cherish is the word
the spooky tree
I just heard mention of
a “spooky tree”
trees are spooky
I suppose
or can be especially when given
the Hallowe’en shape
and
association
though trees are green as well
and the green parts
we are drawn
to
for all they are as well as
what they mean
green
la vida
(not loca)
we have had an equinox
lately
and so we’re on a kind of edge
or cusp
in
not so much
the sky-shape of the moon
and how the stars
are
traveling
or even tables of tides
or even
Zodiac zones
we are on a line
an edge
a cusp
and spring should follow
normally
though we have put the seasons on an edge
as well
through what we’ve done to sky
water
and ground
our edge
(related to the others)
is made up of
resolve
which the other things with lines and such
can’t muster
we choose the Earth
we choose
the sky
the water
and the ground
and we choose each other
in the kind of
relation
that comes with deciding our part
of the cosmos
(sometimes
consideration is that
big)
what shall we choose
and
how to live
we have a cusp for timing
there’s no point in
despotism
we can be equal in each other’s eyes
and
all selective senses
and
yes
there’s good
and there is evil
and they need attending
for each is in the world
as each is
in
and from
each of us
we have to keep a world
governments and industries
we should value life
our lives
in whatever motley way we have life
once
we have it
and it goes on
the isms have their place
though they should be mollified by
things
mentioned through ages
befitting
old
and new
and renewed
c l couch
“Cherish” is a song written by Terry Kirkman and recorded by The Association. “Cherish” was released in 1966.
Photo by USGS on Unsplash[--]Soaring, snow-capped peaks and ridges of the eastern Himalaya Mountains create an irregular white-on-red patchwork between major rivers in southwestern China. The Himalayas are made up of three parallel mountain ranges that together extend more than 2,900 kilometers. [From USGS.] (And it looks a bit like a Hallowe’en tree. From me.)
alonely
who sang that song
you know
that in a crooning line
about
being so lonely
and who was it
sang
that naturally
is lonely
and how awful is it
really
how far
against the law
all right
if one
were better nature
we would each
have one’s own planet
and we don’t
we have
interlocking parts
quite
frankly
maybe starting with
our fingers
we see into
something
when
we see
into
each other
eyes
not required
we have tingling senses
spider-people
when
we’re sure that someone’s
in the room
with
us
and
yes
of course
we have our voices
that
talk
that reach
through space
or on some paper
through
machines
again
voicestrings
unrequired
we get across
somehow
a message
when
we’re dedicated
to
the messaging
even
urgently
we find each other
speak
silent
say
we need to say
and yet
the bodies have their skins
and in
no way
can we be
each other
and when not
together
there is one
alone
surroundings may not matter
and isn’t there
some goodness there
sometimes
in face
when we think of it
quite often
and shall
the hour
go well
in which we think
reason
consider a resolve
to this issue
and that
one
(sometimes that one)
goodness
we might
write
you know
(you know been
known
to happen)
and so
the goodness
even of the Lord
who made us
one by one
even by one
sometimes by minutes
in between
the twins
of things
the Lord shall
love us
one
by one
by one
and
yes
for sweetness
when
we’re all together
by the way
and by the way
of all things
showing that we’re joined
on planet Earth
in systems
solar
in all companionship
through which is ringed
frankly
the gravity
separate
ringed together
cosmos
c l couch
photo by Elijah Hiett on Unsplash
One Word for All the Words
I don’t know
What I want
To say to you today
Except
Love
As a subject
And a verb
And an object
More a complement
Because
Well
Enough objectifying
Of and in
Our world
The love
That comes from God
Though it must also be
The love
Coming from each other
The love of self
The love of neighbor
Well
That’s God-
Determined
Certainly
But it must work through us
Through all our words
And all our action
Because
Love’s always expected
We can’t help it
There it is
It’s how we’re made
And how we can’t
Unmake ourselves
We’re creatures of love
Made by it
And kept by it
Today into tomorrow
Mostly
In this moment
When we’ll respond to anything
Our of our love
Our desire
Our delight
Our disappointment when
Something else might be dispensed
And so received
Even in a drowning way
The meanness
(both kinds)
And frustration
Which can be overwhelming
Then
Don’t we don’t face it
We know what
Might happen
Next
Because it’s love
Sorry
It’s love
That is beneath
Every motivation
Every word
Every movement
God is love
And for our fleshly lives
It might be
At least think and feel
More important
We are love
And must be love
That like dreams
Maybe should not all
Always
Come true
C L Couch
Photo by Harry Borrett on Unsplash
Be Happy Museum Kraków, Karmelicka, Kraków, Poland
Published 2 days ago
(x = space)
x
x
Paradise Neither Lost nor Found
x
It is not the best of times
Just now
I have to own that part
Of the Dickens
Narration
Too many sick
I know
And there is war
Infamous
Famously defended
I’d like to know the wisdom
Of the ages
Those who contemplated
Long ago
How to redeem the mind
And sanctify the heart
How did they do it
When we’re so
Smarter now
x
How may I call up
Desert mothers
Desert fathers
My might I stir
My own kind of Celtic blood
That came to northern shores
And tried to have companionship
With nature and each other
Until organized, metallic
Factions entered
And took over
Slew what did not submit
Killed what submitted
Anyway
x
That’s my northernness
I guess
I guess I like it well enough
I’d like to know yours
And what you have from the
Southern half
Because you might
Have that
East or west
As interesting
Exciting
The fascination of our differences
Shared in easy friendship
Easy joy
The direction points aren’t bad
Unless you make them
Points of dominion
Or points of fear
x
Fear not
We can come toward each other with
Fingertip excitement
Passing through time
And sentiment
To share a call that says
The Earth is one
We are one
We are one and one and one
And one
x
C L Couch
x
If she doesn’t mind, I’d like to dedicate this work to Judith Nilan who wrote so kindly of me recently and whose friendship is cherished by me and by anyone else who is her friend, I’m sure. You should read her blog because it would be good for you. Her blog address is https://stonefireblog.com/.
x
x
Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
sorry, long
x
x
Three, One, Three Again
x
1
Creator, savior, guide
Maybe I understand the trinity
Maybe not
They are lively
And immediate
They are at work all the time
And understand rest
They commend a sabbath
And the days on either side
They are all efficiency
And all love
We have access to them
And, as teachers and advisors
Not to mention
God,
They nudge us
All the time
x
2
What kind of commanders
Legions at their call
They give us time
And patience
Before anything like
A final battle
Victory assured
I mean in this moment
We wait and wait and wait
Or, worse, deny
While they withhold rejection
Until the moment
Past the moment
Before judgment
Should decide
x
They give us time
Keeping everything at bay,
Which is love
All love
Splicing revelation
Tailoring salvation
For each one
Each encounter
How wondrously and thunderously
Special
What kind of God
What parts of God
Can do this
And then do it
x
3
Hear, O Israel
And all other nations,
Catch them in the human heart
Live as one
Each one as all
Repair the ruin of the Earth
There is so much faith
And good work to do
x
They are mild
They are also Armageddon
What kind of love
What kind of God
Three then one
Then three again
They live in constant relationship
So should we
Within the parts
Of ourselves,
Each one
And then
Altogether
x
More than one in one
We can have that, too:
Remember might
Remember love
Both mingled in each moment
Quicksilver
And slow water
Everything that moves
And tries to rest
They show us the way
To give us something every day
Then just after our last day
After work
And battling
And sabbathing
To lead us home
x
C L Couch
x
x
Maybe it’s not my tradition, but I mean to be respectful of the Shema.
x
Temple of Edfu, Egypt
Photo by Jeremy Zero on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Timing
x
God, help me
With devotion
Not the famous kind
I don’t think
I could hold that well
But quieter,
Between the two of us
And any interested
That we all might
Turn
And turn again
So that you and the sun might
Bleed together
And everything
Be many
And be one
x
Maybe it is famous,
After all
I learned certain moments
From someone
To begin with
And the well-known word
That ends
It all
‘Til next time
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Nsey Benajah on Unsplash
x
One More Act
Regarding salvation,
Theophilus,
It is an easy plan
It has to be
Don’t be disappointed
Each one of everyone
Must perceive
The Lord
It can’t be a secret,
Though for now we need a secret
To survive
A code
Or something
Somehow, each one
Gets the story
In a saving way
We can’t be hiding that
Thank goodness, we don’t
God would crowd in, anyway
Should we get it wrong
There must be
Truth in belief and a cadre
To keep it
Somehow the story
Must appeal
To the old, the young
The angry and the fearful
How much we know cannot be
The matter of
God’s apprehending each
Once the hand is raised
And if no skill to do that
Raised with help
From proxy friends
But each one’s own
Encounter
Must compel
And must, because there is
Perfect love in the process
A compelling invitation
Stamped with joy
Delivered in peace
Whose cost, mind you,
Is nothing
It’s a great day,
Theophilus,
Even though we scratch
Into the ground for recognition
We are fishers
With the perfect net
That will not kill or maim
Or serve up the wrong fish
Into the boat
Or on the shore
Consider it a plan
Better than any other
There should be no wounds
Outside or inside
Except those delivered
By the world
The net actually fails
There is no net
Yet the job is done
It’s done in thread
That holds nothing together
So must we in peace
Proclaim the Lord,
Which will be hard for us
Though God demands somehow we keep
The opposites together
(a greeting in my hand)
My peer, my student, and my friend
It is the hardest work we do
And rise above the scars
Yet the prize is easy
It is not ours
But kept by one who knows our names
Better yet, prizes our spirits
Gain the faith in truth and love
A day of gladness when there’s one
And only one
C L Couch
Photo by Brina Blum on Unsplash
It was on a lovely and sunny day in Trèbes in France. I found this lonely and lost mailbox on the wall of an old house. Looks so beautiful.
Sunset Ramadan
(5 June 2016)
I have memories
Of a Ramadan, a
Rosh Hashanah, too
I like the Christian
Holidays, but others
From these faiths
Invited me
To ritual and cuisine
And, best of all,
Community
Love permeates
Actions when they
Are in spirit
Inch’Allah
And our God is
Pleased when we
Are one
Shalom
Psalm 30
a song of I-don’t-know
what is the resolution
of an unsolvable equation
when one plus one
makes love
what more is there to say
to add or calculate
what function can enhance
the totality of this
one plus one makes love
clcouch123 
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