Search

clcouch123

I talk you talk we'll talk

Open Search
Tag

poems

something small series

(x = space)

x

x

something small series

(three parts, that is, three poems)

x

x

For What We Are About to Receive

x

Thank you

God

For what is small

For what is easy

To see

To hear

To guess a touch

A taste

And what is left

A smell

In likelihood

Or gentle appreciation

x

Flower

Bird

Child

Not to touch

But to leave alone

Unless the touch be necessary

Or requested

Of the thing

Not my agenda

Or the world’s

x

Leave the flowers grow

And the birds

And the children

Provide

Teach

Enhance

The opportunities

Hold them

When our own

Release them

To their own

Be thankful for the borrowing

Even beholding

As a work

Of yours

In a museum

Without walls

With working space

And fields for play

The sunshine and the wind

To enhance

The experience

All experience

That’s human

Sanctioned by divine

In the making

And the giving

Thank you

x

x

The Open Gift

x

Thank God for something small

Seemingly

Seemingly

Easy to love

As if we had received a gift

For our delight

The flower

Or the bird

Or a child

Given in labor

Pain

And innocence

Returning both perhaps

Charged to our keeping

But here is the gift

A moment for the beauty

And the truth

In our beholding

In what is revealed

From the force

Behind all forces

The presence

We may guess at

And not know

For sure

Thought we know

This moment with

The flower

Bird

Or child

x

They are not avatars

They are their own

They are not agendas

Though they are

Naïve messages

Of innocence

x

Realistic purity

On Earth

x

(part 2 of something small a series)

x

x

The Final Solution

x

And now

Praise God

For something small

With song

In appreciation

To adore

Creator

In creation

x

For all there is

And isn’t

And should be

(the Quixotic dream)

x

Take in the leave

Take in the wind

Take in a stranger

Passing by

In New York City

Millions

Not to see again

x

Until our sight

Be perfect

And unbidden

Sighting love

In focus

Blissfully

Agenda-free

Sinless

Indiscriminate

x

Find something small

To love it

Even a molecule

Considered

The illustration

From a textbook

Or a website

x

Thanks God for protons

And electrons

Neutrons

That have meaning

Though they seem

Without an interest

Of their own

x

But they are here

And all the rest

To bind

In gravity

Of love

And willingness

For unity

And one’s own identity

Everything shared

Nothing lost

x

Praise God

For something small

That’s you

And me

When you

Love of self

And the other

We delightfully have both

And all the time

One by one

Small part by small part

A miniature greatness

That is set

And to combine

To form out of apocrypha

Or apocalypse

The real thing

x

We’ll be there

Won’t we

x

(part 3 and probably enough of the something small series)

x

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

x

9

2 poems

(x = space)

x

x

2 poems

x

x

at the h. f. clinic

x

to the doctor’s well

a doctor type at

the clinic where my

heart failure’s diagnosed

and worked on

blood pressure’s up due

to medication or

some other cause

there’s all the weight from

fluid that is uncomfortable

to feel but since it tends

to kill people by

some kind of drowning I

guess then I should be

grateful and you

know I am

x

x

tawny punks

x

today is

someone’s day

or something’s

thanks to

greeting cards

or causes that simply

want a day

and get authority

to say okay

x

pizza day

beagle day

greeting card day

with greeting cards

for greeting cards

a day for me

is groundhog day

because there

are no cards

so you can cross

out christmas

or new year’s

or presaged a dismal

valentine’s

and write greetings

from

Punxsutawney

over that

and so practice

spelling

Punxsutawney

x

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Ralph Katieb on Unsplash

Groundhog didn’t like the late April snow (she was in the middle of nest building when it hit).

[photographer’s caption]

x

3

Oracle

(x = space)

x

x

Oracle

x

x

Pent-Up

x

I wish the chemicals

Flowed more freely

Is it that they pass through

Glands

And mine rest in the body

Without balance

x

I was calm

And then adrenaline released

Caused me to jump

Around

You know

Inside

x

And now I contemplate my day

And its appointments

And could do without

The set-to

Consideration the expectations

Guessing really

Going on

Inside

x

x

Better Living

x

I never experimented

Never toked

Never smoked a cigarette

Never tried

What came within

The colored patches

x

Now a grown-up

I get pills

I know the younger

Get them

Too

And apologize

x

Prognosis

And prescriptions

It is the way

Buter’s way for our flesh

With what imposes

From the testament

About

Three-score and seven

x

x

That’s All

x

But

Lord

There are all the

Hundreds of years

Of patriarchs

Of Eve

Of Sarah

The subsumption of

Enoch

Elijah

x

Too many dying young

Through

Murder

Flood

And war

And then

The many who exceed

The formula

Citing classic wisdom

x

How long shall you go

(that’s you)

Or I

Our pets

Our people

Or our nations

Chronology

x

We might play with time

In elevated ways

Einstein

Velocity

The vehicles to get there

And such

x

Slows down things

Perhaps

While we are fast

And yet the direction’s

Always forward

Because that’s how the story plays

And toward which

The ending rests

And waits

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Aleksandr Barsukov on Unsplash

x

0

MS. Found in an Electric Bottle

(x = space)

x

x

MS. Found in an Electric Bottle

x

How do I keep

These?

x

Mostly, they’re electrons now,

Some of these a day

Over some years

Now

x

Shall I print them all,

Keep them like spells

Inside my crystal cave?

x

Well,

Maybe

Maybe I should

x

I can select from there

With those

To hope for publication

Or another egress

Out to you

To share

x

My part in the circle

And the stars

And the spells

x

We share our pages

With the magic words

That say

I’m here

With everyone

x

Read us;

Hear us

x

C L Couch

x

x

“MS. Found in a Bottle,” a short story by Edgar Allan Poe

x

Photo by Douglas Bagg on Unsplash

x

1

“the devil,” “elements” (2 poems)

(x = space)

x

x

the devil

(you say)

x

the tempter

the corrupter

the ruiner of things

resist

no thanks

go away

we’ll bring in professionals

xxxxxif we have to

diaspora

we’re spread apart

you like us this way

we don’t believe in

xxxxxtogether

should we understand

that we are three in one

because God is

(that is the pattern)

we can stand alone

xxxxxJesus

xxxxxJohn

xxxxxElijah

xxxxxMoses

xxxxxeach and all did that

goodness, we know that well

but to be together

find gentle,

overwhelming power in that

we don’t know that

not anymore

not since the last time

and the time to come

and meantime?

we are together all the time

we only need to turn

to find each other

share the tiny glory

in that

the tiny victories

that add up

or they don’t

breathe in

breathe out

let life happen

as it’s supposed to happen

our alone times

our together state

the glory of the Lord

shine through

all shapes and sizes

everything and everyone

inside creation

not the devil

that gave up all right

to enter realms instead

of nothingness

x

x

elements

x

matter merges

xxxxxspiritual and fleshly

xxxxxmaterial

xxxxxgrain and grapes

xxxxxtogether

xxxxxeach part

xxxxxand together

xxxxxchanged

xxxxxinto finer things

xxxxxcloser to purpose

xxxxxcloser to creation

xxxxxand creation

xxxxxand what is finer than

xxxxxa smidgeon more intentional?

xxxxxall the wonder

xxxxxsimple and refined

xxxxxis here

xxxxxmade from the start

xxxxxmade full

xxxxxby God

xxxxxJesus

xxxxxand the Spirit

xxxxxwho are here

xxxxxwhose substance

xxxxxwhose presence

xxxxxis in here

xxxxxand is in you

x

x

notes

x

I’m sorry, while drafting I couldn’t think of women in the Bible who stood or prayed or fled to be alone; now I think that Mary could have been by herself when encountered by the angel and in her response to the announcement and the will of God; Judith might have prayed on her own, away, as well; and Esther might have planned the salvation of Israel in the same way

x

Photo by Mark Duffel on Unsplash

x

0

Imaginaria

Imaginaria

(insight, sci-fi, speculation)

x

x

Machine Life

x

Ain’t devices grand

Until they’re not

And how long is

A generation, anyway

Things work

They slow down

There is no message

Though the problems could be

Indications as they are

In old age

The old age of us,

That is

x

Machine life

Oxymoron

Maybe

Maybe with A-I for real

The opposite are nearer

To the same thing

In us all

Man and machine

They (ubiquitous) used to say

But let the women try

All shall be well

As a woman said

x

x

note

x

Saint Julian of Norwich

(we ubiquitous do not know her name—maybe her cat sussed it through any sublimation)

x

x

Visitors

x

They landed

And found a plethora

Of DNA

On our machines

On the insides

Even blood

Inside

Who were these people, then,

Was soon discovered

Helixes reconstructed

And their features

And their colors

And the shapes of

So many of them

x

The machines they talk to

And brought them here

In fact

Shall interpret

And reconstitute

Everything

Planetside

As well as

From the things in orbit

That have been falling

While a few remain

For boarding

Or retrieval

x

This was a race

Or races

Many kinds of one race

They covered themselves

For the atmospheres

And seasons

Up to four of these

It seems

They were preventive

Though mostly reactive,

Waiting for a crisis

Then responding

x

There might have been those

(translating documents

reshaping the shaping

of their flesh

and all the things they made

for prosperity

or expression)

Who tried in sciences

And arts

To say something

Warn them about

How to live

And what might be coming

x

Well,

Library these

Revive some as we can

Or may

They had the rudiments

A-I and androids

We can work off of these

As templates

The name

Many references to ground

And we have encountered

Worlds named water,

Fire, and air

Smoke and fog

Pollution

And clarity

x

x

Prophecy

x

Three kinds

I was taught this

I’ve thought about it

(these)

Maybe I’ve done some

Merging

On the inside

All about it, too

x

There is the kind

That foretells the future,

Which is the kind

We think about

The most

It seems

x

There is the kind

That foretells the present

That tells the monarchs

There is invasion

Here

Or a great fire there

x

Then there is the kind

That interprets

The present

With insight

And a voice

That can serve the queen

And should they arrange it

Assist today’s administration

Well

And overall

Overall

And well

x

But then prophets

Often get into trouble

Even in democracies

Who are they

Why should we listen

Are they saying

What we want

To hear

Is prosperity promised

And God’s approval

Because God is in our side

Because

We say so

x

Go to the launchpads

Go to the modern museums

Enjoy

Be warned

Grow

Live better

x

As for disagreements

Or outraged

If not ignorant

(usually ignorant)

Confusion

Well,

Weather that

And try not to burn

The saints

x

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Nathan Duck on Unsplash

x

0

“The Smallest Things,” “Peace Relative”

(x = space)

x

x

The Smallest Things

x

It’s cold

There is a blanket

There are enough things

For morning coffee

And toast

For breakfast later on

There is sunlight

So our whole planet

Has another

Day

There is water

I can drink

x

I can wash things

I can

Wash me

x

I have trash

Lined up in bags

Somewhere to take it

I have other piles

(boxes)

By the door

That should I have the

Help

Can go away

Be useful for others who

Might need some things

I had

x

My

Neighbors

Beat the ceiling

But there are no literal explosions

We are lucky

We have things

We can share

When

We want to

We can live in peace relative

To what’s inside

But peace for war

All

The same

x

C L Couch

x

x

Peace Relative

x

Relative to war

And to shutting doors

To keep things out

As if

We hadn’t seen or heard them

Once before

Or every day

x

Relative to shining in

With sunlight

Rather than

Explosives

Something negligent

Or something planned

x

Maybe not peace everywhere

Not yet

And peace organic

Certainly not remaining

Only

Peace from graves

x

Gravesides are pretty

And they’re quiet,

Mostly

We can do so much better

We should

We must

x

We want

To be there

At the end

And how about

A single turning page

Into the story of

Today?

x

Be there for that

Lift each other

The greater adventure

Is not war

Or even matter turned to energy

(it should go

the other way around)

But matters

Of the story

Withheld until we know

We have

Today

x

Next chapter

Please God

Please

Each other

Please

Let’s have the next

Have the next

Now

x

Now

Now

And now

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Nowshad Arefin on Unsplash

x

0

3 Links in a Chain

(x = space)

x

x

3 Links in a Chain

x

1

x

I slept half a night

That was half a morning

My eyes are strained

(they hurt)

I have a heart test later on

And another to have

On my own

By the next visit

x

I feel like Peter Pan

In that

I won’t grow up

Neverland must be nice

All that woodwork

A heaven for Bob Vila

(remember him?)

It might be

On a co-ed trend by now

And so

A better microcosm

I suppose the wireless

Is terrible

x

2

x

Funny how

Wireless is back

When it was so antique

As a term

For a long while

x

A hundred years ago

Or so

It was what the radio

Was called;

I suppose we have both usages

In large part

To Tesla

Thank you, Nikola,

And also for your notion

Of offering the capacity

Free for everyone,

Which would be

Quite

The advancement

Over air

And underfoot

x

3

x

Maybe that’s my

Secret hobbit name

Mister Underfoot for when

I’m on clandestine

Business

Eschewing riders

Not from Rohan

But from Mordor

Or

The busybodies

By daylight

x

C L Couch

x

x

Image by Micha from Pixabay 

x

0

two brief poems, unrelated (well)

(x = space)

x

x

two brief poems, unrelated (well)

x

x

Spirited

x

What shall God

Have for us today?

x

A new assignment?

x

A day to read up

Instead?

x

A list of prayer so long

Indeed

x

Indeed

We’ll need the day,

Its focused energy for

Intercessions?

x

A day to encounter

Creation

Specially,

To consider all the wonder

And to play?

x

Or this day

Might be a day

Like all days

To love God and each other,

Not a suggestion

Or an option

But direction

Limited by human will

Alone

x

Though

Admittedly

As people in the world

With

Myriad possibilities

There are days

When it’s hard

Or when it’s easier

To love

x

Which might be why

There’s both

Expression

And redemption

Available

At will

All the time

x

x

At the Bottom of the Hour

x

Could we do the news

In halves

So that

There’s bad followed by

As much good?

x

The readers

And

The ratings

Would be fine

x

We sponsor and produce as if

We believe

Good is automatic

While bad

Is creative

And so (bad) more attention-worthy

x

Though

The presumption is

Ironically

Disingenuous;

We know

By now

That bad is not

Exceptional

And good could stand more press

x

So by halves

Coverage of good and bad

(for some reason

in

the discourse

bad then good),

Well,

It would not be

(hah)

So bad

x

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

x

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑