praying about creations
God
are you out there
are you
in here
there is matter
there are spirits
there
is energy
and how many planes
through which
to live
we have this
self
we look through skin
with eyes and more than eyes
and less
we are alive
Earth is
alive
with even rock that moves
though let science determine
investiture
by measurement
and let us live
with
what we have
the wonders of exchange
cohabitation
of
matter and movement
oxygen
and carbon
a touch of supernal creation
to begin
and to carry into what is next
mystery
miracle
energy and matter
in
the exchange we know
and then a language with translation
only yours to speak
to generate
to sing into existence
afterward
maybe
first
a paradise to bear of explanation
and if you say
amen
c l couch
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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
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“FOR ALL” (for translation)
uncommon unsense
the prophet helps
a widow
and
when the prophet needs
ravens helps with food
making up for that business
with the ark
all the people needed food
and so food
fell
needed water
too
which poured for them
from barren places
and so
wandering the wilderness
still cannot
be comfortable
but
at least keep folk alive
meanwhile
by
basics
David thinks he needs Bathsheba
though that is
another kind of interest
not
like food and water
whatever the king might feel
he needs
as he wants
food and
drink
from her
blind
needing sight
the lame to walk
the awful sick to have some healing
that
provides a reason
there are stories
too
of prodigals repenting and returning home
of
good Samaritans while
Samaritans are not credited
so much
of parents withholding stones from children
so that giving
bread
has fulsome space as
well as love
need
and response
and
I suppose when honest
still the answer might be
no
or no
for now
frustrating how the interactions
go
in our relationship with divine
whose terms are
to
keep the evidence
of such
unseen or
otherwise unsensed
c l couch
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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
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President’s Cancer
My President has cancer
The kind
That killed my brother
Whose detection seemingly
Went late
And though he lasted through
The treatment and his life
Awhile
He was taken by the cancer away
From us
And what he knew
For sure of him
And so I feel strongly for this thing
My parents
And too many others I
Have known
While
This is about you
Mister President
Like
My brother
And I am sorry
And I wish you well through medical
Responses
Thank you for your service
By which we know
How to pray for you
In
Days
C L Couch
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
space prayer
God
keep us
and God will
while we’re on Earth
and then more so
beyond
I think
which could make this
a prayer for astronauts as
well
who shall leave Earth and meet
who knows
what knows
out
there
c l couch
photo by Vincenzo Malagoli on Unsplash
matters for prayer
(I should know there are always these to express)
sigh
so what do I have to say
if anything
right now
or in the hours to come
I give myself the day off as an
option
that some readers might not mind
the break to take
from
the entwinements
I could speak of God
for us
and I do pray for you
for us
although
I have no added insight at the moment
to the prayer
there is a wildfire
nearby
I mean
in my county
so I know the location
the forest I have driven through
and hiked in
and stayed
the place
of a human tragedy of note
(meaning it’s
marked)
from some decades ago
and while containment has been accomplished
the burning still goes there
and for
some days now
so that’s the occasion
looking for an occasion
and here’s
the spiritual part
a prayer
as
dear God
cover the firefighters and
other fighters and supporters
with care
to keep them
cool
(if possible)
and safe
(that by you is)
encourage those who had to leave
as they return
to face the changes
in damage
or simply facing the new way
things must be considered
now
not that we shouldn’t always be aware
of fragilities
and dangers
but
well
who does that all the time
no matter how exigent the living
cool
(if possible)
and safe
(that is)
please
and thank you
amen
so I said this and if you’d like to join
that would be gracious
and so
a prayer for you
and us
in that
dear God
please hear us when we speak to you
and you do
of course
but it is human to speak to you
the way we do
even the way we’re taught
grant calmness of night
and if that can’t be
so
then allow some source of calm within
that we might access
if only can a little
help us to be together
in the new day
together as in self-knit and then
joined with each other
the togetherness
in which
there’s greater hope that the day not only be
endurable
but also good to think about
to feel
and mostly to live through
peace
and union
and
our differences
amen
yes
I prayed this for you
for us
as with the other
c l couch
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2 poems about the new season (more or less)
Bouncy
God
It’s yellow Friday
With blue and brown
On deck
It’s
Spring and time
Not for the metaphor this
Time but
To really
Play some ball
Training
Then the opening
We each can do this
Batter
You know
Up
And I’ve switched audience
Though aren’t you
Always there
(for
an excuse)
Forgive me
And allow me to say
Maybe
To everyone
About
Gospel of play
And did you plays as you ringed
And then rounded
Creation
Maybe
Keep us
Safe
In this new season
Knowing that our choices
Make the difference
Even if
And when
We could turn our will
Toward yours
A wheel
And a wheel within a wheel
But I was thinking baseball
Pitches
Running
And then
The coming home
Green
Workaday
And extraordinary-day
New
Season to you
And to you
Amen
Freedom Ring
The Liberty Bell is cracked
And there were more
Bells
At the time
Ringing freedom
While now we have
The broken bell
For show
And there is wisdom
In admiring the broken
Toward
Kintsugi perhaps
Or to leave in
Pieces
Sometimes for further lack of use
Except in small beholding
Or
When a sizable
Cast bell
To dream on ringing
To dream really large
Sometimes
C L Couch
Photo by Joe Richmond on Unsplash
Prayer in Search of a Liturgist
And if we pray
Should we find a service
Or something
A box
As it were
In which to keep it
Give it
A liturgical home
A formal place
To live
Like a tabernacle or
A reliquary
Or may our prayer
Rise to the trees
And that’s
Enough
Not even to find a nest
But leave the tree’s tendrils
To aim
Even for soaring
Blue then white
Then to the black of space
Or
Un-Claudius like
Might it be helpful
For a prayer
To descend
Into the ground
To talk with
Seeds
Or to the ocean floor
For octopi-like things or
Expulsive vents
Or to go down
To a kind of nothingness
That you are Lord of
Too
Directionful
Directionless
Might prayer go where it needs to be
Where it un-needs to be
For your approval
And
Somehow
For application
Even without much more
Than itself
By itself
To consider
By us
By tree
By space
By Earth
By depth
By you
C L Couch
Photo by Bogomil Mihaylov on Unsplash
(Claudius in Hamlet declares “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below;/Words without thoughts never to heaven go.”)
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