No Amens Required
(prayers, devotions for occasions)
reach
thank you
God
for today
as it is
in these smooth hours
even before
everything gets difficult
again
Say
God
What shall we say that you
Provide
And is the cost
Belief
Or does
Grace mean
That everything is
Free
And
Do you love us
Anyway
And
Do you love the ones we know
Are evil
Or merely corrupted
Even in their prosperity
Good
And
Evil
We may not think on these
We might
Instead
By getting by
Or
Trying to
And could we
Ask
We’d only ask for this
And leave the larger matters
Maybe
Well
Maybe
Up to you
Sorry a Tired Prayer
(if not fed-up)
Lord
You made me this say
And the world
And my own
Mistakes
I guess
And I don’t know
Not that I wouldn’t own
But what should I
Own
And what is the fault of
Something else
And
I don’t know
Except
I’m tired of the way things are
Thinking
Peace
Would be preferred
Even over love
For an ambition
Even
A dream from which a plan
To get me
There
A confession
Maybe
An asking
Without doubt
Because
I hope
At least
You’ll do it
Grant me what I need
I don’t mean to ask it
As a wish
Before a genie
Having
Shined a
Lamp
You are not Loki or the
Raven
And yet
Christ might inherit all the qualities
Of
Fools
Which might mean tricksters
And
Who knows
Maybe the world is a trick
From which we wake
Or which is
Ours
To change
And yet
Sigh
Maybe I have some peace
Maybe too old
In age of spirit
Too
Exhausted to
Ask for
More
And yet I’ll pledge
To take
My part in it somehow
shall I say to you
(even daring to assure)
what shall I say to you today
dear
reader
responder
to hang on
or to glory in prosperity
(the second maybe
I don’t need
to
emphasize)
but God smile on you
anew
if it seems not ongoing
be with you
and love you through everything
the easy
and the strong
that seems against
you
the stable
if it’s good
or that which shatters
we must believe
because
it must
God be with you through it all
and God is
C L Couch
Photo by Dmytro Bayer on Unsplash
lyrics on a day that’s cold and cold at least in the MidAtlantic
Suburban Wait
Winter light’s
Too bright
For cleaning deeply
Finally
Dispiriting
The leaning light
Shows everything we’ll never get
To or
Even want
To get around to
Those dust-bunnies shall
Keep their warrens
After all
While we wait
For the easy lighting
To clean by
Which
Will happen
You know
Spring
Roll
Roll in the hay
Roll out the barrel
Mister
Yankovic
Roll on home
Now
There might be rolls
For dinner
Rolled oats
Though I don’t know what
These are
Roll the dice
Roll to win
Field Work
God
You love us
Anyway
Which is remarkable
Not inexcusably
But
Unconditionally
Which splices doctrine
Maybe
But you can handle that
And so
Should we
The field of the Lord is vast
There are no mines
No
Not ever
Only living things
Mythic plants
That spring back as we pass over
Them
So that everyone may have
The chance
To pilgrim
Toward
What’s next
Possessive Tense
The dogs of God
The cats
The bunnies
Too
The aardvarks
And the platypus too silly
Some
Might think
The insects
Too
There might be reasons
For mosquitoes
What is tall
What is
Low
What is brief
What has long life
On Earth
The Earth is the Lord’s
Too
A place on which to keep
The complex
Living things
And
Well
Among these
Us
Use Words
(as you are able)
I love you
Honestly
I know
(since I’m in me)
You love me
I think I know
Not quite as
Whose woods are these
I know
(not with the same divine
assurance
frankly)
So you might have to say
From time to time
Though if you
Always do
(flawed occasions notwithstanding)
Then
Maybe not so much to say
But
Sorry
Still
To say
C L Couch
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” Robert Frost (cited)
Photo by Kevin Cress on Unsplash
snow and God—only one is white, the other all colors (2 poems)
the ends of Earth
in the north
though not quite there
we tend to think of
snow
this way
so we flock the marketplaces
with lists
for liturgies
and we might need these things
if
not for the not
we shall be
snowed in
hoping not for enough
but
honestly
for more than
with enough
perhaps
electric
and electrons
to share
folding chairs in parking
spaces
that should be public
though the chairs
are in an attitude of waiting
by
the doors
an encroachment on
an agenda to stay
clear
first inside the head
remembering
(or
maybe first)
the heart
the
spirit
to follow
then in the summer
those of us
not
south of south
shall fear the other
extreme
heat
with all the heat we might become
and that hear
on the inside
even
now
(based on being told the snow shall fall at midnight)
shall
and how shall God
love us when
we hate
whatever beside evil
with evil’s
agency
injustice
we may scorn these
and all the rest
be love
thoughts
emotions
plans
the new instinct once we
have faith
to love
when dangerous
or fragile
at the least
and God shall
love
yet somehow never
on condition
but
to love
which might make
salvation
a condition
as
decision
binding us both
with an amazing fear
not
comprehending though
we all somehow agreed to
live and
after
life
c l couch
photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash
Then Doubt
Doubt is
Smart
It has an edge
There is reason
There
And care for the shape
And flow
Of things on every
Side
Doubt considers
Aspects
What is good
And what needs changing
What
To say halt
To
While there are considerations
And respect
At least a dive into awareness
Of all players
Doubt
Needs affirmation
Maybe
Though first it should get it
Of itself
Which is to say the paradox might be
That
Doubt
Should be awarded its own
Certainty
To say the head
And all corners of the heart
Deserve
Consideration
And then
There are the questions
The committed should ask questions
Too
Practicality
At least
Though when
Doubt and commitment might
There might be fixing
What
Things need fixing
And leaving go
What might be brought
To bear
With virtue
Next
Occasion
Say
When the parent says
I believe
Help my unbelief
The doubt
Affirmed to heal
Embodying the risk
That faith must
Take
For the stronger
Lasting
Miracle
Of holding
On
Sometimes
Or when certain
In the morning of belief and
And in
Life
That also needs
It seems
The evening of doubt
(Mark 9:24 is cited, the entire passage recommended)
The Pain of Doubt
Doubt does
Hurt
It is disturbing
Even when
We try to keep it only
In the realm of thought
There’s
Likely
To be pain
Goodness is more fun
And we like think
More lasting
As
Promises
And prophecies
Foretell
Yet goodness unchained
Directionless
After
The pleasure might need
Something more
As well
And shall doubt
Provide that
The sureness of having
Worked
Through it all
And shall come out on
The other side
A conviction
Certainly
For enough
Of faith
And peace and
Joy
C L Couch
Photo by BenMoses M on Unsplash
2 preachy poems (and I could apologize)
Wise Fragility
Don’t lose what’s authentic
That sounds good
But what if one were not authentic
To begin with
And what if one grew up inside
And was only subject
The falsity
So prevalent in
The human world
A wish
A want
The wisdom
And the health
In being who we are
With all
The honest virtues
And flaws
Flaws can be honest
Too
And loved
So what is real
We think when we’re naked
We are
Real
But isn’t when
We look the way we choose to look
For modesty
Or show
That reveals ourselves
In some depth
Some way
And bring it out again
What we know from what we’ve had
How we’ve been
Treated
Too
How about consideration of
How we might
Treat ourselves
With both health and pleasure
God
Making
And approving
Both
The way we treat each other
Vying
Too
In the best way
We were
Made
To deal
And to approve
Be you
Be me
And in love
All kinds of
(wise
healthy)
Love
Trade parts of each other
As lovers
Friends
(and)
Or nations
(the notion of naked versus dressed and when we are (more) real comes from a passage in The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis)
Cabinetry
I keep a few doors open
I don’t know
So I can appreciate
The colors in the labels
Of canned food
Or
Because I want
To be reminded of what’s there
Or
Because I’m claustrophobia
And the open doors
Trick a sense of space
Or maybe
I’d rather have life open
Not that it is
Though I think it should be
More than that
I think all our lives
Should be
Open
Like these doors
Not as politicians
Say
Nothing hide
Because they’re lying
In that
They have many things to hide
And so do we
Collectively
At least
But could we do it
Open up our lives without
Rejection
Without even prejudice
Except toward being human
Which
Of course
Is all
Of us
Open up
Maybe
(collectively)
Take off the doors
Somehow
Leave them that way
Which shouldn’t be a problem
Save for tremors
C L Couch
Photo by Tina Witherspoon on Unsplash
3 poems for new seasons, Christmastime and others
stopping by Frost
gray day
black branches
cold outside
in mid-afternoon
it’s already getting dark
meaning that
November plays it part
in the drama of the seasons
in these parts
what is it
of the woods
they’re
lovely
dark
and
deep
wonderful for liturgy
in recitation
as a legacy
we quote famous things
once more with greater feeling
now and then
look for inspiration
anywhere
and sometimes recall
to look
you know
inside ourselves
remembering that
we are
lovely
dark
and
deep as well
there is no peace on Earth unless
so here we go
it’s Christmastime
a holy season
some
might recall
that has become a cosmic
thing
on planet Earth
and I’m not sure
how much we should mind
since
maybe the Christmas values get through
anyway
something about the cheer in giving
as well as
the fun in receiving
remember that Peace on Earth
is a staple
quotation of the season
that could always turn into
rhetoric
and discourse
meaning we may talk about it
as a worldly thing
through and beyond
any one
sect or group
so we could take our chances
to be people of the season
wherever
whomever on Earth
we might be
believing
peace ultimately
to be
a practical consideration
in addition to
philosophy
and foundational pin
of faith
human faith
allied with God
and yet on our own
to own
Peace on Earth
why don’t’ we
and
we just might
an un-pretty plan
(poet’s agenda)
let the pretty verse be offered by
someone else
here there is a need
to be plain
keep Earth or don’t
have Earth or not
make up our minds
God is waiting
not saving us in this
‘til it’s too late for us
to move in with judgment
when we could have lived without
paradise imposed
but at our pleasure
being our design
and plan
c l couch
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
(from) “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost
photo by Dmytro Vynohradov on Unsplash
here’s a chapbooklet for later on Thanksgiving Day or next should such things be saved—happy day, please be safe (irregardless of the world), maybe don’t deep-fry anything
A Day in the Life
It’s a strange world
Uncivil people live above me
By default
Encouraging me
To be the same
It’s a chilly town
In fact
Socially speaking
We bare say hello when we pass
And most often
Say nothing
Nothing
Through eye contact
Either
I suppose there are safe
Encapsulations
Maybe where
The profit’s highest
Too
Little havens
Barricaded from the rest
From us plain folk
Who want
A relatively easy life for interactions
Not to deal with the wanton noise
That simply proves
We’re here
Against and by
Indifferent suffering
Or prejudicial machinations
A happy holiday
Why don’t we
Tried
I’m tired
And maybe tired
Is good for now
I can’t do much
But so what
The world doesn’t
Turn by me
Or any
Rather
It’s a twirling gift
From God
And maybe if don’t clean
Enough
That only
Causes me to suffer
That’s all right
God loves me
Still
Both ways
As God loves you
Parade Monologue
(Thanksgiving day)
It was okay
I guess
Which is an awful thing to say
I’m sure
All the millions
Of hours
And
Yes
All the money
Too
In hope of celebration
For good ratings
I’m sorry
But it’s an electronic masquerade
Anymore
Pretty enough
Though there are mistakes
Mostly let go
(mostly)
Which seems odd to me
When the agenda
Is perfection
Yet
We can’t pull it off
In
Well
Anything
Pretty enough
I suppose
But it could be less perfect
Less tall
Save for the floats
As in
The high balloons
That seem to have a life
For movement
And
I guess
They do
Though where was Underdog
(supposing it’s too much
to look for
the Sinclair dragon
anymore)
The marching
Playing
Twirling bands
Are good
And should get more time
All the celebrities
We could use less
Of the ones
I do not know
And mostly will not see again
Which
I suppose
Is my problem
In cultural ignorance
But
God bless the Rockettes
And Santa Claus
(pulled by a cool
truck
this year)
Whose appearance
Mom would say
Means the official
(family)
Start
Of the Christmas holiday
Season
And I suppose
For Hannukah as well
And
Is it allowable
To wish for less
I wonder
In what begins
Our seasons of wonder
Thanksgiving Daytime
(in October by Canadians)
Water
One coffee
Then another
Yogurt
Time
I’m thankful
I could use less for thanks
Less noise
Less penury
But we have what we have
The days
Are existential building blocks
To make a tower
Of a life
Maybe a giant
Maybe a forest
Maybe a cover
And a framing for
A story about
Noise
A tower
With a giant
In a forest
I could be thankful for that
Too
And for imagination
Yours and mine
That could come up
With such things
Momaw Again
It is Momaw’s birthday
Most likely
You did not know Momaw
From Tennessee
Life in the Depression
A widow
Then the grandfather I knew
And comforts for
The rest of her life
In the nineties
And I’m glad and thankful
For her
Life on Earth
Thanksgiving for One
(how sorry should I feel)
I have a frozen entrée with
You know
The seasonal things
Inside
And a can of
Cranberry sauce
Whole not jellied
(sorry
Joe)
And
Sorry
Loneliness for a table
On my bed typing
In fact
And here I shall dinner
I presume
With noisy people
Up above
And a wish
For angel intervention
Maybe being tired
Is good for
Tolerance
Not isolation
That
Frankly
Today
Is not good for much of anything
An Approach in A-Grammar
(like a-nathema)
I made a lifetime out of
Getting the grammar
Right
And yet
Choose to use no punctuation here
Less and less
In fact
I guess I think
Line spacing helps
And as a reader
You may decide the pauses
Location and
Degree
As well
And maybe read through twice
Before deciding
How the thing should sound
Which could be an agenda
On my part
And thank you
For not smoking
(except metaphorical)
More so
For reading
Thank you
And thank you
Ms Lamott
Scripted
(rom-com)
1
Hug your mom
Why don’t you
It’s time
And regardless of the script
You should
Hug your mom
In this even-fictive moment
2
Two hands in the popcorn
Like
Lady and the Tramp
With spaghetti
More hygienic
This way
More noncommittal
Too
C L Couch
Photo by Odiseo Castrejon on Unsplash
For Edwin
Evidently
It’s
Hubble’s birthday
Happy Birthday
Your gift
To us
Rendering so many things
More clearly
Maybe our gift
To you
Our continued faith
In the sky
World Children’s Day
Today
As well
If we remember taking boxes ‘round
With
Trick or Treat for UNICEF
Collecting quarters
Then millions of quarters for
The cause
The cause of
Children
Need we say it
Though we forget
We adults
Forget
Leaving children inside schools
Or not counting them at all
(beyond
certain
grids)
Until they’re grown up
Into rivals
For our power
For our love
In the mean time
They are forgotten fodder
Uncounted
In the strategies for
War
Women and children
We still say
Which
Didn’t work
On liners
Any more than battlefields
Inside
And in back of
Loss
Hunger
And
Disease
And worse on them
Than on
The older us
Which we older ones might not
Want
To believe
Even though
The wretched things attack
Hope
In the young
As well as young awareness
Okay
We’ll say
And even mean
They are precious
And
They are our future
And they are precious
And
They are our
Present
Last Work of the Day
I think
Not of life
But
To move on a little
Unzip the sweater
Change
The shoes
And leave the make-believe
Awhile
How about
As is supposed to happen
We take the feeling of the sweater
The softer shoes
And
Made-up imagination
With us
Then meet
With feathered insights
Muscled inspiration
On
As has been said
The morrow
C L Couch
Photo by Lawrence Chismorie on Unsplash
Alexander Calder, the sculptor/mobilist whose work is featured here (in Switzerland), constructed a mobile for the children of Pittsburgh, which floated near the entrance to the Carnegie Museum—a favorite thing for me, when a child, to behold
Pittsburgh references to Mister Rogers, too
2 poems about thoughts and feelings post-election
About Electing Lies
Well
I am disappointed
So I guess
If I’m convicted of
Many crimes
And I’ve committed fraud
And broken promises
In marriage
And other relationships
So that
In fact
I break faith with everyone
And if I do not pay my bills
And if I want
To accuse people I’m afraid of
Of everything that isn’t
True
If I make a style
In fact
Of lying
And don’t pay my bills
And
By the way
I take everything that’s wrong with me
And say it is another’s
And not me
Though
It is
All I have to do
To get away with
All of it
Is to run for President
And get billionaires
To buy my way
For
Their own
Agendas
The same folk who
By the way
Won’t welcome
Me at
Table
Otherwise
It’s 17 June 1972
Another
Day the music died
And what we learned but that
We cannot
Trust the government
And should stay away from
All such things
And have
So much easier living
Through
Indifference
The Topsy-Turvy that Has No Playfulness in Topsy-Turvy
There are those
Who learn about the Holocaust
And take notes from
The evil side
So that the lie might be acknowledged
That some good things
Happened
Then
In Germany
Not
To say we can’t be academic
Though the filter must be moral
Or we are pursuing nothing
Human
Or has a place
On righteous Earth
We should be
Rhetorical
Understanding something of
Our honest discourse
With each other
And
We should study flaws in that
Tradition
You know
Straw people
Post hoc propter hoc
Gilding the lily
Though
Again
The point is not
To strategize to use the flaws
To dupe each other
Though
Some will
It’s
Sad to know
And one more thing
That should be
And that isn’t
Is that
Politics
Means good government
You know
The pursuit of by the people
And yet
Like taking notes
From the wrong side
And
Going for the
Discourse flaws
Not
To mention
Spewing accusations
In
A puerile attempt
To escape one’s
Own
The codes we could live by
Like good governance
And topsy-
Turvy
Fun on Ferris wheels
But good and evil upside-
Down to try
For ways to live
Simply act against
The deeper
And the shallower things we
Really know
Those presuming leadership who
Act against all virtue
And all wisdom
Though
Might
Try hollowly
Merely to use the worlds
Invite the citizenries
And
Congregations
To subscribe to indifference
To endure
C L Couch
(sorry should there be any ranting parts but not sorry for any easier-living-wisdom parts)
Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash
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