on snowy evenings
an early evening when
sleet pings on the window pane
behind me
while I write
and try to write
to say something not likely
pithy
yet a touch
maybe to a point
and to
confess it
or to let
the setting like
the season stand alone
the dark and cold and icy rain I know
and thinking of a friend’s
father
who died last night
surrounded by faithfulness
it seems
and yet
I’m sad for her
and maybe I should let the night before
and the night behind me
do the talking
now
about
what feels separate and
in faith
might not be
a union shown by fact
someday
c l couch
photo by Anastasia Zolotukhina on Unsplash
We Pray This Day
(to play)
God
Hear us today
We ask
In this gray day
Regardless
To have clarity
In you
Not
To know everything
But know enough
And suss
Enough
And feel it through
So that all of us
And
All inside
The major strings are played
And we make sense as
Instruments of
Harmony
To play for you in service
And in pleasure
Goodness(!)
Goodness
Pleasing you
While
Heaven’s performance
Shall be
So much better
Than our own and
Yet
Somehow
Coelic symphony
Conductor
To welcome
Someday
Our auditions
Amen
(and together)
Amen
C L Couch
Photo by freestocks on Unsplash
(human epilogue)
Sorry
Children
“Play” above
Means
Play as instruments
As we are instruments
Of the will
And in service of
The Lord
But God is not thoroughly
A spoilsport
And neither should
Liturgical leadership
Deny
That the play outside
Or inside
For sport is
Sanctioned
Too
If not at worship
Well
Before
Or after
If playing well
And God-approved
(and so
this way in
play
we pray)
Amen
(play ball)
alonely
who sang that song
you know
that in a crooning line
about
being so lonely
and who was it
sang
that naturally
is lonely
and how awful is it
really
how far
against the law
all right
if one
were better nature
we would each
have one’s own planet
and we don’t
we have
interlocking parts
quite
frankly
maybe starting with
our fingers
we see into
something
when
we see
into
each other
eyes
not required
we have tingling senses
spider-people
when
we’re sure that someone’s
in the room
with
us
and
yes
of course
we have our voices
that
talk
that reach
through space
or on some paper
through
machines
again
voicestrings
unrequired
we get across
somehow
a message
when
we’re dedicated
to
the messaging
even
urgently
we find each other
speak
silent
say
we need to say
and yet
the bodies have their skins
and in
no way
can we be
each other
and when not
together
there is one
alone
surroundings may not matter
and isn’t there
some goodness there
sometimes
in face
when we think of it
quite often
and shall
the hour
go well
in which we think
reason
consider a resolve
to this issue
and that
one
(sometimes that one)
goodness
we might
write
you know
(you know been
known
to happen)
and so
the goodness
even of the Lord
who made us
one by one
even by one
sometimes by minutes
in between
the twins
of things
the Lord shall
love us
one
by one
by one
and
yes
for sweetness
when
we’re all together
by the way
and by the way
of all things
showing that we’re joined
on planet Earth
in systems
solar
in all companionship
through which is ringed
frankly
the gravity
separate
ringed together
cosmos
c l couch
photo by Elijah Hiett on Unsplash
break/dance
in other words
(and
do I mean
at base
at heart)
please
allow
sit
still in
need
be quiet
when alone
then
talk with other
or others
who might be there
who come along
or might be asked
by you
or yet another to
join
then get up
and get on
with the day
we have
as gift
even
smally
domestically
and
don’t worry
the universal wonder
and the joy
are
coming
too
if later when
we don’t know
(and how about
we don’t merchandize
on this)
day
gift
alone
together
break
dance
c l couch
photo by Isabel Galvez on Unsplash
Deep and
Wide
(the call
and then the gathering)
Tomorrow’s
Juneteenth
Remembering
The
unrelenting drive toward freedom
After war
After the
smaller wars
That
Take us
One by one
Even
together
For a cause
To have a
life
That daily
speaks to
Choice in
where we go
No one to
intervene
Direction
Or allowance
●
To be free
Of that
ridiculousness
That is
itself
Free of ethics
Free of consideration
For the freedom
of the flesh
Itself
Herself
Or himself
Or in the
people
All my
people
As ways
The right to
be unchained
As in each
birthing
In each
house
●
How sad
Tragic
To have to
make the case
For liberty
To use up
energy
Needed for
So many
other
Needful things
In life
For enough
acquisition
Self-esteem
in work
And play
In laughing
with the children
Of our
legacy
●
These and
other lines
Established and
maintained
As on a ship
Where working
lines
Is vital
To the journey
●
Knowing when
to keep them taut
When to let
go
Of everything
To pause
within the wind
Maybe the
wind
That tricks
the journey
Of misdirected
Doctrine
Or information
Then agendas
Without evidence
Or conviction
of
Truth inside
●
Goodness
We go far
For only a
day
But if we
don’t remember
It seems we
repeat
Not the
better parts
But the
things
That bring
us down
Into a
whirlpool
Of unknown
ending
Though without
the likelihood
To brins us
Home
●
Juneteenth
Something to
do with Texas
Though the
nation
Wholly free
Should ring
throughout all states
And to the
world
New liberty
bells
From the
same carillons
That have
been sounding since
From Independence
Hall
And are not
we owed
All of us
Some room
inside that place
That forum
From the
start
When each
one aimed
First pled to
Europe
Then
Campaigned
Consciously
●
While pushing
on
Indigenous
From the
start
And the gross
Wrongheaded
And wrong
hearted
Soiled
Spoiled
Impractical sin
In presuming
to own
People
To work a
place
In which
Nothing was
avowed
For these
●
And by the
way
Of our
family
Traded for
And purchased
In the way
of hell
Against
Disgrace from
heaven
●
Then begin
Inside one’s
own
And all our
own
Words and
moves
Toward freedom
Centuries
Ago
Throughout
A woeful
Backward aga
Into the
struggle
Even for
this hour
Certainly
for this day
●
Juneteenth
A new day
For triumphant
calendars
For the
meaning
And the pleasuring
Owning for
Instead
Flesh
And home
And fear
only of God
In this
brightened hour
Followed by
another
In arriving
To the
lit-up day
Illustrious
And carried
to tomorrow
For a legacy
●
But in this
time
We have
Please own
it
The idea
The discretion
Humility
Restraint in
Knowing
And having
This second
Freely
Then with
hope
That anyone
might
Freely have
Into another
And another
Toward that
better age
To which we
add
In quiet
ways
Of love
And this
Our proclamation
Of the same
●
Amen?
Maybe we
could say
Syllables for
striving
An
Amen
C L
Couch
Photo by Pawel
Czerwinski on Unsplash
3 poems and each might stand (I hope) though together indicate a consequential process
What It Takes
The clock
Caught my attention
Because the hour
Had just turned
I prayed
Some praise
Some gratitude
Confession
Both for what I did
And what I should have done
An asking
Words about love
More thanks
A kind of pledge
About doing better
Then
Amen
I prayed what I meant
To pray
And looked up
Caught by the clock again
Four minutes
Four minutes
Maybe a hundred words
Out of this hour
And this day
Of such greater length
God willing
Imbalanced
I know
Terrible things have happened
In the past
And in the present
And we could guess into the future
But we’re taken up with
Wounds
And hunger
Inside ruins
Newly made
And if we could only keen
For natural disasters
Eruptions
Other explosions
Fires we say that rage
Winter storms
With hail
Sudden deprivations
From what developed
Unexpectedly
Then fell
Or rose upon us
Destroyed some of part of us
And will try for more next
Time
And time again
We could devote our science
And our military
Toward prevention
Preparation
Rescue
Restoration
And it would be hard
And often would be sad
And worse in tragedy that
Tears at us
As wars compounded
And the crimes we make
Tear at us
Even deeply
More bloodied
Threatening to take out
All the vital things
That make us
Us
The awfulness of now
And how we do things
Though not everything
Revealing
Promise
In an hour of today
When we let the fields and towns
By plan or by surprise
Be silent
And then we let in
Aid
Or help each other
Anyway
There’s hope in us
You see
Some want annihilation
Crazily
Some go for anarchy
Alike
And some are merely profiteering
On which side
Every side
That buys
But there’s that part
That quiet part
That then protests
That stands in front of weapons
Without weapons
Teaching us
Reminding us
Of how to stand
And how to act
To give ourselves a chance
All of us
The human race
To be
Simply to be
And then do better
With better
Vital
Parts of us
Don’t Forget the Two Parts Out of Three
Then
Or in the midst of it
There’s time
And willingness
To play
Even on a square we find
And sticks
And fashioning round things
For our
Projectiles
Or with time
We go to our closets
Root around
And
(funny)
Root for roots
The ancient games
With gloves and such
We used to play
And might not fit
But we’ll use
Something
And we’ll recreate
Which also might recall
How we had been made
To work
To play
To rest
The first
Time with
Our families
Or friends we met as children
On the street
(urban
suburban
sural)
And then picked up
The games
And rested after
In the shade
And then
Took jobs
And thought the rest
Unnecessary
Even rest
(in the shade)
Though we can have that
Now again
And should
C L Couch
Photo by Callum Hill on Unsplash
and do we teach or simply learn to learn
clear
and clean
the page
well
add some “enter”
spaces
and go on
and what shall I
say cleanly
what is clean
and what
is clear
clear-headedness
we say
we don’t say
clear-heartedness
so much
well
maybe not at all
‘til now
and maybe
neither
is achievable
maybe
reality
keeps something of
complexity
even the fog
that moves between
the pieces
making questionable connections
because
there’s synapse
circulation
and
what shall we say
a web made out of
heartstrings
sigh
and there are
other things
the messages
and wearing off
of institutions
nearby
somewhere
and what
we might become
and freedom
calls
like bird-calls
(made by birds)
such as
the lonely
sadly
call of loons
out of the morning mist
both over water
and there are loves
other
attachments
we are both with
that we choose
that come to us
through reading
conversation
or some other
leading dialogue
like Socrates
we set
as our own method
or influenced by
the schools
of everything
we have attended
attending
also meaning
service
as in waiting
and there is waiting
as in
we wait for something
after we rise
and while we work
we look around
with every sense
we count
and cannot count
for we don’t understand
anything like
totality
of learning
and retention
and also of
discovery
that flows between the banks
of stultification on one side
creative shouting on the other
with places
to pull over
though we don’t set these
and must wait
for certain rituals
to hear them
see them
and take up
our crafts of exploration
for a while
it’s like we’re on the move
and consider cells
that are in movement
all the time
the turn of Earth
and the ringed nature
of the cosmos
also with
the turn of us
through moments
and through years
and just the same
the stillness
that we have
is honest
when we choose that hour
wish for that style
to achieve
and then to practice
with a kind
(with lapses)
of lasting
ever
I can stop for now
the part of me that stops
that is
that pauses
and refreshes
like a soda-pop
or tapas
with sangria
bread and wine
for ritual
and meaning
on our own
and especially
in community
because
alone is not so hopeful
as in useful
for philosophy
so write with me
and talk
and
yes
talk among yourselves
for there’s not test
and is no cheating
not for this
the examination
of a universe
of
circled possibilities
and
yes
we’re on our own
also together
don’t forget
c l couch
photo by Mackenzie Marco on Unsplash
poems about life together
regardless
sad programs
about
the dying animals
with sad
commercials about
giving money
to save
the dying animals
and if we’re good
there will be t-shirts in
the package
with
some photographs
and some rhetoric
please
to send some more
sigh
and this is
Saturday
and sometimes throughout
the day
or at night
when I am done
with the workday
or week
and it seems
I’ve nothing left
to give
for service
or for play
and shall I find it in myself
to give some
more
and then some
more
well
why not
it’s only interactions
with a service
and the donations go
automatic
in the timeframe
I approve
and maybe
we could
do this together
as
you know
a project
or something passing by
over time
to be reminded of
and how
small
even accumulated
was this kind
of giving
then there’s an hour
two hours
a few hours
to go into town
to serve somewhere
because
what is required
is what we know already
how to do
and also
how to smile
how to say
hello
and then
here you go
please enjoy
a gambol
a gambol
is a walk
that is playful
sometimes what
a mountain goat
or sheep
might do
upon the mountain
and shall I
gambol
somewhere
on this weekend
day
or take a drive to nowhere
letting the playfulness
be mental
and emotional
(while
driving carefully)
playfully
in my head
or chest
might count for a gambol
too
for someone keeping score
or for
without a record
simply to have
the play
beside the work
don’t worry
deserving
simply go
and shall we
collaborate
into companionship
to go
out there
in here
companionable
and when we return
we could enjoy
some silent company
with small words
in between
the kind the authors call
companionable
I shall enjoy
companionable silence
if you are of a mind
and will
to join me
in the same
I don’t there are cues
but time will tell
(and now we know
what that means)
let’s sit
or do small chores
with a glass of wine
nearby
or tea
poured into
carryable cups
and let the hour
be an hour
without counting
or whatever time it
takes
to rest inside the mind
and in the seat
where classics say
we build up
and make sense of
our emotions
time passes
easy love
the kind that lasts
through jumpy times
or even
catastrophic
should the phone ring
or something on the news
require our rising
on the inside and outside
to take on
together
built on the companionship
built in the quiet
times
and everything unworldly
together
maybe not the end of day
and then we rest
maybe tired
maybe worried
maybe
we need
to talk some
more about
what’s going on
inside our lives
even the world
at large
to parse the day
and yet not
box
anything
but leave the thoughts
and our emotions
even will
to go organically
to set priorities
through the life-sense
and what’s important
that we built
and yes
together
epilogue
straightforward?
saccharine?
more metaphors?
some
jaundice
for what we consider
the infection
of reality?
I don’t know
what’s real?
what is truth
to modern
governors
and Pilates?
well
give it a go
or not
I think we’ll only find
a truth that lasts
and a reality to bear
when somehow
we work it out
as we
(and yes
too easy the
transition)
whee
don’t forget
to play
without humor
and joy
it’s hard to work out
life’s
priorities
even its reasons
without
some
together
c l couch
photo by Dan Cristian Pădureț on Unsplash
I’ll Come for You
I’ll come for you
When
You are sad
And far away
It seems
I'll come for you
When you are lightless
Then
I shall be light
I’ll come for you
Be the sounding noise
When you are quiet
Find you
On my own
I'll come for you
Stay next
To you
Until
You’re ready
I’ll come for you
And be with you
While the world waits
Or goes on
Without us
As it may
We’ll find an entry once
Again
When ready
You might have wounds
They
Should be tended
Let’s take care of
Those
And be brave
About something else
(remembering
there’s
something brave
in saying ouch
for honesty)
I’ll come for you
And when we’re
Ready
We’ll get up
And move
So slowly back
Into an expected
Life this time with more truth
And carrying a salve
In each other
For any
More pain
I'll come for you
C L Couch
Photo by Gilbert Ng on Unsplash
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