boat
I pulled the line
and
ducked the boom
and pulled the rudder out
my craft
once near
the shallow water and the dock
I sculled
and also let the sail full
pull us across
the lake where I captained
so to say
the first
time with a passenger trusting
me
and thankfully we both faced
an adolescent nature-breath of wind and
more
and made it back
c l couch
photo by Sonja Langford on Unsplash
coins
a wish
we wish for many things
sometimes
into longing
ask the mermaid on the water
c l couch
photo by Christina DelliSante on Unsplash
it could rain
and why not so that
after
we might breathe better
the dust from the work on the street
tamped
down some if even washed away
the heatwave crash a little on
the shore
of our discomfort
though another wave
sigh
should form out there
so it’s a simple
prayer
help and amen
c l couch
photo by MARIOLA GROBELSKA on Unsplash
ours
it’s my world
though the wars are far away
I could complain about war-chemicals
in the atmosphere
and more exigently about
war’s cost of life
the sad and tragic loss of life
by artificial means
those who had been alive
the moment before
and who am I but an Israeli
I am from Ukraine also
and of the Palestinians
Lebanese and Egyptians
Iraq
and Iran
and Russia
knowing some fine people there
I am of all despot states
especially the ones who say they’re not
I am of Earth
and so are you
and so means of destruction
hit at the statues of our lives and states
destroys us
piece by piece
one oppressive act by the next
whatever takes out freedom
will
and life
hours
exchange
one deadly volley
then another back or
somewhere else
maybe
toward allied
then the arcs overlap
and collapse
order
of things
and then we say it’s over
‘cause we say
and then ceasefire’s broken
and
who is left
respecting whom
worse than chaos is
the void
we shouldn’t move toward such
things
such lack of shape and substance
and the life itself
one life by one
c l couch
photo by mauro mora on Unsplash
interior-castling
sigh
I want the love of God
pervade my life
Teresa had it
when she sought sacred ecstasy
as if to rise
with God
wings lent from angels
in
the revelation moments
and
then to come down to mortal living
for the nonce
yet with holy meaning
in the hours
and could I live with God
that way
if less
if domestically
to have earned presence somehow
through apartment living in
small towns
in such
plain hours
and a less-than-regular
me
hoping for more
c l couch
photo by Marek Piwnicki on Unsplash
first full days
the day
twenty-four
and slightly less the light
from
day before
new season in transition
to the next
already
as our placement of the calendar
has set
and should we move
the season’s
markings as was done
still is
else-where
or when
so that midsummer
say
is the middle of the summer
and
so around
coda
the wars
certainly are
the vastly greater issue
with
especially cessation
come to mind
and
maybe
to the table
and there’s the warming of the Earth
that’s down to us
regardless
how we count
better to have seasons
in
whatever way
that are
redemptive by our ownership
cooler
how about all and
everyone
by our strategies
and practices
c l couch
from the solstice
photo by Simon Berger on Unsplash
just and unjust
forgive me when
I fall
not
through accident but through
some poor
design
for
the devil’s poor that way
while
God is rich
to give
which I should remember
and while grace
be mine
and
yours
it’s not enough on Earth sometimes
to know
and wounds are honest pain outward
inward
and while there are accidents
sometimes and
often
hurts are delivered
oh
so consciously
still spilling blood
of
a kind
with not nearly enough doing
to patch up
c l couch
photo by Rémi Boyer on Unsplash
soul power
let us break bread and
drink
wine together
breaking hate for whatever
reason
we saw justified
wine as blood
to know that blood is poured
and
has been poured
and except
by the one must be
bled no
longer for the rest
to say today
and
how
shall we rejoin
(or if
rejoin)
tomorrow
if
we could
remember on our
knees
in faith
to the one
and then in service
also
to each other
then
that we study war no more
but
let peace prevail and
a feast
by love
by love
tempered by wisdom as
mercy tempers
justice
unafraid
overcome
if afraid
still overcome
c l couch
for Juneteenth
photo by Ian Kiragu on Unsplash
gray day haiku
I don’t know if when
days don’t come so featureless
I touch relief of sun
gray day without arcs
no cloud-lines with interest
could wake to bright day
our moods by weather
we can do better by this
don’t be ruled by sky
there are sky-signals
sometimes land and water cast
warning signs to us
c l couch
photo by Tolga Ahmetler on Unsplash
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