feed
such a pretty moment
when I got
to sit in a friend’s chair
sipping guest
coffee
watching and hearing birds
around the feeders
and of these
there was a small brown
and
a black one
and I wish I knew more
as
my grandfather knew
who
charted birds
when the Department
of Interior had
been
formed
yet I don’t know the species
sigh
there was a bird with a bright hood
which was a woodpecker
I think
and one flyer a small pigeon to
me
anyway
and there came a squirrel
which did not
scurry anything away
but
picked at the ground with its paws
the ways the birds
had used
their beaks
and
through air on branches
on the earth
so maybe everyone got satisfied
and also
was pleased
thanks
friend
for the chair
the coffee
and the hour
so
I could think
My Lord
what a morning
as fresh sun strikes the trees
and feeding happened
for
the birds and other critters
in metal branches
and what is
tied
all over and on
for gleaning of the sun-rinsing
ground
c l couch
photo by Bill Pennell on Unsplash
dearest friend
writing from a land-locked place
God
I turn to you for love
and I bring it
with me
not like yours except as a shell
with hopeful and stifling
stuff
inside
we could walk on the beach
early in the morning
while the same
seems most
shiny
and firm
and we could listen
we could
talk
we could listen
and would you hear me and appreciate
my hesitations
so that what is unsaid
could
finally be sent
and then the day would have to start
I guess
and we in it
though we could meet now
and then
even
on a bench to watch
the beach get
walked on
while
the shore erodes
then
night
and we could talk then
too
c l couch
photo by Ibrahim Rifath on Unsplash
This Day God
God
What do you think
I should say today
If anything
To share
For
We know that you are love
But we aren’t love
And you won’t fix us
Obviously
And we could follow you
By serving each other
Though
The world would only hurt us
Take from us
And should we all be ready
To lose that much
And
Maybe so
Yet
Sigh
I am weak
And unconnected
So what could I do to make
Things better
But
Maybe
On occasion to remind us that
You are
In truth love
And
Direct of us to be and
Do the same
C L Couch
Joshua 24:15
Photo by Magnus Östberg on Unsplash
mmm muffins
do you
know
the muffin man who lives on
Drury Lane
and
does he keep a shop there
if so
I’d like to go
or shall I wait for cart-wheels’ sounds
to signal
that he’s coming with
his wares to sell
and we shall smell
and set
to buy by that
first thing
coins whose
scient is nowhere near as appealing
anxious trading
chittering as announcement
in
my pocket
wearing or part of a shouldered
purse
the bearer who
wants to buy for breakfast
and
then more
c l couch
photo by ronen abudi on Unsplash
Relative Faithful Consciousness
I haven’t said God
To you
Or me
This morning
Through I might have spoken
To God
Anyway
Yes
I know we say it
Different ways
Different
Intents
(too early
for
ontologies)
But I think
You know
I mean to say
Civilitied
Good morning
Or
Dear God
To start a prayer
As I stretched
And moved with
Care
Depending
On mindfulness
Toward the counter
To make
Coffee
Someone was there
(without Reed-Kellogg-
like
diagramming for
discovery)
And I think
(anyway)
I knew
Grumpy
And doesn’t God
Get grumpy
Too
Withholding a flood
But wanting to retaliate
In other ways
Or simply have us
With our wills
Go away
A while
Well
Maybe not
I guess God’s always on
Always perfect
Always love
Good morning
C L Couch
Photo by sumingliu youyou on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
Postcard at the Center
(wishing you were here)
x
I am up early
The sun has yet
To shine
Or try through clouds
If that’s what happens
It’s going to be
A warmish winter day
Not that the climate’s warming
Or anything
x
The trees outside
Will look black against
The morning light behind them
The cars will pass by
Below,
Somehow magically muffled
By a Sunday morning
Eventually,
It will be time for church
For churchgoers
x
No comment
But some coffee
That was necessary
And gratified I had the fixings
For a gift
And for the time
x
That’s all
The card ran out of space
Above
I’m writing on the air beside
That might be sent
As well
Through something like the ether
If not cardboard
x
C L Couch
x
with gratitude for Carrie Fisher
x
x
Photo by Matt Hardy on Unsplash
Sydney Opera House
x
(x = space)
x
x
Morning’s Delta Light
x
Judgment light
As morning sunlight
Without shadow
On the blanket;
The light is warm
In a purifying way
x
The light is yellow due to the
Sun’s agency:
On another world
What color might be
Informing the inhabitants?
x
It’s good;
The light is living
Adding deltas
To the chemistry of
xxxxxReactions
xxxxxChange
xxxxxGrowth
x
A preference for cloudy days
Should not impede
What must also come someday
In sun
(with shadows)
To assess
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by OC Gonzalez on Unsplash
Day’s like this.
[looking east toward mountains]
x
(x = space)
x
x
Wake Up, Now
x
I haven’t heard
Or read the news
Seen images move
Across the screen
Or be still
There
x
So what happened
Overnight?
It’s Saturday
What high schools
Might be happier
For Friday’s games?
What nations
Changed?
Who might be in charge
Now?
x
How many
In the hospital
From one of or some or all the reasons
Who is on the way to heaven
Or purgation
We can only pray
And hope
For good things now for them
x
What have I wakened
Into?
How is my home
Of planet Earth?
What’s happening outside
That we only know now
As news,
Carried from light years away?
x
And what might happen here
Today?
I won’t know, of course,
Until the hours
Come to me
And I to them
Good morning, world
Good morning beyond the world
And inside
Where things are happening
Cellularly, too
x
And can I think of God
First thing?
I don’t think I can
I’m not devout
I’ll get to God
Once consciousness
And the lines of things
The shadows
And the shapes of light
Are seen
And anything to hear
Is heard
Maybe what woke me up
If the timing is untoward
x
I’m thinking of God now
For correction
A moment of chagrin
Wishing
(one wish of three wishes,
if there were a story
happening)
Wishing
I were faithful
Like the faithful
Waking up
To hear
And somehow see
Taste and smell
And touch
The agencies of God
And then the world
x
Sigh,
Good people
Special people
Waking up
So wonderfully
And usefully
x
C L Couch
x
x
x
(x = space)
x
x
Virtually a Sunday
x
I pulled on a shirt for church
Only to have technology
Fail me
Or I fail it, more likely
Virtual church
I should walk down the street
Through wide doors
Greet people
Sit down upon the wooden and worn
Bench
Await the start of something formal
Or walk
And keep walking
Chill and sunshine
And have church that way
x
Pray as I go
There are things I want
To pray for:
My brother’s health
Cancer
My nephew’s healing
COVID
My neighbor’s heart condition
Another neighbor’s children
COVID in the world
(cancer, too)
The horrid war in Ukraine
War in other places
Where it’s horrid
(always horrid)
Yemen, Myanmar, Sudan
Or violence undeclared
Peace thwarted
x
For food for everyone
Safe water
Safe living
I guess I can pray all these things
While walking
Pausing for crosswalks
Maybe I prayed for them now
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Susan Wilkinson on Unsplash
x
clcouch123 
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