sight

a telling of creation

what is the sense of things
in creation

first nothing
we suppose
and then something

a sound
perhaps
and then some light
to they
could see
what they were doing
though I imagine
angels who were
blind
or deaf
could know something
was happening

the light from dark
or light and
dark
that is

two halves
both being worthy

then some water
black
and barely lit
and then some land
pushed up
somehow
by a hand
that might like molding
or making
in another way

and the land shall need
the sun and moon
water already
extant

and now some creatures
on the land
there already being
beings
in the water

and everyone will need fed
and so have plants
for food
as well as beauty

and we shall say that
this is good
and who shall say

hmm
we need someone
on Earth
to day

and so we make some people
mold them wondrously
such beauty
from the ground

and they shall have five senses
mainly
though not all
with all

and they shall speak
who can
or gesture
or express in another way

everything
to say the act of making
to a lesser degree
but make that noise
anyway

and then settle into
utterances
that God can understand
(having made language)
and they
and we
can understand each other

understanding
being a first feature
in the mind
of creation
and to degrees
our own

based on something else
the riskiest thing
to have been made
and how the angels
might have argue
over this

a thing
it seems
they do not have
though
once beholding
might argue
for
in angel-workers
negotiating with
the boss

and it’s will
of course
the wish
the dream
the mind
the spirit
and the choice
to think

and also feel
to decide

and first
one’s course through Eden
and then
the names of animals

then after
all the sadnesses
a course on Earth
and all the things on Earth
to get
to know

c l couch

photo by Elvis Bekmanis on Unsplash

Out from Under

I get tunnel-visioned
Don’t we all
Or maybe not
Maybe there are those
Who are clear
Nearly all the time
Who have the sight
Beyond seeing
Hear the message
More than sound
Touch
And taste
The living water in
Life-giving air
Who get the magic
In the doctrine
Or without any word
That’s formal

Who get it
While we don’t
Who understand the Earth
With that kind of listening
That touch

Who also understand the pain
And do not give it
Or if a little
Ask for pardon
Promising
Enacting
Some
(not all)
Penance

C L Couch

Photo by rashid khreiss on Unsplash

(x = space)

The Valley of Weeping

(Psalm 84)

Loss

Patience with loss

Endurance

Not only keeping faith

But using it

While I might not know your suffering

God does

And God loves you for it

And will go with you through

Valleys of shadows

‘Til shadows encounter shade

A comfort in the desert,

An unknown place of suffering

Become familiar

Not in which to dwell

But through which

To cool our sight

Our sense

To know the way

To leave

C L Couch

Photo by JOHN TOWNER on Unsplash

[story that came with photograph—I think it’s apropos]

We were looking to capture a foggy sunrise view of Half-Dome in Yosemite, but the weather wasn’t cooperating with us. The fog that did show up was low-lying and moving quickly through the trees like a ghostly river meandering through the canyon, swirling around the tallest trees in small eddies. Like too many forests, the valley is infested with borers, which has killed thousands of trees. The splash of golden trees mixed with the green is actually really beautiful, but a sad reminder of how fragile the forest is.

Yosemite Valley, United States