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Everywhere

(x = space)

x

x

Everywhere

(IWD 2023)

x

It’s International Women’s Day

While in some parts of the world

It’s nearly over

And it’s over

I wonder what happened?

What nations adopted

Legislation

That affirms,

Almost absurdly,

The humanhood of women?

x

What programs might have taken place

By groups who want

To announce

Or better yet

To shake the world

With a civil earthquake

To bring tectonic change

Into culture

x

What artists and art groups gave us new ways

To see and hear

And touch the way

To change?

And what God waits

To intervene

When the threats increase and wholeness

Is defined

Only in part

For some?

Better yet, let’s intervene ourselves

x

Let’s push on tyrannies

Until pushed over

And things are built

New places

And new institutions,

A world that’s femininely organized,

Which is to say

The most human

Of all worlds

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash

Salha Khan, a Kurdish hero. Statue in Erbil. سالحە خان ١٩٣٢ – ٢٠٠١ لە هەولێر #kurdistanregion #erbil #هەولێر

x

1

meeting God

(x = space)

x

x

meeting God

x

how deep the ocean

and shall we ever know it

how far the sky

beyond the blue

and empty black

and shall we reach what’s next

and the last

x

what’s inside

and shall we understand

to fix the organs

and blood flow

between them

achieve perfection

or much longer life

at least

to have the body

cooperating with itself

x

and where is energy

and will

to do so

it is there

many serve with it

and so will fix things

and explore

and reach until

everything is reached

and there is God

waiting

not to say

why so long

but to say

well done

x

we go on

to what’s next

to discover

and those behind

who sponsor

and who wait

even to love

those leaving

and generally

the people

on the world

on new worlds

inhabiting

and to have

more and more

the better lives

fed and clothed and watered

steeped in art

to make the generation

bright and beautiful

shall do the exploring

next

x

with God

after God

quiet God

maybe with a part of God

to keep

to save

when necessary

x

otherwise

in the imposed Edenic way

to leave us

as it’s been

on our own

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust on Unsplash

x

1

Poetry 180 from the Library of Congress

(x = space)

x

x

Poetry 180 from the Library of Congress

x

I’ve been through the series

A few times now

I’ve read

And taken notes

Cut-and-paste the parts

That one way or another get

To me,

Placing everything inside

A sort of commonplace book

x

I speak

Electronically;

Everything for now

Is not on paper

But kept in columns

In the storage space

I rent

x

And I wonder if

I take out the same parts

Of poems

Except the new ones

Year by year:

Take them out and keep them

In the way I keep the same parts

Via electrons

x

It’s a terrific series;

I forget it’s not for me

(I am

the second audience

at best)

I mean, I don’t think Billy Collins

And the staff

Of the LoC mind that I read this

And keep it

And I like,

Even that I’m changed

Though not a highschooler

And not changed as one

x

C L Couch

x

x

https://www.loc.gov/programs/poetry-and-literature/poet-laureate/poet-laureate-projects/poetry-180/

x

Photo by sarina gr on Unsplash

x

1

Magic Acts

(x = space)

x

x

Magic Acts

x

The day is

Here

And I am glad

And it’s a mess

And I

Am glad

x

Snow would vie with rain

Ice with streets

That are only wet

The wintry mix

They say

That sounds like salad

In a bag

I could select from bags

In the store

x

Thank you for

Messy days

Indeterminate;

I think I see

A patch of yellow and of green

On the tree out back

And now it’s gone,

That is,

The patch of light

And not

The tree

x

Yes, it is

Strange magic

Or I think it is

And I have a movie on

That I barely see or hear

Because

The day itself

Is more compelling,

And I can keep the background

Images

And especially the sounds

For the distraction

Of tinnitus

x

While looking better

At the black and brown

And white

And listening for wind

That pushes everything

x

A moving day outside

With patches

Now and then

Of yellow and of green,

Brighter parts

And shaded

While the sun and moon

Trade places

x

And is that not

(sorry,

kinescope

and nickelodeon)

The more compelling

Magic

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Susan Wilkinson on Unsplash

x

0

Salut

(x = space)

x

x

Salut

x

The day has

Gone from blue to gray

And if so

That’s what we’ll have

But still it is the day

And it is ours

Not to possess

But to keep

As in maintain

Improve

In gratitude

x

A paean to the planet

Only gods who are

Not there

Desire;

Praise is fine

But better spent

In care

Like rearing children

Or taking care of grown-ups

In their ages

(maybe six and seven

out of seven)

x

In other words,

Do well by Earth

While it is

Under you and over you

And inside you

For planets

And our home among them

Circling stars

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by redcharlie | @redcharlie1 on Unsplash

x

1

haiku (more)

(x = space)

x

x

haiku

x

1

slow nature inside

plants grow in unsure seasons

ours darkness or light

x

2

unsurely outside

winter by a calendar

summer another

x

3

creature on a branch

cardinal or squirrel set

then fly or skitter

x

C L Couch

x

x

(like those earlier, these haiku can relate to each other, though I doubt there is a rule about connection; or each haiku may stand alone, which I guess is more traditional)

x

Photo by Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash

x

0

Open Sesame

(x = space)

x

x

Open Sesame

x

An easy day

Because I’ve made it

A combining of

Forgetfulness

With compromise

As virtues

x

The pleasure in a cup of coffee

With a story

For companionship

x

If willing,

A companion

Who forgets and compromises, too

x

There we’ll reach and leave the summit

Of the day

x

Tomorrow

I or we might have another

x

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Martin Adams on Unsplash

Sunflower in the Sky

Geneva, Switzerland

x

1

haiku

(x = space)

x

x

haiku

x

1

twenty pages in

the need to gaze and breathe out

outside for elsewhere

x

2

city-wise black trees

darkened too the sky-wept street

nature go with tears

x

3

after rain is haze

exhale into clarity

newly gifts of night

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Emil Widlund on Unsplash

x

0

Pledge Break

(x = space)

x

x

Pledge Break

x

Goodness

It’s late

I haven’t really

Said anything

I’ve let the tyranny

Of memories and songs

Take over

Drafting elsewhere

x

Tyranny

That could be blessed

For pleasures recalled

And challenges

And to reconsider

Resolutions

x

Well

What is there to say?

Love God

Love each other

I’ll try to do better

Always better

Improve

Even invent

Devices and topoi

As devices

Not cleverness

(clearly)

But invitations

For the nonce

And later on

x

For that is the joy of words

Arranged

That they might be

Considered later on

x

Like words

I like your words

And almost everything they carry

I’m sorry

But for now

I must set aside the hate

Even for justice

‘Til mediation

Greater wisdom

So much greater than my own

Take over

x

We must talk

At least we should

And I can hope

We do

At that table

Where all words

Be shared and understood

And a new world built by them

From every session

Made

Into our mission

x

While most of us

Lead lives away

Improved

Steadier on the path

Cosmically designed

Determined

Our input welcomed

Now with grace

Re-made

From our negotiation

With each other

Willing to listen

By the end

Of sessions

And be changed in

And for

A universe

Always moving

Always changing

x

Together

There’s the wisdom

There has to be

Or else

Franky

We’ve earned oblivion

x

I say

We say

Enough

Let’s fill our cups

And serve each other

On our plates

Wise love

Via service

Receiving thus

Salvation

x

Poetically

And prosaically

Yours,

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

x

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