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We Prayed Today

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We Prayed Today

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“Today is a privilege” she said she’d

Embroider on a pillow

And on the other side, “I’m still

Breathing”

Because for all the despondence,

The despair we take to prayer

In our group,

There is beauty and joy

And so much to love

In fact, it’s what we love that turns

That often

Leads us to prayer

Compels us

We pray for the good things, too,

Wanting the goodness

We pray over cherishing the messed-up

World we have

And the messed-up lives we care for

And our own

We say amen

Knowing it’s never

The end

And we say thank you

With intention

We mean it

We are grateful

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C L Couch

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Photo by KARTIK GADA on Unsplash

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the blast of war

(x = space)

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the blast of war

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God

grant not my will

but yours

yours and mind when

we’re allied

but if it’s you or me

better to be you

and yours

I know

I’ll be there, too

that sometimes frustrates

when I want something

all my own

and maybe

you would not agree

all the way

better for your will be done

and mine left out

you’ll remember me

and several billion

while caretaking

all who are asleep

a world that’s cracking

you will let it crack

split into pieces

that we insist upon

who says

my will be done?

yours will keep the planet

and humanity

behold what

our will has done

and save us

by your modest will

gentle

or ferocious

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the quiet desert

and the storm at sea

are yours

watch over these

and the tame or wild places

of the mind

the heart

and spirit

we should ally

keep us from all tyrannies

with a will

for freedom

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c l couch

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photo by jonathan bowers on unsplash

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Allowancing

(x = space)

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Allowancing

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Should the

Spirit lead

Should an angel say

So that we rest into

Advice

From listening

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Pointers of direction

For the way

This is a response from prayer

Or simple stillness

Being still

Into the world, into night

Into the quiet blue of day

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Whatever time

To step outside

To step inside

Creation’s bands

The movement of the universe

Let it ride

For us

For a while

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We rest within

We rest without

We try to listen with disinterest

(not un-interest)

For a while

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If we get something

It’s a gift

Treat with care

Treat with confidence

Now get up

Carrying the lightness of a gift

Into the world again

Into time

(kairos into chronos)

Into hours of the day and night

Into chores

Into decisions

Into life

Into peace

Or needs be war

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Not worrying a win

But plainly things are better

If no new rewards

Maybe a win for all

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C L Couch

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Photo by Aaron Huber on Unsplash

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Peace to You

Now are the times of Orthodox Easter, Passover, and Ramadan.  Praying for blessings to all the faithful.

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Peace to You

(John 20 and elsewhere)

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Peace to you

The teacher showed up saying

Peace

If God appeared

In the room

We were in

Then words of peace

Might be needed

To still our hearts

And keep them working

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God shows up

In the room

Alive in every way

(later we’ll share meals)

Except in expectation

For we had thought

Never to see

Or hear the words again

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Scars from nails

And a spear

Maybe the marks of thorns

On the brow

God appears again

God with us again

Immanuel

The end of

Maranatha

Folk at the center of the world

May suggest

While those outlying

Hear the story

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There is life again

Three days’ waiting

We weren’t counting

We forgot

All prophecy

And understanding

Thomas,

God lives again

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C L Couch

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Cross with Dove and Red Cloth in Pirenopolis, Brazil

Photo by Emily Crawford on Unsplash

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Anjali Mudra

(x = space)

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Anjali Mudra

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What does love say

On this or any other

Plain day?

The sun is out for now

Dust is settled

Here and there

Some of the folds

In the blankets have been

Smoothed out

It is a lonely day,

And that’s all right

Not as a concession

But as a source

For small peace

That could be broken

Should the phone

Be lifted

And knowing that,

There is no desperation

A quiet day

An ordinary day

A day between the holidays

As most of our days are

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Nothing to own

Gifted

Are the seconds and

The minutes, the hours

And the dust

Our scant possessions

No matter how tall

Or deep

They can’t defeat

The mountains

Or the trenches of the deep

We can coexist

There is no point

In conquest

When nature rolls everything

At last

Into the waiting ground

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Fight it

Or have

A knowing peace

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C L Couch

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Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash

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An Odd Peace

(x = space)

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An Odd Peace

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Too much loss

Too long

Too much to rebuild

How can we face it?

But for the

Cessation of hostilities

That sounds official,

We can bear it

On our own

For each other,

Help the ones who can’t

To let them in at home

When home’s

Returned

Rebuilt

Re-welcoming

Known inhabitants

And guests

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If I woke up and

There were

Rocks outside my door

Plaster, dry-wall dust

On everything,

I’d feel a cry

If not a wail

Build up

And if there more

Blood and such

Then other instincts

Anger and assistance

While the

Keening is considered

A savage peace

For hearing nothing

Letting medicine

Take over

While I slept

Even through sirens’

Calls

The mermaid singing

The murderous intentions

Of humanity

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There would be

A day

I might walk through it

Would I be made to leave?

How would I be fed

The markets gone

And where are you?

Small parts

Of war,

And I would want

To resign it all

While also thinking

About a gun

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C L Couch

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Photo by Museums Victoria on Unsplash

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Piecemeal

(x = space)

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Piecemeal

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I wish there were no war

I wish peace could abound

And not forestall

I wish we made enough

And a little more

For neighbors, strangers,

Celebrations

I wish the world were not a mess

Unless it could come out

Cookies on the other side

And a centerpiece

For a long, long table

Levels and heights to accommodate

With chairs of many sizes

Everyone invited

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C L Couch

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Photo by Obi – @pixel6propix on Unsplash

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To Ishmael

(x = space)

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To Ishmael

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What will be left

Between

These two countries now?

What of Isaac and Ishmael

Of neighbors

And of families?

How will they get along?

Whom will they know

To trust at all?

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Will they come to a table,

Meet in a field?

Shall the words of Mizpah follow

Or better

An embrace?

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We have these words

Restoration

Reconciliation

How will we enact these

Make them manifest?

How might peace abound

While the search

For food and intact buildings

Is abundant?

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They came together

To bury their father

To bury death;

Nothing more

Broke out between

Them, then

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Might generations know

Viable forgiveness

Dead anger

Such as render borders blurred

In teary vision,

In homely

Transactions:

Dinner by

A fire that heats and cooks

With chairs left out

For friends

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C L Couch

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Photo by Gradienta on Unsplash

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Easy Errantry

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Easy Errantry

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God grant

Peace for friends

And good days

Well-deserved

Because they are

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No pre-requirements

Beyond existing

Now

On Earth

Today, hopefully

Into tomorrow

All right, so an anti-disposition

Toward causing pain

In others

Wouldn’t hurt

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But beyond that

Simply be today

And have good days

Without because

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C L Couch

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Photo by Alberto Zanetti on Unsplash

Krafla, Islanda

when I first saw the image, I thought it was upside-down; on second glance, I thought it was a painting

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