2 poems with one poem an expression of thanks then the other a preachy story
given means
someone brought me
food
and others cleared my car
and I imagine that I’ll
lose the space
as soon as I go somewhere
but
I’m thankful
I can eat
and I can move away
when
needed or desired
in the parable
these helpers would be sheep
though busy sheep
helpful
and loving
the givers have the designation
sheep
or goat
and I wonder what
the receivers
such as I might be
maybe
lambs
or kids
Matthew 25:31-46
the one arrives for whom there has been waiting
a story with a king
who dispenses justice
a righteous king
who
has the power with discretion
and the role
given
to play
and shall people be judged
by this wonder who could
be
man or woman
or those gender parts
in God
and so the king
metes
as if the word were ready for this one
alone and
throughout
time
and a throne is
set
the the judgment happens simply
you were me and in
need
and these came to help you
though they needn’t
have known you and you had comfort
even
more life to give
and for the metaphor
I call the helpers
sheep as I
frankly
am the shepherd
and sorry for goats
to call the others goats
and
I guess goats are famous for consuming
and
these goats to judge as people
keeping all
if by degree and giving nothing
not
what would have been easier to share
let alone what might have
been harder
to share
and I must welcome sheep
then
outcast the goats
not
for species judgment
except for those of you
people
whom I made
to whom I gave
but chose
not
to give back or out
toward loving benefit of others
so I judge
and so it is as it was
set
so long ago just after Eden
c l couch
same verses
photo by Jay Gomez on Unsplash
Theology for Anyone
Too many things
To think about
What is
Simply
Out there
Anymore
What might be simple
First
In here
And show the way
The poet
(I have mentioned this)
Taught me about the Amish
Person
Who was asked
Are you saved to heaven
To which
The faithful person said
I hope so
Not doubting so much
As to be humble
And to be prodded
All the time
To serve
And remember who is
Served
And what did
Jesus say
About the sheep
But
You may come in
For helping me
Because
I was the thirsty
And the naked
And the lonely
While you goats
(poor goats
for a metaphor)
Must stay outside
And go to
Frankly
An awful place
Or maybe
Nothing
Philosophically
Simply enough
Perhaps
That is
Live well
And for each other
And who is my neighbor
But
Anyone in
Need
While we have the means
And typically we have
To use
Help each other
Which I guess means
Take the help
As well
Simple enough
C L Couch
(Matthew 25:31–46)
Photo by Nandhu Kumar on Unsplash
help the goats, too
(x = space)
x
x
Wineskins
(parabolic)
x
I don’t know much about
Old wineskins
I had a bota once
From Spain
I imagine that my father got it
While on tour in the Navy
I probably put water in it
(the bota, not the Navy)
And tried to drink
I say this because I have a memory
Of playing with the trail of water
As they do with botas in Spain,
Letting the thin arch
Run out farther and farther
From the mouth
(the boca)
Part of the fun
In having such a device
Out of which to drink
x
Does bota mean bottle?
I think botella
There might be some sort
Of origin
Shared at least in etymology
x
I don’t know much
About new wineskins
I’ve probably never been
Next to one
And so there’s this whole tradition
Of which I’m unaware,
Which is how to deal
With wineskins
x
I imagine they are made
From the skins if not the organs
Of animals—
Cow, goat, sheep, I don’t know
And according to the power
In the parable,
A wineskin only gets one use
What happens next?
It is made into shoes
Or a backpack
Or a purse?
x
I hope wineskins always were
Recyclable
And more so if they’re still
Used today
I imagine they could
Be lined with something
That would take new liquid well
So the skin could be used
Time and again
(which I wonder that the bota can)
But now to people
x
Old wineskins, once emptied,
Are now useless of their
Single purpose
New wine will require
New wineskins
x
Now, what is the wine?
It is new thought
New purpose
The Spirit as device
(and metaphor)
Has offered something new
Not to overthrow the old
So much as to complete it
I think that’s what
Jesus would say
As in, I have come not to abrogate
The law
But to complete it
x
The story is more personal
Perhaps
Or might be taken that way
Personally, communally—these
Will happen:
Should we have thoughts
And instincts that
Merely weigh us down
More with suppression
Than belief
And where’s the wisdom
Let alone the joy
In that?
If we-always-did-it-that-way
Is only an alienating
(try I-always-do-it-this way,
too)
Quality for now,
Time for new thinking
And new acting
Or old acting
With new thinking
x
C L Couch
x
x
Matthew 9:14-17, Mark 2:18-22, Luke 5:33-39
x
Photo by Biljana Martinic on Unsplash
x
Parabling
(Chapter 10, Actions of the Apostles)
The sheet unfolded
Peter saw so many things
And was told they are all
Good
Enjoy it, Peter
This is the bounty of the Earth
Fertile plains surrounded by
Its hills and all its oceans
Kosher is important
It’s devout and, frankly, safer
But how could there be
A kosher forest? Or a kosher
Ocean or a sky?
All that is created and blessed
Is in the litany of Genesis
And that is good
Darkness and light
Water and land
Animals and our charge
To care for it all
Everything that bore the movement
Of God’s spirit and carries
The imprint, still
Having been made
Against the loneliness
Of God
Peter’s solitude is challenged
The exclusion of society
The orthodoxy of an elite
Must open the door
Rend the curtain
Opens its doorway
Baring the inside
Of robes and crowns
Relent, ye wealthy of the Earth
You are not Solomon
Who knows whose obedience
He owes
And a better nature
Demanded in a daily life
Turning over all the neighbor’s need
Like finding small, hard, and fibrous plants
To harvest from dark soil
Peter is enlightened;
Through the story,
Now are we
C L Couch
http://rosycroix.blogspot.com/2010/04/clothes-line.html
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