a two-part matter of monsters
monsters
monster means something important
out for show
but we know monster
really
for ourselves and
also monstrous
connotation
and old scary movies
and before that
illustrations here and there on paper
though mostly
through
stories
the monster that we see outside
and
do not see
the gruntings or the screams we think we
hear
there is what goes into
and has always been
inside
the mind
monsters worse that in there
rise
sometimes in sleep
or we take them waking into
feeling
thinking
the spirit
the ego
our inner things fed one way or another
and then become
our conscious
if monsters not-consciously influence
‘til
they’re
known
maybe through counsel
maybe we learn to drag the beasts from
deep lurking
into a shallow sunlit place
where they
are known
and
let
awareness both appreciate as well as
eschew
all monsters
doubting
they do not go away
so we’ll pursue
and
come to know in unshadowed time
and circumstances
live with
then
the monstrous as
best
(not beast)
as we may
monstrous negotiation
maybe that’s how I’ll leave it
a discussion
for
the day
of what’s monstrous
what are the beasts that lurk away
or want
to invade
and also the shaded things
as creatures
that
we keep inside
the world
certainly can
be
a bestial place
look at D. C.
and also western Asia with points
west
and east
until except for penguin colonies
the Earth is subsumed
by
all the monster presences
and possibilities
and we think monster-hunting will
resolve
except the monstrous will not like it
and might attack
or simply
push
tall and deadly things from
the forests in
our way
the forest out there
and
of course
the woods in here
the fairytale monsters
point
toward us while
reading or
otherwise receiving
and while they
return
and so we have more stories
maybe there’s
a matter of negotiation
that
only lately
except for Androcles
the narratives are positing
that
we make friends
with dragons
and
so ask Saint George to consider new
pursuits
that we bargain with ourselves
as well
and the clawed and jagged creature-parts
dwelling
deep
but changing moods
and agendas near and over the surface
to outside
and
then each other
rather
to learn the monsters
that
we won’t need to feed them
they’ll be fine
and teach us in return
that what is
monstrous
needs no encouragement
but
in appreciation
then
of everything we are
chastened
we step into the waters of the world
all the currents
even
caves once knowing
what inhabits
there
in me
in you
so us
and in them
until the them be us as well
c l couch
photo by steffen wienberg on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
Small, Insistent Formulae
x
Sigh
Let’s love
Love
And make it practical
I’ll carry this for you
You could make something
For me
x
Keep it civil
Better courteous
Keep respect
For remembrance
In our heads
Our chests
Wherever better spirits
Dwell
x
And sing for love
Upon our stages
Certainly
Inside our homes
And in any congress
We might have
Outside
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Larm Rmah on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Going Outside on My Own after Hospital
x
Today there is a fair
Happening down the street
I could go out
To see it, hear it, taste it
Certainly to smell it
Shall I go?
x
A Prufrockian kind
Of consideration
Except I’ve been in hospital
(as the English say
without an article)
And I’m still sore
And I’m tired
And I don’t know if the twinges
I feel
Mean something
x
The cool of the morning
Now would be
The time to go
x
x
C L Couch
x
Photo by Sandra Seitamaa on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Don’t Remove This Label
x
I don’t want to reason
Only secularly
But I look where I am
And listen
x
In a long room
Whose beauty is beneath
Because the skin and other features
Are so poorly cared for
x
Which is to say
It’s old and could be good
But isn’t good
x
The noise of the world
Breaks in from above
And neither rule
Nor rent
Is cared about
x
Outside is a cold and pleasant day
At least to see
I see too much
And need to invoke
The other senses so much more
x
Drivers misbehave outside
Sometimes pedestrians
Though the thing about the outside noise
Is that it moves on
x
And I know
There are fires
That burn acreage
In a wild and awful way
And those who fight these flames
Are often hurt
And much is lost
Famously
In fires
x
And there is war I do not understand
And thank you I don’t want to
I’m sorry
But a bomb
Blasting away everything I know
And cuts away at me
By foes’ intent
I would be crazed
In every way
And to know the agency was human
Without randomness
For an agenda
x
And I know that states are falling
While brave people
Stand against
The evil reasons
And the power that, created good,
Is now corrupted
And maybe has been
For a while
But in a den bares now
Its blooded teeth
Behind a guard
That operates somehow
To keep the good ones from approaching
x
And I say it thus
With distance
Not that local evil
Hasn’t worked its way
Maybe the world
Learning of democracy
Is ruled by princes
After all
x
I simply want a quiet day
And promise of another
I want boredom
To be my awful challenge
And in this way I’ll try
To address the rest
I really will
From here
And now
x
You may decide what I am or
Most of you
Ignore me
And why not
Ignoring what
We need
To keep our naïve brand
In place
Like the labels on the furnishings
We do not tear off
Even though I doubt
The wars
Should care
x
I care
Not about that
But decades into this
I care
You might care as well
And more than me
Knowing better what to protest
What to fight for
x
Not to mention
I would rather be
Which makes everything more difficult
With you
Attached
Rather than against you
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Thomas Dumortier on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Tontines
x
Good morning, Monday
And to all of you
I hope the weekend brought some pleasure
Some enjoyment
That lives inside
Your living, now
I hope that Tuesday’s grand as well
But today is today
I’d like the present moment
The next present moment
To be good for you
As if there were a promise kept
By forces unseen
Or heard
But sometimes felt like
Two-way touches in the wind,
Smelled and tasted, too
Like Sabbath-keeping
Or peace in
An hour of prayer
A walk inside a forest
Or the palace of the mind
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Martin Adams on Unsplash
While visiting the Gaitor site in India’s pink city (known for its pink mud walls), we came to a temple with beautiful, carved figures. Noticing the birds, I took my camera and all of sudden a whole group of them leapt into the sky.
x
(x = space)
x
x
A Human Gift
x
God smiles on a Saturday
The human invention
Of a weekend
An extra day for homework
Sleeping in, perhaps
Housecleaning
Or play
x
It’s a gift we gave ourselves
Along with ending child labor
In “Satanic Mills”
And the imposition on the profit-makers
Of an eight-hour day
For manufacturing iron and steel into
Gold and empire,
All of which happened
With agrarian losses
And also serfs and lords
In the old system
Classes turned into attitudes
x
It’s more complex, of course
But doesn’t bear a quiz
This is the day we have
(not everywhere)
An extra day for homework
Sleeping in, perhaps
Housecleaning
Or play
x
C L Couch
x
x
“Jerusalem,” a hymn, words by William Blake
x
Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash
Let’s play fetch!
x
Step Sessions
We have a journey to go on
Called today
I don’t know how many steps we’ll take
Maybe we’ll travel like Thoreau
Considering the cosmos in a walk to town
Maybe one place will be literal
The other living
Where stars are born
The nebula inside
Cradles of thought
To set us on our way
Until the dark of night brings out the offspring
Literal nebulae
A star for each thought born out there
A universe of mind, as it may
Marking a journey
Like our own,
Roaming energy
Through two sets of cells
Two trips going inexorably
No competition needed, no going to war
We can have quiet or make noise
Any media for growth
Though I will say
Maybe going gently’s not so bad
In a night of stars
As thoughts and ours
How many steps a journey?
Some might want
To know,
Which is okay
Let the universe and us
Decide
C L Couch
“Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas
Photo by Aldebaran S on Unsplash
Heart Nebula
Shouting Match
A man
I think it was a man
Was on the sidewalk somewhere
Outside, screaming about something
Early this morning
It might have been about the
Lord
Who will give him understanding
It’s quiet now; I saw no flashes from
Police cars
There is a religious group next door
Maybe some of that group came out to
Attend to him
Maybe not
Maybe they called on everyone’s behalf
There has been silence for a while
I could have been
In a city where
Such happenings are commonplace
But it was here in the center of
Our borough, small Mechanicsburg
Not Queens or Brooklyn
Nowhere near Manhattan
Not even Harrisburg
Across the river
I’m not feeling guilty so much
Nor do I dissemble
I am one
Who else could there be unless the
Dissolution in the building be resolved
Next door they are several
They take up the parking with
Their cars from out of state
The violence was verbal
And, yes, I know, it is an insane world
Proved by this part of it
Raving where there was no crowd
For hearing or responding
Small repentance, if there should be any
Did he think himself
The voice in the wilderness?
A prophet by the Jordan for our time?
I doubt I’ll ever know
I guess I could be
Shaken just a little
I’ll have some coffee now
Then take my pills
I wish I hadn’t used up the bread I had
For toast
Something nice for breakfast
Might be appropriate
A small salve
For a scratched place on my soul
The cause of fear from confrontation
Or maybe
A caution of indifference
An hour later
A touch jumpy, mostly sad
Fifteen minutes more
Now I’m teary
When I think about
The man in the world
All his wilderness
C L Couch
Photo by Mitchell Luo on Unsplash
The Noise
I think I hear street-sweeping
Wrong day
No, it’s a plane
The noise is now stentorian
Now it’s Doppler-fading
A truck going through town?
No follow-up
Wet tires, maybe
On other cars
Scattered showers were predicted
C L Couch
Photo by Daniel von Appen on Unsplash
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