2 poems with one poem an expression of thanks then the other a preachy story
given means
someone brought me
food
and others cleared my car
and I imagine that I’ll
lose the space
as soon as I go somewhere
but
I’m thankful
I can eat
and I can move away
when
needed or desired
in the parable
these helpers would be sheep
though busy sheep
helpful
and loving
the givers have the designation
sheep
or goat
and I wonder what
the receivers
such as I might be
maybe
lambs
or kids
Matthew 25:31-46
the one arrives for whom there has been waiting
a story with a king
who dispenses justice
a righteous king
who
has the power with discretion
and the role
given
to play
and shall people be judged
by this wonder who could
be
man or woman
or those gender parts
in God
and so the king
metes
as if the word were ready for this one
alone and
throughout
time
and a throne is
set
the the judgment happens simply
you were me and in
need
and these came to help you
though they needn’t
have known you and you had comfort
even
more life to give
and for the metaphor
I call the helpers
sheep as I
frankly
am the shepherd
and sorry for goats
to call the others goats
and
I guess goats are famous for consuming
and
these goats to judge as people
keeping all
if by degree and giving nothing
not
what would have been easier to share
let alone what might have
been harder
to share
and I must welcome sheep
then
outcast the goats
not
for species judgment
except for those of you
people
whom I made
to whom I gave
but chose
not
to give back or out
toward loving benefit of others
so I judge
and so it is as it was
set
so long ago just after Eden
c l couch
same verses
photo by Jay Gomez on Unsplash
One of the Least
I’m sorry
But
I feel badly for
The goats
Though I suppose
We should
Think of them
Like the Dwarfs in Narnia
In the last
Battle
Which is not
To think of them
At all
For their will
Leaves them behind
While we run on
To real
After-judgment
Narnia
But what if we
Had fed
The goats
Clothed them
Visited them
In prison
And was that all for naught
Nothing worthwhile
Investing
For their intransigence
Regarding
Faith
Beyond what was the walls
They knew
I don’t know
Presuming
We who do the asking
Are all sheep
As well
And are we saved
So securely
Well
Yes
We are
Which is not the issue
Being that
Of superiority
Of calling
And of giving
In that
We can’t guarantee
A thing
For an outcome
And
Don’t bother trying
Keep giving
With the basic things
Maybe the abstract
Sometimes
Should the goats
Want
A conversation
I don’t know
Poor goats
I’m sorry
Poor sheep
Too
I guess
For knowing
And for loving
A goat
Or abstractly
All the goats
Matthew 25:31-41
C L Couch
Photo by Devon Wilson on Unsplash
All We Like Sheep
(Isaiah 53)
Somewhere in a mountainside
Or on more flattering pastureland
(depending on the kind,
and there are many kinds)
There are some sheep
And someone to care for them
It’s not a glamorous matter
There’s bad weather and a constant
Concern for good grazing and
Good water
A predator from outside crashing through
It doesn’t matter what size the flock
The worries are the same
I want them to live
I want them to grow
I want them to procreate another generation
There is a purpose for them
Some purposes are docile
Some will be drastic
That is the prophecy for sheep
And tending them
They are often wayward
They might need something like a stick, not
For punishment but guidance,
Especially to reach and
To enter through
At the end of day
The gate to home
C L Couch
“boys”
Sasin Tipchai
Amphoe Phochai/Thailand
https://pixabay.com/en/users/sasint-3639875/
Ovine Titanosaur
A lost sheep led a farmer
toward discovery: broken
through terrestrial skin,
a thigh bone of Earth’s once-
roaming, largest dinosaur
Titanosaur
(there is only one
rank above the Titan)
There is precedence in
looking for the lost,
lone sheep
Stored wisdom and
insight add to the
task and treasure while
reconstructing ages
So, too, does one grower
looking for one charge—
one smaller creature, seeking
green, having turned away,
now only wanting home
(Thanks to The Guardian
for posting this story)
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