sister

Familiarize

(x = space)

Familiarize

It’s my brother’s birthday

I have brothers

I have a sister

So do you

We’re in this together

What did Franklin say,

We hang together

Or we or each hang

Separately

That may sound crass

I may

A side-swipe at togetherness

I wish there were more

Friendliness

Maybe in the Midwest

Or the South

You know

The easy kind of

Hi, how-are-you kind

And for a moment

We mean it

Then move on

As if we all were brothers

And a sister

Our people

One by one

A crowd

C L Couch

Photo by Ravi Sharma on Unsplash

Street of Delhi, India.

Chandni Chowk, New Delhi, Delhi, India

January 2, 2023 2

poems about early life

(x = space)

poems about early life

around the green S chair

(Rick and me)

there was an S chair

green, upholstered

with that kind of hard,

bumpy brocade that was

uncomfortable

kept in the basement

and there were other things

as basements tend to have

and around the chair

and through the other things

there was an oval

made that we would run,

my older brother and I,

while the Three Stooges

ran on television

and we ran in opposite directions

to each other, and when

we passed each other

we would whoop in high-pitched

voices like the

Stooges whom we thought

must be having fun

in black and white

as we were

around the green S chair

and everything else

pushed to one or the other

in the basement

a child’s Sunday night

everything was difficult

except sometimes on Sunday night

when we were downstairs

after baths or showers

pajamaed, robed

slippers over wrinkly toes

the TV set warmed up

Disney about to start

the younger ones on Friday night

on Friday nights

we often would

gather ‘round the kitchen table

with popcorn

and malted, chocolate candy

playing The Game of Life

sometimes Careers

we were taught Rook

the Southern person’s bridge

we played many games

and were okay

as long as my dad was winning

I never sang for my father

my dad took it on himself

to ridicule me

so that he might look bigger

somehow

whatever is in the mind

of the bully

I don’t know if that worked

inside

for him

while inside of me

as you might expect

there was resentment

and it grew

I had to win

and when I did,

I no longer cared

there was next to nothing there

and in the nothing

no relationships

C L Couch

I Never Sang for My Father is the name of a play and a film.

Photo by Amanda Jones on Unsplash

August 26, 2022 2

Therapy Human

Therapy Human

(fable with a person in the part)

The people she is speaking with

Think that it’s a hoot

And knife-like insight:

My brother-in-law helps my sister

When they’re on an airplane

Because my sister hates to fly

He gets to know the people

Sitting nearby

He’s excellent at striking up conversations

Works at exchanging seats,

When necessary

At the airport, she

Refers to him as “my therapy human”

Since therapy animals are in vogue

But we can do this for each other,

And it’s good to say so

C L Couch

By Liabilly Wildflower – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29461877

Allee is a Labrador who acts as an assistance dog for someone with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

February 20, 2019 0

Found Art

Found Art

My sister’s shop

Is cool, if you like old things

I do

Actually, she’s moved it home

Closed up her vendor site

And now is selling though an auction

Place up the road

It’s working well

The shelves with all the items on

Them are now

In the guest room

I’m surrounded

By a bunny mold with eyes that have

No pupils (they would be added in the icing

once the cake is made), yet it somehow stares at me

There are cordial glasses

Old-style mason jars

Filled with marbles

Or shells found on beaches long ago

Nancy Drews

And cookbooks

Cameras that take film and mild-blue flash bulbs

She tells me they all function, still

But what I see everywhere is

Anthropomorphizing

Like the rabbit without eyes who looks at me

Pig, mole, gnomes, more pigs

(she likes pigs)

Dogs, Santa Claus

Unliving metal, porcelain, and glass

All made into living things

Representation

I have lots of company in this room

C L Couch

Photo by Mario Calvo on Unsplash

February 15, 2019 0

Firenze

Firenze

My sister and her family evacuated Wilmington

Before the hurricane

We’re “bugging out,” she said, no doubt

A reference to all the M*A*S*H episodes we used to watch

Now they’re home, she says

No electricity but plenty of red wine

And all the cleaning-up to do

They’re both alive

Their little dog, too

Old Poodle

While the storming moves up here, I guess

Maybe it will be less

I don’t really know

Who does?

The forecast is given in percentages

And we’ll joke about

The job one gets to have

For being paid to get something wrong

C L Couch

“Ever stared down the gaping eye of a category 4 hurricane? It’s chilling, even from space,” says European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst (@Astro_Alex), who is currently living and working aboard the International Space Station as a member of the Expedition 56 crew.

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/staring-down-hurricane-florence

September 15, 2018 0