love and power
Lord
who is love but you
and
who is true power
you are the source of
everything that’s
good
and the way through
anything that’s
bad
yet
love us
and lead us from inside
and over parts and all the world
from
each in a place
offering by love and power
mercy
as a measure
in justice
a way to
meet
and so live with
each other
amen
c l couch
photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash
“FOR ALL” (for translation)
Awestruck
God come through that door
And I shall be
Terrified
Which is part of the awe
That God deserves
With the reason why the angels
Say so often
Be not afraid
This might be difficult
Though it’s
Finally
Good news
That makes more officially
A gospel
Of the Lord
With us
An Immanuel
Time and again
Angels on assignments
A voice
A gesture
That could bring down Jericho
Or Midian
Or approve the execution
Of Holofernes
Nothing to see
Except in accidental daring
While most of those
Who hear
Do not see
Except in the world changed
After
Supplication
The results
An affirmation
Too
Of a holy presence
So much more than us
And also
Quite frankly
Inside us
Of a kind of molecule
Our machines
Have yet
To count
So seek the Lord
Or wait for being sought
For
We should find each other
To have experience
A history
Of faith
And what we hope for
The action
And the learning from
Tandem theology
With the only agenda
That is
Acceptable
So we may plan
With details
Then have
And then testify
To grace
As approval
C L Couch
Photo by Bamdad Norouzian on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
What It Means This Time
x
Pilate asked
We may infer
He didn’t mean it
That the Romans
Took the truth
As they found it
As they made it
x
The modern person
Secular
Asking on occasion
Not waiting for an answer
Except the answer
As we need it for
Moment by moment
Justification
x
Then to wash our hands
As if
That made a difference
For the truth
As we need it now
And pushed into a new form
As we need it
Later
x
Behold your person
Who is your monarch
I have tortured
Beyond the law
And now the law
Is done
With this one
x
Say this is enough
I want other things
To do
And now you thread
Insinuations
Through the crowd
They murmur
And then roar out for Barabbas
x
Do you even know
Who that is
x
Well
I will release them
To you
Wash my hands again
Let go Barabbas
And then Christ
To indicate
Your will with them
One to roam
One to execute
With others for
Barbaric companionship
On crosses
x
What is in it
Water
There is salt
For exorcism
My excuse
Or it might as well
Be tears
For bitter clarity
Of what is real power
When they have it
When you
Have it
x
C L Couch
x
x
John 19:5
x
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
2 poems about power
x
x
A Day without Power
x
The plug on the computer broke
Last night
I had what was left of
The battery’s charge
I thought about what to do
Without the use the computer
To get a part for the computer
x
I live in a small town
There aren’t big signs saying
Fix Your Computer Here
But I call a friend
And with real words we discussed
The problem
x
He knows more than I
And so helped me make a list
Of non-electronic possibilities
I moved on one of these
Using the car
(not a mouse)
Going to a place with walls
Not firewalls
Looking people in the face
And telling my brief story
x
We found something universal
That could fit
My machine
I purchased the new thing
That wasn’t cheap
But a day without
Going into two days
Was not desirable
x
In the world,
There are better needs
And bigger
I didn’t lose electricity
And I’m not in a war zone
I am poor
But there’s help to get me food
When need be
And sometimes other things
x
I am sick
And usually tired
But am ambulatory
And have lots of pills
That help
And there are side effects,
Which mostly thanks to taxes
And my age
I can afford
x
I tend to think your needs
Must be greater than mine,
More real
And more pressing
But in my larger story
There was one decent passage
I can share with you now,
Hopefully to hear
Your story, too
x
x
The Power of Friendship
x
We’ve been through COVID
Got our shots
More or less retired
From our jobs
We both believe
And sometime have
Good conversations about faith
We share books
We don’t shop
Or take trips together
We might cheer on different teams
He has a house
(mortgage paid off recently)
He is married
Has three children
I’m forever the third wheel
x
We give rides for each other
When needed
For tests or procedures
He’s gotten me to hospitals
When necessary
And sat through
Unovertly
Through many times of waiting
x
There’s power in this
Unplanned
We simply met through the department
And it’s been many years
Untypical perhaps
Too academic
I think we both
Like the mind
But there is more
As there is more to people
And a complex world
x
The future will provide
There is no prophecy
Apart
We have our issues
And our challenges
Together
What David and Jonathan
Might define
Or Gertrude and Alice
Something in the ether
And before the TV
Watching movies (us three)
On Friday
x
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Robert Linder on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
“The Rape of the Lock”
x
Is a poem-story
About a theft of hair
(a basis for satire)
From times when
“Rape” meant abduction
(bad enough, though
if you know
The Fantastiks, then
you know)
x
Even so, not a good
Word, made worse by
The way we use it
Now—given charge
And change
With reason
Words have power,
Don’t they? Sometimes
More than action: try
Proclaiming “dictator”
Inside democracy
(listen to the only
speech in Chaplin’s
The Great Dictator)
Or cry “freedom” inside
Tyranny
x
Then there’s
“Joy” in a
Cheerless place,
Challenging the time
Another way
x
Have a gentle day
And mind (and mine)
Your choice of words, and
Take comfort from
The people with whom
You don’t have to
Fret so much
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Kristian Strand on Unsplash
Type
x
Corazón
Can I write about this now?
Maybe a sabbath day will help
It’s the living, you know
They cannot have that
The people of Puerto Rico
Spanish and Taino
Legacy of colony
Self-determination that we prize
So much is always mollified
Into a chance for daily life
And that is gone and has been for such
A long, long while
We chose this for them
Our nation did not free them
Did not favor statehood
Rendered a possession in a war
With Spain
One set of owners to another
Arecibo’s there
Ancient San Juan with El Moro
But life is dark
Because there’s no electricity
For so many
For so many
It’s a litany of labor
Living that does not allow for expectation:
What might we have today
Food that has not spoiled
Walls that are dry at last of storm
Our children start school soon
Will there power in the classroom
Or at home for studying?
The nation could answer affirmative
We haven’t
We could build them back
And Texas, too
And, yes, handle the wildfires
In the golden state
And all the shootings in Chicago
We’re reactive
Here’s a tragedy
Could be our finest set of hours
What is it
They’re mestizo?
We don’t know five hundred years of conflict
To comfort?
We’re unaware of what is manufactured
That we need?
I’m asking
Because we made a claim
Because we have the navy there
And look for understanding in the stars
So maybe we can listen for
Ayúdanos
C L Couch
Free photo: El Moro Puerto Rico – structure, washed, worn – Non …
El Moro Puerto Rico, structure, washed, worn, stone
Banshee
She calls death one at a time
And only she can do this
How many of her kind
Might number all the realms
She does not know
She cannot
The grammar is of one, no
More
No more can exist at a
Time
There is no plural here, for only she
Can split the night
A responsibility of one, and then
Not even that
She folds into time until
Her nature is invoked again
To rend the cloth
To terrify even the somber parts
Of night
Dawn becomes mortality
All this is hers
C L Couch
Free for commercial use
No attribution required
(Pixabay)
The Parable of Nathan
(2 Samuel 12)
David was the king
Nathan in the court
Prophet, one of what had once been
The ruling group
Nathan told David about
Someone rich with money, lands,
And livestock
Who stole the one sheep of
His neighborhood to have
A feast of mutton
Who is this thief and murderer of
Law and goodness,
The monarch demanded
Nathan taught
He prophesied a lesson
Timeless truth to borrowed power
(Which is all the power there
Is)
This thief of God’s provision
Nathan said to David,
It is you
C L Couch
Kalinaw
Onomatopoeia
Long-vowel
Sounds (with
Skip of an i in
Between),
K to begin
Consonant-
Firm,
L then
N to give
Brief space,
Ending in
W
Even of
Silence—simply
To look or
Use another
Sense—the
Word evokes
Feeling and
Presence
Believe
Words have
Power
They do
Find quiet
Say and enter
An utterance,
Door to a
Place
Inside
You’ll know
C L Couch
Word-High July: Welcome!
Maria of Doodles and Scribbles and I [that’s Rosema at rosemawrites] are more than excited to read your takes on the 30 Beautiful Filipino Words.
- Write or create a post inspired or about the Filipino word prompts.
- A post can be anything. A poem, a fiction, a six-word tale, or even a photo. It’s all up to you.
- Linkback/create a pingback to this post: Word-High July 30 Beautiful Filipino Words. Here is a quick tutorial on how to do a pingback.
- Tag your post with WordHighJuly, so your co-bloggers will be able to read/see your take on the prompt. Here’s how you create tags.
- Most important of all, read and comment to your blogger friends (old and new found, we’ll never know).
HOP ON and let’s all GET WORD-HIGH this JULY!
clcouch123 
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