two poems for Thanksgiving narratology
[narratology = dealing in story (sorry)]
this Thanksgiving
(mutuality)
say
find something to be thankful for
still here
a body
with a spirit inside
a mind
if the high point of that arc
was a long time ago
and everything’s been gradual
since
then
the bandage from last blood test
fell off
somewhere
hopefully not
to create a gross moment for someone
for me
the continuation of a series
gross
if bloody
that began with the first heart attack
or with
fall off the sofa when I was
four or so
and
there was a pool on the hardwood floor
that I could see
this is the past
highlights
or
lowlights
and how do you remember things
your own time
with time
nature
others
your own inventions on your own
and when dealing in
perception based on how others
treated you
that part of the play
when
Eliza says she is a duchess
because Pickering treats him
that way
and
there is
how we treat ourselves
now add the theme of thanks
for the day
Pygmalion/My Fair Lady (cited)
starspeak
and where is God in this
and sad
if not tragic
to
have to ask
maybe it’s because there are no easy
answers on the planet
except the gift
of
itself
in the cosmos
either
except to look with whatever combination
of our senses
to wonder
to measure
too
if there are no numbers for the wonder
we say
in certain liturgies
that
a star is coming
though they’re not supposed to be
loosed from their places
there’s that
wonder
the exercise to call it something else
by which it’s easier
or
to admit there is no knowing
and so let it unbound
unidentify its place
except it flies
and
also famously arrives
with a doctrinal purpose
but that we also leave it
simply as
astounding
also passage in an
extraordinary
narrative
that might beg belief
while
not insisting on its truth
on
what it represents
like the fictive guess
in “The Sentinel”
in which
Arthur Clarke invents a dying star
with
sentient civilization ‘round it
its last explosion
seen over the skies by
magi
of western Asia
and we could write our stories
too
as well as listen to what’s
set
and shared each season though off-season
makes your guesses
takes your chances
give
other versions a chance
allow imagination
serving
as an ironic stretching as a building-up
of credibility
“The Sentinel” is a short story by Arthur C. Clarke. The story is said to be the inspiration for his and Stanley Kubrick’s 2001. (Clarke having written that novel for and from the film.)
c l couch
Happy Thanksgiving! which should be a day of thanks for all, everywhere—or of hope for such with those in unthanking situations. (Sorry, need to bring up both.)
haiku plus announcement
yellow brown blue white
and there must be green for spring
gospel of out there
As I’ve mentioned, I find haiku a challenging craft. Maybe if I knew Japanese, though I’d have to know Japan as well (more than I know now). Nonetheless some haiku of mine—five in all (each one invited to send five)—will be published in an upcoming collection by Literary Revelations (https://literaryrevelations.com/). I’m keenly grateful to the publishing house for accepting my work to share with others. More specifically, I'm grateful to Gabriela Marie Milton who invited and received submissions. (If I understand the process.)
More details as I have them. Thank you for reading and thus encouraging my work.
photo by Xuan Nguyen on Unsplash
Icy Day Is All
May I tell you of the day
It’s icy here
It patterned on the windows
Through the night
With some layers now
And so
Many schools cancelled
With
So many lawsuits
Avoided
We can be litigious with our ice
And also neighborly
In that
My friendly neighbors downstairs
(upstairs
another verse)
Look to have scraped off my
Car
In the right way that heart disease
Can ill afford
In fact
My doctors say
Don’t do it
Pleasantness in winter
Then
Profundities aside
I’m simply
Thankful
C L Couch
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
Good Time, I Hope
x
God
May I talk
With you
x
My health might be improving
Just a little
By just a little
And I thank you
In part because
I want to make a lot
Out of a little
x
I want to ask your pardon
For my sins
Though really
I want to assume
Upon a doctrine
Not to have to talk them out
Remember things
With you
x
Or again assume
You know them
Anyway
And will excuse me
On my asking
Even broadly
x
Clearly
By tone
I think I’m wrong in that
x
But for your pardon
Even with my fractured approach
I thank you
And I love you
Have I mentioned that
x
I feel confused
About what’s next
x
I mean
I know there’s heaven
Though I don’t know
Heaven
But honestly I mean now
The now that I know
As best I know
And what to do
I don’t mean tired questions
Lived for decades
Without answers
I could grasp
x
I mean today
And for a little direction
Into tomorrow
x
Could you help me out
If I’m feeling better
With a little better-ness
What shall I do
x
Keep healing
I suppose
Try to bear
And wear
Virtue a little closer
Then to
Try to be positive
And send positive
All the while
x
That is
Maybe for a change
Keep doing this
x
Now
It seems
I hope
I hope I found a little something
This time
That had been piecemeal
Over time
And now should be
Seamed together
For a broader cloth
You might accept
For a flag
Or coverlet
Or on the table
Where we gather
To remember
And negotiate
Earth
Or
Eternity
x
You’ve been listening
Over years
You have been listening
I’m thankful
x
Even in pain
Your presence
For my life
Since when there’s void
There is too much
To bear
x
Well
Thank you
Lord
I’ll keep working
As it is
And feeling
Of your presence
More than doctrine
In my life
x
C L Couch
x
x
This is personal
And cosmic
It’s for you
All verse is for you
Food
For ingesting
Water
For the thirst
You maybe did not know
You had to have
Me
Too
All to have
In being
x
Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
something small series
(three parts, that is, three poems)
x
x
For What We Are About to Receive
x
Thank you
God
For what is small
For what is easy
To see
To hear
To guess a touch
A taste
And what is left
A smell
In likelihood
Or gentle appreciation
x
Flower
Bird
Child
Not to touch
But to leave alone
Unless the touch be necessary
Or requested
Of the thing
Not my agenda
Or the world’s
x
Leave the flowers grow
And the birds
And the children
Provide
Teach
Enhance
The opportunities
Hold them
When our own
Release them
To their own
Be thankful for the borrowing
Even beholding
As a work
Of yours
In a museum
Without walls
With working space
And fields for play
The sunshine and the wind
To enhance
The experience
All experience
That’s human
Sanctioned by divine
In the making
And the giving
Thank you
x
x
The Open Gift
x
Thank God for something small
Seemingly
Seemingly
Easy to love
As if we had received a gift
For our delight
The flower
Or the bird
Or a child
Given in labor
Pain
And innocence
Returning both perhaps
Charged to our keeping
But here is the gift
A moment for the beauty
And the truth
In our beholding
In what is revealed
From the force
Behind all forces
The presence
We may guess at
And not know
For sure
Thought we know
This moment with
The flower
Bird
Or child
x
They are not avatars
They are their own
They are not agendas
Though they are
Naïve messages
Of innocence
x
Realistic purity
On Earth
x
(part 2 of something small a series)
x
x
The Final Solution
x
And now
Praise God
For something small
With song
In appreciation
To adore
Creator
In creation
x
For all there is
And isn’t
And should be
(the Quixotic dream)
x
Take in the leave
Take in the wind
Take in a stranger
Passing by
In New York City
Millions
Not to see again
x
Until our sight
Be perfect
And unbidden
Sighting love
In focus
Blissfully
Agenda-free
Sinless
Indiscriminate
x
Find something small
To love it
Even a molecule
Considered
The illustration
From a textbook
Or a website
x
Thanks God for protons
And electrons
Neutrons
That have meaning
Though they seem
Without an interest
Of their own
x
But they are here
And all the rest
To bind
In gravity
Of love
And willingness
For unity
And one’s own identity
Everything shared
Nothing lost
x
Praise God
For something small
That’s you
And me
When you
Love of self
And the other
We delightfully have both
And all the time
One by one
Small part by small part
A miniature greatness
That is set
And to combine
To form out of apocrypha
Or apocalypse
The real thing
x
We’ll be there
Won’t we
x
(part 3 and probably enough of the something small series)
x
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Mille Grazie per Preghiera
x
I feel as if
I should offer
A prayer
To God
For something
x
Gratitude
Confession
Promise or
At least desire
To do better
x
Petition,
Intercession
Plus my own things
x
I’m not sure
How that’s the praise
That’s called for
While it seems
Mostly like complaining
x
Except to say thank you;
Maybe there’s praise
In that
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash
x
sorry for any Italian language that I broke
x
thank you
x
(x = space)
x
x
Hallmark Would Have It Rhyme
x
My circle has
Widened some
In lively ways
And souls
x
Lois, John, Paul
(no George or Ringo)
Mandy, Lynn
Other blogging friends
Some of these from
Reaching out
A little
Some are a surprise
With or without
The reaching
x
And I am thankful
The circle has
Ends meet,
Even braided
x
Like the rim
Of that thing at Thanksgiving
Inside which are all
The fruits and nuts,
Wheat stems
Other good things
Of Earth
Like seasons
And like friendship
x
C L Couch
x
x
x
I like Hallmark cards and enjoy sending them out for holidays. I especially like the Peanuts cards at Hallowe’en. (No, Hallmark people didn’t make me say this. I’m sure they don’t know I’m here.)
x
(x = space)
X
x
Poem 181
(thanks for the Poetry 180 Project)
x
Where are you?
I’ll miss you for the summer
Billy Collins, thank you
And the Library of Congress
They are contact days, I know
Or contract
The days in a school year
By the number
And the project of a poem a day
To keep us sane,
To give us something to talk about
In class,
Who knows, maybe for extra credit
To write companion pieces
Illustrate them, turn them in
Tack them to a board
Somewhere (but in a place
of honor)
And for me, the poems give this
Once-and-future teacher
Something good
Once a day, especially
When nothing else seems good
Something to carry me
A thought, a momentary inspiration
New words, new ideas
Or simply confirmation that
I should keep reading (writing)
On my own, too
x
thank you
x
C L Couch
x
x
Poetry 180 is designed to make it easy for students to hear or read a poem on each of the 180 days of the school year. I have selected the poems you will find here with high school students in mind. They are intended to be listened to, and I suggest that all members of the school community be included as readers. A great time for the readings would be following the end of daily announcements over the public address system.
Billy Collins
Former Poet Laureate of the United States
x
Nazaré Wall Art
x
Toast
(lids on hot food for now)
I woke up with a cold
I don’t care
I have this hour
And a day that could go twenty-four
Or become an age
As in day of the dinosaur,
Which is a really long day
You woke up this day with what you have
I hope it’s good
And if it’s not,
I hope it gets good and even better
For the hardship
We are awake
We have today
There’s sunshine somewhere
And out there the stars are turning
Movement proves life
Be easy
Or be crazy
Have a thought for someone else
And what she’s going through
We’ll see each other soon
Dancing in the skies
The circle won’t be broken or
Truth made out of lies
Now thinking-reverie must pause
Because there’s food and drink somewhere
And labor must be easy for a time
I hope we find the feast
Thank the host
Thank the guest
Hang on, if we must
Go in, because we can
C L Couch
Photo by Mark Cruz on Unsplash
clcouch123 
Recent Comments