A Little Prophecy for Friday
(any day—and I hope it’s good for you)
When everyone had
Gathered
In whatever room
Maybe
A second-story place
When he appeared
The first thing Jesus said was
“Peace”
A signal for the resurrection
Maybe
That now a time of resolution is
At hand
That reconciliation is
The way of things
And that
of course
Is what has happened
In that
The way of Earth has changed
Or
Rather it is on its way toward
Being finished
And peace is the new order
Any victory
Through peace
Peaceful understanding
Peaceful
Action
We may announce
Maybe in a Pentecost-al way
(with red
balloons and
such
all environmentally
worked
out)
That a new order is at hand
That
Sorry
Isn’t new
(no merchandising
on it)
The joy that was in Genesis
Unending
Without flaw
Is at hand
And all for us
And God
And God with us
And if the cosmos has
Fallen
With us
Then
All material
And who knows
Maybe issues
Will have their first
Finality
As well
C L Couch
John 20:19
Photo by Ronald Cuyan on Unsplash
the reason for the prophets
(and the poets)
yes
and how crazed
am I
isn’t
that something
beautiful
and practical
might be done
in pottery
an
effect designed
before the
fire makes
it hot
and changes it
to beauty
practicality
as both
might be
desired
then designed
intentions
can be good
as are my wishes
wants
efforts
for you
and keep the prophets
fed
by ravens bringing bread
and in the wilderness
internal
where the song is written
then is raised
for an inauguration
to the Lord
then maybe
others
take the song
to raise
back in the city
in the forest
on the farm
over the ocean
all the oceans
between
planets
all the worlds
we are
and even those we cannot
see
or hear
or smell
or taste
or touch
or take up time
and matter
and un-matter
in the choosing
in the personhood
of God
and maybe us
when we are in tandem
by example
when the prophet shall
come back
from
the wilderness
unto
the courts
of the world
c l couch
photo by Cole Keister on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
The Conditions of the Prophet
x
What shall God say today?
Not to me
I am not a vessel
Until God doesn’t mind the cracks
And grime
Under the rim
And maybe not:
Maybe God calls on us
To call
Who are not unblemished alabaster
Uncracked
Ancient yet young
To appreciate
x
Well, there are no museums here
Not inside the person
If there is a purpose
And I’m told
Rather explicitly,
I’ll follow
Though there are conditions
x
I can’t be crazy
Or made crazy
There must be gentle tones allowed
Simplicity
Would be instructive
While dignity
Would be grand
x
If these can be traits
In a manifesto
Then I’ll call it
x
And if these traits
Cannot be followed, well,
I’ll follow
Share the word
With the same conviction
Sigh,
No conditions
And apologizing for
Conditions
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Bruno van der Kraan on Unsplash
x
The People Walked
x
God announces
God’s own birth
An absurdity of prophecy
Things bang together
Light good
Dark bad
(for now
for often dark is good)
People in darkness
Who understands?
God is coming
But God is here
God has been here
From the start
Before the start
God was
And is
And shall be
And now, what,
A child?
A virgin birth,
Come on
x
A working together
Of generations,
Places
So that everything
Comes together
Complements
Too much
It is too much
You try the words too much
The documents are old
And sacrosanct
We keep them in a temple
Leave them be
What we believe
Is in the temple
Leave it be
We sacrifice flora and fauna
We dedicate
Our children
We don’t need another child
Or of such scandal
Leave us be
x
We are specific
We are everyone
(analogous)
We have freedom
In measure
We hate the other measure
But taxes
And armies
Are the world
It could be worse
It has been worse
We plot
Inside the darkness
In our own planning time
As we say,
Leave us be
x
So God is coming
And it’s taken centuries
Ages, if we count
From the beginning
And before
The God who answered nothing
With creation
And now a child
Without instruction
For our training
As a Caesar
(any Caesar)
This is too much
We have our own children
And for Caesar
Charges and complaints
From Spain and France
Morocco, Egypt
To Iraq and Israel
Rumors in Russia, India, and
China
All the world
x
Everywhere
And everywhere we know
Is burden
Don’t weigh us down with more
Words and promises
And obligations
Expectations
You expect us to believe?
Unlikely
x
C L Couch
x
x
I don’t know how I got to thinking about Christmas while summer is hot on. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, though I like the seasons as they happen. Maybe I need a charge of faith, like a CO2 cartridge making soda pop in the soda fountain. Maybe I need some soda pop. Maybe I’m preparing what might seem way ahead for liturgies in Advent (the good news and the difficult). Or maybe a little future holiday (of any number of holidays) is okay for the present, that is, right now.
x
Photo by Alistair MacRobert on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Speak for a Nation
x
Receiving a message from the Lord
was rare in those days; revelatory
visions were infrequent.
(1 Samuel 3:1b)
x
Prophets have jobs
Usually doing something else
Until the words are called for,
Until the wind
Blows through
Every atom
We think of them as crazy,
But they’re not
There is relentless urgency
Is all
Repent, while you’re alive
Don’t wait for judgment
And the fire
Leaders, most of all
You are double-cursed
If you do it wrong
Return to the temple
Pray in litany
And all humility
For a change and
For a change,
Recovering the modesty
In service that dressed you
Before fame
x
We think they’re crazy, sometimes
Maybe they are
From time to time
But there is authenticity
And love of service,
Such as those in stadiums
At podiums
Behind the microphones
Must have
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Pavel Brodsky on Unsplash
A slow shutter-speed rendition of a BBQ fire.
x
(New English Translation
verse indentations by me)
x
(x = space)
x
x
Compass
x
1
x
I hope it’s a good day for you
x
You deserve it
And many more good days
x
It’s a harsh world
In many places
Though there is goodness, too
x
I know this;
I hope you know it, too
x
You know, there is this notion
Called democracy, which affirms
The majority
And respects the minority
x
It’s a good idea,
An experiment in many places
In the world
x
Now we know the trouble as
A virtue comes
When the numbers are too equal
And the country is divided
x
I don’t think this happens very often
x
But there is hype
And misuse of media
And people ready
To say this is what you think
And act on that behalf
That is not yours
x
2
x
I’ve let the demons in
Too often
x
I think they have a corner
There with maybe a side door
Or at least a tunnel
x
There are angels, too
Ready to speak to me
x
When I have been good,
I have listened
x
Then there are the times
When the demons did not
Have to say anything, for
I was ready for their
Entrance
To take over
All my good intentions
And let ego run instead
Throughout the house
x
And mischief,
Not the good kind,
Call it sin
Shall have its way
x
3
x
God is good
And blesses our food
Though that rhyme is hard
x
It’s important that we ask, for
It is not ours to bless
x
The request might be enough,
God not one, usually, to
Draw up
A piece of paper
For a deal
x
Though there have been precedents:
Moses, for one
And certain prophets’ calls
Toward redemption
x
But we are not they;
We ask for affirmation of small things
In which there is salvation
For a lifestyle,
x
Not because of word and rock
That are delivered from a mountain
Or ravens
Delivering our meals
x
We are who we are, and
We are loved
Even when we’re sure we’re not—
In fact, more so in such times
x
It’s not satisfactory, I know;
And who asked for free will,
Anyway?
But while we have it
And we’ll always have it,
Remember that the soul and heart
And mind
Is where it happens, first
x
Remember, too, to advocate;
Our model is the
Spirit
Who gathers nothing,
Sometimes only promising a wilderness
x
But cares
And loves
As we should care and love
x
D. C. al Coda
x
Coda
x
I hope it is a good day for you;
I’ll pray for this
And, yes, I’ll pray for me as well
x
More so, I’ll talk throughout
The day with God
And into night,
Though I have no skill
Or canny insight
Worked uncannily
x
I am simply me,
You are you,
And God is God
x
Always present,
Not a trick,
Too often beyond—
Specifically for mortals—
Understanding
x
Have a care for mischief,
Though sometimes
Things are funny;
And the only thing to call up
Is some laughter
x
Laugh with God
Who invented humor
And in a healthy way
With each other
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Sunil Ray on Unsplash
x
The Best Years of Our Lives
My best for years
Wasn’t nearly enough
I’m slouching toward Jerusalem
The holy city where the ages crash
Enough of sailing to Byzantium
That fell so long ago
With what is left
The modern age done years back
What does one call the next age
But the next age, as we have done?
No more girls in water
Sparking epiphanies (ironically through
water)
No more women beating men
To vote to have
The rudiments of politics
And understanding
I think they should rule—the
Women, not the politics
New happens with each day
There’s always change
Those who say there’s not
Who want all angles to be retrograde
Know nothing of the physics,
The inevitability of slopes that go
The other way
And energy with them
Africa is where the church is growing
And south of South America
Parts of India and Asia, even though
(please, not because)
It’s beaten down
Atheism rises, and why not?
Though I think agnosticism steers
The ship of state
Searching for a port
It knows is there
I think formlessness might be
The way,
Since doctrine has been brutal
In its application
And a ruthless form of righteousness
Where is love,
The orphan asked
He sung
And she responded
It is all around you,
Though mortality can end it all
It appears, my dear
Therefore go for what is real
Hold on, though not so tightly
The goodness cannot breathe
C L Couch
(title from the movie directed by William Wyler
Yeats is also relied on at the beginning
a musical toward the ending)
Mazandaran Province, Unnamed Road, Iran
You and Me, Sister
There are all around us
Words, voices, noises all
That tell us how to live
What to buy
How to vote
How to understand the righteous way
To have our way
And somehow please the gods, made
Masks of self-will
And agenda
The presupposed mighty
Who believe this
Heavy understanding
As in labored, rasping breathing
Weighted with the chains of Ebenezer
Leaden steps to its own ruin of
The truth, the peace, the joy
Held captive in
The castle of the rich
Where it gets out as planned,
God is chained or
Does not exist
Whichever muttering in shadows works
For the next parched day
But there are shadows within shadows
Truth in chains
There are prophecies about antitheses
There are always prophecies
The magi before Herod
Nathan before David
Elijah and the attitude of Jezebel
Defeat of those who take and hold
For now
The gold crust of Earth
Annihilation of the profits (this kind,
please note)
In a pit and everything
That has propelled the wrong kind of
Dragon, not the jeweled interest bred in stories
But the beast, the pet, the ruler of rust
And melted riches
There are always prophecies
We need them
They stock our campaign
Give us words for songs
And dimensional conversation
To march us on the plain
Toward pointed everything
The real change that prophecy intrigues
The reason why the thing slouching
Toward Megiddo
Can be mocked, if not ignored
The devil’s own soft points
Paranoia, riled into defeat
We win
C L Couch
Image by Manuela Milani from Pixabay
Life in the Hermitage
I know I teach too much
Old habit
Sometimes it’s prophecy, but
The voice is mine
I don’t speak with any authority
Come down, or come up,
From God
Sometimes I think certain things belong
Together
That’s poetry
I washed a few dishes in my small sink
I looked into the new year’s sky
It’s gray
That seems right
A January pallet
C L Couch
Photo by Craig Whitehead on Unsplash
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