a leaf is carried
page of the better story
a breeze delivers
c l couch
photo by Matt Collamer on Unsplash
many hundreds of miles away with cats
(starting at the window)
fall crept in
as if it hadn’t fallen
really
not quite yet
or
it was mischief as from sprites
or maybe the mischief Lads
of
Yule
come down from Icelandic mountains
‘round this
time of year
with the ogress their mother
and sometimes
accompanied by the great black
Yule Cat
of which there is an enormous rendering
in Reykjavik
times the size of us
looking like an omen
in and of
itself
simply beheld
I mean many times the size of us
and warnings of great fire
for eyes
and all these beings
seem
to play a role like Krampus
in the watching
and the punishing of waywardness
though I’m not
sure
the audience for moralizing
children only
or
adolescents
full-on adults
and
might the creatures go to halls o
government as if one
year’s chastising
should be
enough
well
anyway
it’s blue and gray today
not
so far from Gettysburg
and with our own local versions
of
folklore
for seasons
and for planting and for harvest
for
correction though somewhere there should
be
tales of mercy
and good
humoe
don’t you think
and by the way
Icelanders have a true society for taking
care of
cats
The Cats of Reykjavik
friends gave me
a mug
because evidently people care
for cats
at home or should they wonder
elsewhere
be
actively looked after
not as
communal property rather
as
communal treasure
fear of the legends maybe
though
I don’t think so
except
well
there are stories and there
are
stories with one of the true ones
about cats
on board ships and how they kept the plague
away
by hunting rats that carried fleas
that in turn
carried plague
and
Europe would have done
so much better had they not killed cats
as
signs of witchcraft
which brings on two subjects of doubt
that grown-up people
even medieval Christians
say
should have known not
to have excused themselves
for all the local violence that had
the affecting
of wrecking health
and taking so very many
many
lives
and so for this and other real matters
the Icelandic
are
under aegis to be cared for
which
not I think on it
emphasizes civility
in
how we should be civilized
beyond dissolute
even
depraved
resolute
c l couch
(19 December, third week of Advent, fifth day into fifth night of Hanukkah, and there are planned traditional observations—with the solstice in the after the day after this one, whether planned by us or arriving anyway)
I typed “keept” at first for “kept” and rather liking “keept”; and, let me see, I haven’t slept (sleept?) since the night before this last one, and even then briefly (still breathing foul air); and I have a hangnail, which of course is bearable except there is a bandage on it, making typing more of a challenge than is usual—and this is enough if not excessively an apology
photo by Wietse Jongsma on Unsplash
Hallgrímskirkja
Reykjavík, Iceland
pre-season practice
before it’s official
it’s been official
sun
now
but temperatures in teens and singly
and snow on
snow
Wednesday with the solstice Sunday
light now
warmth really
to clean off our cars and such
streets and sidewalks
and
now we’re had rehearsal
practice of real winter
calendared
for
when she comes
daughter of mother Earth
or choose another
folklore
c l couch
photo by Hert Niks on Unsplash
names
Our Lady has a day
Juan Diego anglo named
she gave him roses
(12 December, Our Lady of Guadalupe)
I am Christopher
bearer of Christ and walking
hundred-acre woods
your name is your name
assigned you for a reason
there is a story
c l couch
(a series, I suppose, though I think each poem stands on its own)
there are good stories [a line while drafting that I thought I’d let stay on the page]
photo by Aida Batres on Unsplash
house of affliction
it’s a hard story
and an odd
one
about Lazarus
who died
and Jesus delayed in coming
to the family
while Lazarus was ill
so Jesus was not there in
time
to Bethany
maybe
to heal Lazarus
while alive
and
didn’t we know by now that Jesus could
do this
though now he couldn’t fix
even with mud
or adjuration
because
Lazarus was beyond
even extraordinary healing
but his
spirit gone
the body wrapped and thus entombed
and when
Jesus got there
did he not receive some scolding
for his
lateness
though such comments borne in love no
doubt
and Jesus moved now
toward
the tomb of Lazarus
regardless
and
even though he was warned
away out of
practical considerations of
how might be the body after time
had
passed
but Jesus
as if all could know
was
sad
as if stricken for the life of Lazarus now
gone from Earth
and
we know
Jesus
wept
and then turned from crying
toward
commanding as
he might rebuke the storm at sea
or take on the Pharisees
of the day
ordering the gravestone to be pushed or pulled
away
and then
more stentorian
I think to call
to
shout
that Lazarus should
come out
and
still wrapped
in
shroud cloth
did
Lazarus
appear
and there should be fear
with reason
and then after the certainty of life
the certainty of
joy
and
for those who think
only a God
if God
can return to life
even on
Earth
well
here’s our story
of a human only human who
got to do that
not
to show us how but
to return
and then to show us how
c l couch
John 11
image provided by Europeana at Unsplash
god of what’s next
there is a
temple
toward which
all temples point
all
temples belong
there is a myth
toward which
all myths
belong
and have a share
in truth
there is a story
of all earth
we do not know
because the earth is wide
and old
and layered
with one chapter
on which
another pressed
open
the lore of earth
to find that
we’re all there
heroes
and villains
as we choose
or were conditioned
or those
who load the guns
or apply the salves and bandages
after
who plant
who dance
who seek approval
for good food
in a harvest
and safe water
for
the seeds
of plants
and also of the children
all of earth
someday
perhaps
to be children of mars
or proxima
where our myths
will go with us
and be transformed
toward
the temple
and the truth
we’ll need to take with us
as us
sorry
no need to reinvent the lord
more than we have
though we might find
a thoroughness of mind
and heart
to keep
a civil altar
and a loving congregation
of humanity
with whom we meet
we hope
to accept us
and new names
for one
in the lord
it gets
confusing
and confused
we guess
but we will have to learn the points
of truth
with light
the meaning
and the words
before
all of us
may and
shall
sing together
c l couch
photo by Mitch Gaiser on Unsplash
Giftings
So let’s
Discover
On the Thursday
Between first and second
Cups of coffee
Near Main
And Walnut
By
The way
With a light changing
From emerald to ruby
Via amber
You know
Through the day and night
What is it
That we want
And shall we have it
I don’t know
What do you want
And may I help you
With that
Do you want something intimate
In which case
I do not know
But if it’s thinking
Over
Something
Which can be intimate
I think
I could help you
By listening
To begin with
And you might find
That’s all you need
Of me
It’s a cheat
I know
Over electronic distance
Though I did not
Invent the thing that both
Makes things possible
And
Gets in the way
Let’s do the best we can
With what we have
And it might be Friday
Where you are
Or maybe finishing the last hour
Of Wednesday
Way west
Of here
Even in Oz
Or Valinor
And if you live such myth
Then I shall listen to you
Frankly
For the betterment
Of me
In storyhearing
Storytelling
Then
With those to whom
To say
Don’t stop me
If you’ve heard this
Because you never have
Heard this
C L Couch
Photo by Izuddin Helmi Adnan on Unsplash
Emerald City? No, Kuala Lumpur. Both places, fictive and real, for stories (fictive and real).
cooking lessons
the patterns in
the sky
the stories
and the messages
Orion hunts
forever
while
the Pleiades escape
forever
that do not
change
that do
but we don’t notice
any more than
noticing
the hands upon the clock
on the wall
or by the bed
or in
the kitchen while
we cook
thinking on results
though maybe
all the stories
that
returns us here
this day
stories in the sky
we have to have them
even as
an anonymous umbrella
‘til we’re told
what this group is
and what
it means
though we have
parochial in
the mean time
what the family members
tell us
what the world
teaches us
somehow or
rather through
indifference
told with care
the stories
we might own
that even
heal
maybe with laughter
first
and then
the learning kind
reminding us
that family lore
might matter most
to have us
rising
working
cooking maybe
in the morning
come
the evening
then maybe going for
the holidays
feeding
even more
more
story time
c l couch
photo by Gaku Suyama on Unsplash
(one is looking up at
me
and-or to
the sky)
I hope you won’t mind a brief note to say that a poem of mine, previously unpublished, is now published. I just got the good news from MasticadoresUSA. The poem is “Necessary Stories” and is at https://masticadoresusa.wordpress.com/2023/12/30/necessary-stories-by-c-l-couch/.
I know experiences vary, but I worked with Barbara from the site and group, and she was terrific. Yes, because she published my work but more so because she responded constructively, specifically, and positively to what I had submitted for consideration. I’ve rarely experienced the helpful interaction I enjoyed with her. It was substantive and friendly. As an educator and an evaluator of writing (say, that of nervous students), I can say that both aspects are vital.
Anyway, thank you MasticadoresUSA. Thank you, Barbara. Thank you, my readers here.
C L Couch
(Christopher)
I didn’t, by the way, write to a prompt. (Prompts are good.) I was simply writing on the theme of story.
clcouch123 
Recent Comments