symbolism]
How to Go to the New World
(either way)
I still don’t know what
To say to you
Today
I mean
This is me
And I don’t know
Not knowing
Words
And something of their use
Often
Re-rendered
When conscripted
Into verse
Or let the message
Be a branch
Or bird
Inside the tree
Or something of the sun
Through clouds
Below
Leaving a gospel
In a shadow
But something new
Or affirming
Something old
Or even ancient
Like virtue
And its complement
Of rules
We take for argument
From Greeks
Who took things
From Egyptians
Then both subsumed
By Rome
And so
What’s happening
In Asia
All the while
And then the holy
And the Roman
Christians
Establish empire
Where for eons
There had been those
Who fought
And
Dwelled
Expanded and
Diminished
On their own
To have the only world
They knew
And it was vast
More than enough
Until the white gods
Came
The devils
To deceive us
A whole world
For its varied understanding
Of
The way things go
And on another side
How seasons
Turn
To go another way
And so subvert
The growing year
Of Gregory
So much
So many
To have touched
On so few
And in one time
And so
Move forward
When complexities
Are
Rife with
Differences
Agendas
Styles
And signals
Of the fear of the unknown
Toward other people
In the shadows
From our light
Whose singularity
Makes others
Fearsome in the dark
That we have made
Much darker
Not
To behold
Their part
In the same light
We could tone down ourselves
And so inquire
Of the ones
We do not know
But could
In openness
And inquiry
The way we learned research
In school
Before the grown-ups interests
And fear for profit
Took us over
We could learn to love
The differences
As might have been
Our first impressions
When meeting
As children
Invested by impulse
With curiosity
And let the world change
With our acquaintance
Let everyone be different
Just a little
For having met
With outstretched hand
Empty for introduction
While the other hand
At our side
Is open
Too
With honesty
Allowed to gain
Through inquiry
And
Once permitted
Exploration
C L Couch
Photo by James Coleman on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
look! up in the sky
x
a lunar people
even now and then
to appreciate
the harvest moon
the supermoon
that was an arc over us
last night
and shall look good
big
that is
above us
all this evening
while it flies
round with marks
we make things of
above
x
c l couch
x
x
photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
We Land
x
It is the first
There is a special on TV
Three weeks from now
We land
We land
x
Let’s see
I was twelve
So much I didn’t know
But I was watching
Listening
Technical language
About pitch
And descent
Then dust kicked up
Then landed
I don’t remember Cronkite’s
Reaction
I’ve seen it since
Maybe my parents preferred
Another network
But they were down
Tranquility Base
There had been no base
They were the base
They were on
The moon
Armstrong and Aldrin
While Collins flew above
Waiting for retrieval
And then for the ship
To take them back home
x
That’s where we were
x
Armstrong got out
Kept talking
So we knew
He was alive
He descended
Left the ladder
Touched upon
The world
Near our world
x
One small step for (a) man
One giant leap for mankind
x
When they left
There was a plaque
About accomplishment
And peace
Signed by Nixon
A phantom pledge fulfilled
Since no one
Specifically had asked
Though Kennedy
Had said
x
The space race gave us
Microwaves
Ballpoint pens
And Tang
So there was usefulness
And whatever to be said
In winning
At least
Our saying
That we won
x
I thought we’d keep going back
I thought there’s be a base
With walls and windows
A round roof
And lots
And lots
Of oxygen inside
I guess that is about to happen
Now
And we’ll find out
If we disturb
The empire inside
That H. G. Wells
Fictively
Foretold
x
Or Clarke’s sentinel
Or maybe there shall be
A little
Prince
x
1969
We also went
To Woodstock
We protested war
All the contention of
My older brothers’ generation
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Guzmán Barquín on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Nearing Full
x
The moon is yellow
The sky is blue
The clouds are silver
The stars are white
The branches have no color
Except the color
Of porch lights
x
It’s late again
The air is cool
Maybe in the fifties
Maybe forties,
Which is not so special
As a sign of autumn
In October
In these parts
But the days and nights
Have been too warm
Now the season
Is announced
x
We’ll have the chilly fall
And with the drop
To cold
At a propitious time
Beautiful leaf colors,
True
Autumn review
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Eleanor Brooke on Unsplash
x
clcouch123 
Recent Comments