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Late Human Summer

(x = space)

x

x

Late Human Summer

x

The alphabet of storms

Goes on

Blows on

When the alphabet is done

I wonder

If we add prime marks

To letters

Going back to A again

(with prime)

x

The sun is out

We’re getting a heatwave

Because we’re bad

No

Only because

(the only reason is because

though

yes

as a species

we may take blame

for vicissitudes

in climate)

x

Other things have happened

In the night

The hours between day and day

I enjoyed the company of

Friends

And so was lucky

x

I was not on either side

Of war

There was no explosion

Not even verbal

‘Cause we like each other

And otherwise would disrupt

The ritual

Like dropping wine

Or leaving bread crumbs out

In Communion

x

Not that things don’t happen

‘Cause they do

I get The Daily News

And should read to know

Who has killed whom

In shockingly

Petty ways

That had treated victims

As sponges

Softly receiving weapon plunges

Or shots

Sometimes by ghost guns

Now that we have

Ghosts for guns

x

But I’ve only been up

For a while

And haven’t been in touch

With the world

Which will change soon

Or I could take the day off

From the rest

Of us

Except for you

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Arno Senoner on Unsplash

x

0

Hellish Season

(x = space)

x

x

Hellish Season

x

It’s summer

And it’s hot

The sky too dense

With particulates

Of fires

And there’s

An irony of floods

And there is war too hot to fight

Yet fought

There

And in

We’ve heard

The war at home

x

Too much heat

It could seem

For sin

And yet not (yet) hot enough

To forestall

Our trying

x

And should

The hellish rise

In us

Around us

There might be balm

Valued

And adored

x

Christ

(of battle

of

the coming of the Lord)

Spirit

And angels

Come with mercy

Like cool liquid

On fevered heads

Once bodies

Have been taken

From the fray

x

And then the heat

Might break

A cooling rain

In fact

Begins and lasts

All the next day

Like the fourth day after

Three days

Of terrifying

Awesome

Blooded battle

All battles drawing blood

But this

Specifically at Gettysburg

x

Four days at Gettysburg

The fourth day for rain

To wash the field

To mist the ignominy

Either of retreat

Or too much victory

x

C L Couch

x

x

(after three days of accidental, built-up, pent-up, exhausting, murderous battle, starting on the first, the battle at Gettysburg was done and on the fourth day there was rain—ironic for the nation, being the Fourth of July, of course our independence day for the USA)

x

Photo by Henrique Sá on Unsplash

x

2

haiku (more)

(x = space)

x

x

haiku

x

1

slow nature inside

plants grow in unsure seasons

ours darkness or light

x

2

unsurely outside

winter by a calendar

summer another

x

3

creature on a branch

cardinal or squirrel set

then fly or skitter

x

C L Couch

x

x

(like those earlier, these haiku can relate to each other, though I doubt there is a rule about connection; or each haiku may stand alone, which I guess is more traditional)

x

Photo by Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash

x

0

Drastic Season

(x = space)

x

x

Drastic Season

x

Soon it will be Lent

Time to think

Of Jesus

For all the times

Out scatter-gun approach

(sheesh)

Hopes to hit the mark

x

Forty days

With time off

For Sundays

For Communion

For the Catholics,

A churchly kindness

x

Otherwise,

We count

And do not count

For who says

Well, today is Lent 19

When we have it

In a book

If we must know

x

No, the season moves

Slowly

(it’s even in the name)

And we wish

For Easter treats

Especially because

We might give up something

For these days

x

It is tradition

And some choose

Something that it’s

Helpful

(healthy)

To avoid for a time

If not forever

x

Something small

Like caffeine

Something bigger

Like adultery

Or other

Eldritch bond

The priest might say

If saying

That is mortal

Meaning uneternal

For our lives

x

My, that would be a season

Of such change

To right a wrong

And who decides

Not priest

Or even angel on the shoulder

But the motivation

Of one’s own

In time

x

And such a season

Angels would approve

Though the loss

Of what sin brings

Forever

Shall seem to hurt that way

For the while

While things change

For forty days

(now a dreadful count)

And fifty

And beyond

x

As the healthy sun

Lights from far

The mortal planet

That in renewal

Might have something better

In its molecules

And the un-atomed spirits

After judgment

Knowing joy

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by James Coleman on Unsplash

x

0

Christmas 6

(x = space)

x

x

Christmas 6

x

Geese

And they are laying

How did you work that out?

At least we could sell the eggs

To service all the critters

By now and forthcoming

x

Geese don’t like us much

They honk when they’re annoyed

And they’re annoyed a lot

So am I with you,

True love,

And this relentless

Stratagem

That somehow you perceive

As courting

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Eric Brehm on Unsplash

x

0

A Living Season

(x = space)

x

x

A Living Season

x

Food and water

Bread and wine

For mass

And other celebrations

After

x

Liturgically,

We note salvation all the time

Symbolism’s good

The real things

Are better

When they meet our needs

To lift the worldwide press

Off a crushing world

(metaphor again

they teach)

Are better

x

Symbolic food

Give actual food

Safe water in the present

Wine to seal the deal

For those who allow

As in that crass (unclassed) and useful way

We might worship

And also act in the world

x

Give money from a distance

Distribute packages

Place clean rims of containers

Upon parched, maybe dying lips

When everything’s all right

We’re fit

To talk about the rest

Negotiate

For healthy people

x

All this would make a season

Health is good for the economy

Living without

The need to bury

‘Til the righteous time

Worked into the primal design

And a pattern

For humanity

x

That make us better

People for the moon and Mars

Keeping us whole

At home

A home to have

And to return to

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Rebecca Matthews on Unsplash

My husband and I have begun a few new ventures after getting back to ‘normal’ from the house fire we suffered in Feb. this year. I now make handcrafted soap, and he bakes bread and cookies. Our new neighbors love us, as they get to enjoy the fruits of our labors!

x

2

Three and Isn’t That Enough

(x = space)

x

x

Three and Isn’t That Enough

x

Today is day 3

Third day of Christmas

The brief season

The song calls for

Three French hen

Whatever a French hen

Might be

In addition to

Being or having been

A hen from France

x

My grandfather

The bird-bander

Might have been

Able to tell me

But I only saw him twice

At two and ten

And heard from him

Infrequently

x

He would send some years

At Christmas time

A box of holly from his

Home in the

Contiguous northwest

I guess that’s where we’re from

On my father’s side

Though I had only been there

Once (that was the time

at two)

He came and stayed with us

For a while

In Pittsburgh (that was ten)

x

He acted kindly

I also wanted

To like him

I have a Polaroid

Of him standing before

The Christmas tree;

He holds a pipe

And I must have moved

Because the lights on the tree

Are curved

And they were not that way

And did I take

Another shot?

x

The men I liked

Or tried to like

Tended to smoke pipes:

My father, grandfather,

J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis,

The chair of my department

In college,

And my first prof

In graduate school

x

Gee,

What do you know

They all have died by now

(except perhaps

the grad-school prof)

As far as I know,

Pipe-smoking was not

(or will not be)

The cause

Though I could be wrong

x

Anyway,

Three French hens

Cook them

Keep them in a cage

As you will

I guess they could be taken

To a petting zoo

x

So far, six animals

That might be enough

But four more tomorrow

Then seven swans

That must be swimming,

Somewhere

x

Then there are things

And the people doing tasks

Easy for them perhaps

And in increasing

Numbers

Sigh

x

If you’ve had enough,

True love

I’m not sure how to let

The giver know

With such a plan

In execution

Good luck with that

Or add some rooms

And build positive relationships

With the staff

Of local parks

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Soroush Karimi on Unsplash

I was really happy when I saw Eiffel tower. Like really really happy. It was rainy and gloomy but perfect.

[photographer’s narrative]

x

1

the winter of our contretemps

(x = space)

x

x

the winter of our contretemps

x

hello winter you are

welcome on a sunny day

in a few weeks

maybe not so much

when the cold has settled in

for a while

x

but then

the torrid in the summer

has its problems too

and we are headed there

and then when there

we shall return

by nature

x

a cycle

a circle

the top of an ellipse

and do the arches rise

with ages of experience

x

we seem to be stuck

in consideration

of annihilation

as the theme

and hidden ways

to prosper anyway

is it the zenith

or the nadir

how far do we have to go

to either

are we the zenith

or the nadir

x

we have this season

and the end of one

hello

goodbye

a cosmogony

fit for captain spaulding

because

hello we must be going

x

winter season

winter spices

wintry mix

(wintry salad)

wintry is the word

a descriptor for

three months to start

to tilt the other way

x

enjoy skiing

and snow people

and all the things we make

with what is

temporary

‘til the sun returns

or with time

the wind passes over

x

pleasure below freezing

snow angels

snow ice cream until

chemistry

became

our condensation nuclei

x

white on white

and satin dark

the stars will blink

though it’s our atmosphere

winter in our breathing

the steam we make

the challenge

of the next breath

go inside

make sure

for everyone

there are insides

x

c l couch

x

x

photo by kristaps ungurs on unsplash

x

some of the connection

has returned (c.f. my last note, prior entry)

how much

and how much will last?

the new part has not arrived

and will it fix

the device and the process?

I’ll be

of course

letting you know

thank you

happy winter

x

2

Advent a Season

(x = space)

x

x

Advent a Season

x

It begins tomorrow

It’s coming

That’s what Advent means

Open the paper doors

Read the message

Take the chocolate,

Mentally take a

Count of twenty-four

In a corner of

The counting mind

x

So much to do

We say

And, yes, we do

x

Too much?

I don’t know

That is another calculation

Achievement, disappointment

Satisfaction

The remainder

In the quotient

Both the object and the function

Of investment

x

And can there

Be joy?

Yes, there can be

x

Mute the commercials

And the other things

There are moments

In the darkness

There’s pain

And also promise

The prophets

Of so many traditions

Say so

Generally

And now

x

Find your way:

There should be stars

Conversing inside

Degrees of brightness

While clouds and moon

Have come to play

As well

x

So listen well

And talk

x

There’s mischief

And there’s pleasure

For days

We might live differently

Then keep that

For a season

And another,

If the difference is good

If it’s made of lights

x

Like in the northern half

Of Earth

The towns and fields there,

Reflections off of snow that

Will be trodden

Blown or melted

But remembered

x

There is a new living

In this count of days

Or lose count

There will be arrival,

Anyway

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Jack Catalano on Unsplash

x

2

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