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Bad Day at Third Rock

(x = space)

x

x

Bad Day at Third Rock

x

Today there is a war

People try to live

Without attention

To or from

The state

x

There is a wildfire

Eruptions from volcanos

Storms rage

Earth splits

As if on revenging

Or indifference

x

There is

Addiction

Other ways we live

As if to self-destruct

Like the tapes

That were for our

Entertainment

About

Impossible missions

x

Jobs are taken out

They were useful

Now they’re gone

We get divorced

From each other

As if the vows

Were not thought out the first time

And now we know

x

And there is everything

We know is inexorable

It comes on

They come on

x

All these things

All these sad things

Most of which

Destroy

And all wound

x

The apologist might be right

To say

We live in land overrun

And occupied by the enemy

x

Princes of this world

Maybe princesses

Though give credit to the

Insight

When some women lead

Thinking of Deborah

And Judith

And the chairs

Of my departments

x

The world must be more

Than all the burning

And explosiveness

Literal to Earth

Or invoked too much by hell

Inside the human heart

x

Live more

Legislate, perhaps

Consider how extreme

The campaigns

Or the intimacy

In destruction

x

Renew

Repair

Like people

Learn to know

How we are likable

‘Cause we are

x

Give Earth a chance

And when it fails

Negotiate

Again

And do the same

For humankind

Fix things

And then

Consider less addition

For the second changes

Barring

You know

Those commandments

And redemption

Even so

Give us a chance

And the cosmos

In turn

Might welcome us

x

C L Couch

x

x

(citations)

C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

1 Corinthians 2:6,8

x

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

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Two Children

(x = space)

x

x

Two Children

x

Holy Thursday

x

Maundy Thursday

x

Good Thursday

x

Nice Thursday for the church

If we leave off

The arrest in the garden,

Which sounds ingenuous

But the day

Liturgically

Is named for the supper only

And what happened there:

What was said,

Mainly

The command

x

And did they know

By the way

That supper was the

Last?

And looking back

Would the disciples

Want

To have called it

That?

Or did we need a name

And gave it

That one?

(names come after things,

I guess

for history

and liturgy

and calendars)

x

Here’s how it used to go:

We’d have a dinner

At the church

Downstairs

Then go upstairs

(from the social hall)

To the sanctuary above

And we’d have church,

Which is to say

A service

x

And there would be Communion

And we’d conclude the service

There

And it was nice

x

Sorry, it was nice

x

Jesus and his friends

For that what’s Maundy’s

All about,

A lazy term

For the Latin mandatum

Meaning command

For Jesus gave them orders

All the followers

That they should love

One another

x

That a few ages later

We should love each other

x

Good Friday

(good?)

Will

(for a fact)

Be awful,

And in between

The supper and the arrest

Admittedly

Is his time in the garden

Where disciples will betray him,

First two

And then the third

Follower

Who left the supper early

x

While Christ on his own

More than he wished

Asked of the cup

Not filled with wine from the meal

But of the bitterness

Of mortal destiny

Should pass by

As a deadly metaphor

For will

x

And then acceptance

And it’s really rather beautiful

As it is tragic

And then horrible

With an arrest

And all the dreadful

Words and acts

To follow

x

So we should keep the garden

Time

Somewhere in between

The meal

And arrest,

Maybe a kind of vigil thing

x

For the church meal before

And then Communion,

Well,

Was wonderful,

First roast beef

(typically and, yes, like the toe)

And then upstairs

Where we hardly ever

Had church for all of us

At night,

Waiting now

In fact

‘Til Christmas Eve—naturally,

A good association

x

And here’s Good Thursday,

Maundy Thursday when

We are told

By the child of God

To love each other

x

Though I’m thinking now

There are too many things

Too many good and bad things

To come together

Making sense

Out of a calendar

And faith

x

And yet

Bethlehem’s

Christmas child

And the child that is placed

Among them

x

And something about

Leadership

And children

x

And then

All children

Must and should grow up,

After all

x

So there

x

CLC

x

x

Matthew 18:2-4, Isaiah 11:6

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Photo by David Weber on Unsplash

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1

Processionals

(x = space)

x

x

take away the confessional and informative emendations and there’s one poem here with endings like certain music selections

x

Processionals

x

I think

Often of David

Of a picture

I have seen

Or made up

It’s when the ark

Is brought into

Jerusalem

And it’s a triumph

A kind of victory

x

And I think of David

Young

(and was he young)

Dancing

Before the ark

Not wearing much

But he’s king

And he arranged all this

And so

The instruments

Let play

And maybe favorites

Follow suit

x

I see light colors

As if this were a desert scene

Done as a picture

With pastels

You know

I think I figure the hair

On David

From the statue by

Michelangelo

x

Processions are important

He and they

Had to have one

Because the ark

Would have a home

Forever

Well

At least for generations

(I should

look this up

it might be before

Absalom)

But what do we know

Today is forever

And the

Ark is here

x

And Jesus came

Into Jerusalem

And a procession

Was needed

And so it was

Arranged

In humility

And somehow awesome

Awful majesty

x

C L Couch

x

x

I worked on this scene before as a draft; I have in mind I didn’t finish it, and this time I did; but if the other work appeared and I forgot, then I apologize for the repetition—CLC

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and a bit more (for free)

x

a coda

x

David was a shepherd

He was a king

He was loved by God

As either

So are you

Loved by God

For either

Any

Way

x

Photo by Alberico Bartoccini on Unsplash

x

(and here’s the lesson should you need one

coda 2

that was D. S.

this is D. C.)

x

Jesus came

Into Jerusalem

Like the ark

Meaning a triumph

Victory

For a home people

Battling

To keep a promise

x

And like the ark

Is lost

Defeat

And sacrifice

Through lack of faith

(bad kings—you may

look it up)

And so sacrilege

And a new needed

Promise

Follows

(read the prophets)

For restoration

Of the people

x

Turns out

It’s Israel

And all of us

Redeemed

Through this

Second coming

Triumph

Then sacrifice

This time as well

And

Cosmically speaking

Greater

All the world

And how far out

On the edge

x

With destruction

Turned to joy

With all our flaws intact

Until a final resurrection

That will keep

Us and the world

Intact

And better

And forever

x

Stone not only

Rolled away

But smashed

Here endeth

And look

And listen

Smell

And taste

And touch

This is the start

And we might think we do

But we don’t know

What’s next

x

1

The Givers

(x = space)

x

x

The Givers

x

I need to speak better

With the Lord

And of the Lord

And of a maker’s love

Of nature

And more so

The people

Living in all mysteries

x

People and mysteries

Of how to number them

In and if

Any propriety

How to count

And within the will acceptable

Of all of us

(three entities)

x

For us

Receivers of all words

Too much is un-understood

The glass is dark

The ideal

Is on the other side

As are the mysteries

Resolved

x

But there is the need

The compulsion

To move, anyway

While

We are here

Somehow to invest

In invisible interaction

That is real

In the sense we cannot count

Or measure

Yet bears salvation

x

A book of hours

Indicates

Yet cannot reveal

As much as, say,

Look or hear into the gentle candle

While we pray

x

Our rites are fine

Many are elegant

With an aim

Toward dignity

Mixed with an agenda of

Information

Clarity

Through what is revealed

Finally vague

And believed

(by me for one)

Vague evidence for faith

As manifested,

Which is to say

As is

x

More elegant

(as well)

Is the spirit

In the sky at night

With its own stillness

And its risks

The careful and the wild

Embodied

And presented

In unmoving blue

Maybe with high clouds

That haunt

Or in the storm

That

Threatens

Or attempts to ravage

When released

Land and sea

And us between

x

The hours we have

Altogether

Organized

Unkempt

The lives we have

With all the unsolved parts

Priests

Religious

(liturgy composers)

Poets

Room for unbelievers

All work

In both realms

Created

Sub-created

And must own

Not in harmony

But harmony

The music of the spheres

We say

With all the mysteries

Set down to solve

And leave or let

Untouched

Unsolved

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Ali Choubin on Unsplash

x

0

monday protest

(x = space)

x

x

monday protest

x

get up

listen to the noise

and go

and this is how it starts

x

a day

in the modern world

x

no,

thank you

iI’ll stay here

in the drab place

and time

x

of dark and cold

of sleep

and safety

well

x

i won’t grow up

not i

x

if you must leave

i’ll stay

x

c l couch

x

photo by eduardo mallmann on unsplash

x

0

Wealth of Nations

(x = space)

x

x

Wealth of Nations

x

O God

For invocation

Oh, God

To plea

Our world groans

With war

And the imbalance

Of the greedy

Systems

x

Justice should be a system

Greed is not good

Unless you’re winning

For a while

While all our cells corrupted

May yet cry for mercy

x

The ears to hear

Might be

The last to go

x

God

Help us

And forgive us

The Earth is ours

And we forget

And leave it to a few

Who vote for nothing

But self-fattening

And a self-deceiving glimpse

Of real power

x

Let all rise

(the poorly-

agendaed, too)

To march

Or stand in place

To sing

As if

Accompanying Earth

With all the antiphons

The spheres above

Below

That glide

And when against each other

Glory in the sacred touch

The music

Of all order

And all chaos,

Arranged

As creation’s gift

x

And this is wealth

Not the other

Once we feed each other

And can stand or march

(or sit with age

or disability

and purpose)

To hear the strains

Of everything

And offer ours

x

Our gift

Unto the glory

Of Earth

And all-around’s,

Of God’s all

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Illiya Vjestica on Unsplash

x

0

God = Not a Sadist

(x = space)

x

x

God = Not a Sadist

(read God equals not a sadist)

x

Pain is good

It teaches us

It tempers us

We come out wholer people

Better for it

Pain is the megaphone

Says Lewis

Pain is loud

Ginsberg might say

(might say)

Pain howls

x

But it doesn’t howl

Because it’s good:

Pain is bad

It hurts

Great pain hurts

Great

After great pain

The formal feeling comes

Does God allow pain?

Does God wish it?

I don’t know

Christ in the garden

Asked not to feel hurt

And he was

Severely

Bloody

Hurt

Until he died

We say he had to die

Well and good

For theology

And there was real joy

In his returning

Perhaps he felt it first

x

I don’t like to hurt

I hope you don’t

I’m in pain now

My neck, my lower back

My eyes from lack of sleep

I have heart disease

And it seems my heart and lungs

Work against me

When it hurts to breathe

Though they are not the source

They are victimized

By fluid

That should not be flowing,

Pressing there

x

Worse, my brother dies from cancer

And it hurts

The medicine might help

It also creates new trials

A passing between pain

And something like sedation

And somehow in the middle

Is what’s living

x

And you hurt

I don’t know how

And the world hurts

In every fracture

x

So where is God?

Where is the love of God?

Where is God is love?

God is there

Love’s there

If God allows

Much less or much more

Created pain

Then there is love as well

Also created

And I think

Preferred

x

But pain is hard

It’s not good

We say pain is gain

But it isn’t

Pain is a signal that

Something’s wrong

And we’ll find out

Everyone finds out

The world dissembles, but

Pain is true

Pain sometimes teaches

Usually after the fact

Or in someone else’s story

x

I think if pain

Could not be real

If we couldn’t have it

That would be

Better

We might say we’d

De-evolve without it

Maybe so

But then

The world would have to change

And would be changed

We don’t know how

We live with pain

We even bear it

When it won’t

Go away,

x

Which doesn’t mean

We should like it

That God should like it

Wish it

Before the fall,

We might well guess

There was no pain

x

Sorry

There’s pain now

I don’t wish for you

Your pain means

A great deal to me

I cannot make it

Magic

Go away

Or mine

We’re stuck

And while we’re stuck

Comes all the learning

All the tempering like

Metal fired

And then struck

At least we’re not the ashes

At least we’re here

For everything

Imagined,

More so

Realized

And that’s what we have to say

Pain is real

x

C L Couch

x

x

(a Sunday School discussion from James 1, an epistle in the Christian New Testament)

x

notes (references)

Mere Christianity

“Howl”

“After Grean Pain, a Formal Feeling Comes”

x

[photographer’s narration] When we visited Utö, the most outer island of this beautiful archipelago in the place we call Finland, I allowed myself to be guided by the incredible energy of Inca, the daughter of the family we were visiting there. She took me to a series of abandoned bunkers from the times this island was a military strategic point and there I found this graffiti that represent very well the feeling of all that has to do with military, war, conflict and drama. With love from Korpo.

Photo by Aarón Blanco Tejedor on Unsplash

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Sides, The Earth Is Ours (2 poems)

(x = space)

x

x

Sides

x

If God is for us

Whom shall stand against us

Well, they will

They are they

They will

These are not shadows

Except in meaning,

Haunting for a while

Our better selves and motives

x

They are there

They are ghosts

(with apologies to ghosts)

Who look as if

They are substantial

And their weapons

Somehow

Wound and even kill

x

They (with those)

Tempt us from our fate

One by one

And altogether as

People loved by God

Who have a purpose covered

For the moment

Until the glass

Is clear

x

The battle won

Life prefigures death,

Better shows the shape

Of life again

x

C L Couch

x

If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:31

x

x

Earth Is Ours

x

Do you hate the sides?

I often do

Jerusalem and Antioch

East and west

(Istanbul and Rome

as part of that)

China and Taiwan

Town and gown

City and countryside

North and south

And much, much worse

Cain and Abel

So that only Seth remains

For legacy

One without three

x

We need our groups

We don’t need the borders

In between

We should have the joy

To have our own

The strength in defending

Everyone

The Earth

Our own

Everyone’s Earth

To own

x

What does this mean?

It’s right to ask

Since we ask

And everything is lent

And legacy is life that

We cannot gift ourselves

But there’s a promise

Prophecy

Assurance in or as

What we believe

x

What we shall own

Though frankly we must share

The bigger parts

x

C L Couch

x

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

x

0

An Angel Visits Francis

(x = space)

x

x

An Angel Visits Francis

x

I speak to God today

God is quiet

Not uninvolved

With nothing noisy

To contribute

Beyond the rain outside

The singing tires

The occasional movement

Inside

From a neighbor

Or from me

x

I wonder when an angel

Visits Francis

How it goes

No, don’t get up

Relax the hand with the ring

No doubt you lift the office

With an instinct

Anymore

I’m here to rest with you

For a moment

To be still

You know the issues

And the crises in the world

One of us will tell you

When there are

Awful surprises

You are doing well

We are

I am

Sorry when you’re sick

The age and job

Do take it out of you

You could retire

Like your peer

Sometimes I think

He has the better part

But I don’t think you’ll give up

‘Til you have the sense

You’re done

Remember I am here

We are here

We fly around you

Dance with happiness

Or grief

You know we are not

The round things of the Renaissance

But are might beings

Wide in span

And awful

As in full of awe

To know us

And carry power

You know whose

And are ready

Should you wish us to defend

Evil forefend

Should you wish to rest with us around

And when you’re ready

To be escorted

Even carried

Home

x

We are will

And we love you

x

Back to me

And God is ready for your voice

When you wish to speak

Or keep it in your mind

The better things

Are in your heart

We’re told,

Which means your spirit

The spirit of the Lord

Is with you, too,

Waking or sleeping

Like the song

Agents of God

Angels and nature

Sing around you

Sometimes difficult

Impossible, it seems,

To hear

But singing nonetheless

The music of the spheres

The song that’s in your sphere

Of hope

And love

To resonate with good things

To navigate the bad

There is help

In that

In both

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by gil on Unsplash

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