fixin’s
there is war
there is disease
there is famine
there is drought
that causes
famine
though despots
are as likely
if not more
to bring on hunger
in the folk
like you and me
there is corruption
beyond the natural
(though
we waste
enough)
there is the irony
on a blue world
of not having safe water
guaranteed
anywhere
thanks to our being here
the
poisoning residents
so war
disease
hunger
famine to hunger
lack of safe water
despots
and corruption
which is before the count
the destruction
caused by nature
that we call
our mother
time to time
raging as well
under Great Spirit
who must weep in bouts
while spelling anger
how we melt
the valleys
that his hands
pressed and made
mother nature
father spirit
(or
switch the genders
or
add to them
certainly)
leading the cosmos
and our lore
about the cosmos
and whom do we respect
what
to we respect
there’s self-respect
and what do we do
with that
other-respect
perhaps
though mostly as a type
I think
so good that we can envy
or so bad
we can relate
and so vote for
well
these are our problems
aren’t they
and listing them
might help
but as
or followed by
a plan of action
certainly
and not let sado-masochism
make our only world
for habitation
no
we can do better
I am sure
and you are sure
and when we’re sure
we’ll reach out
in spirit
and in flesh
to make it better
make the wounds better
like parents
with Band-Aids
small doses of antiseptic
under
small kisses above
then really get
to work
to make the world
cleaner
through and above
well
everything
not a purge
(never a purge)
but
to fix
and rebuild
then to design above
something to say
and fairly
journey
on to other worlds
c l couch
photo by Nicolas Gras on Unsplash
if God were speaking on a Monday
what shall God say
but that
I love you
and command you
while you ignore me
and frankly
do much worse
on your own
not that you can’t
invent things
some
many to admit
that carry goodness along
somehow
almost to defy the flaws
you insist
on leading with
things to keep life going
to have ease
in doing other things
if not
the reasons why
that I’m afraid I have
and my host
reveals
which I do not withhold
at all
though you will
have spirit
without me
and so dilute
my love
and certainly
my command
for you know
I am God
and cannot give you names
for me
out of convenience
a god of attribute
interesting
but not conclusive
let alone relevant
in any
situation
I am God
and I love you
and I command
and would direct you
day to day
and in the moments
with perfection
and all
love
and yet do leave you
to yourselves
which might seem puzzling
to think on it
since I could have made you
something propelled
only by
my will
but then what would
you be
the ends of strings
while even angels have
more will than that
and I want
you to be you
in every way
which means
I leave you
to you your own
first on the inside
then the outside
and then how you might affect
this first world
of ours
I love you
and command you
and must have you
be you
even to
the withholding of myself
and ourselves
to let you go
and then come back
and should remain
on your own
and I know
it sounds
as if manipulations
slides
as if
serpentine
through all
but how free
does it seem to you
unless you oppress
each other
how free to decide
on you
and me
and how things are
what is reality
and places in it
how I made you
how I love you
globes of energy
with limbs
and brains
hearts that pump
so much more than blood
though wondrous
all parts
and all parts are yours
not because I say so
but what is
and I was here
and shall return
and shall in spirit
reside
invest this moment
all
for your consideration
and what of the cosmos
I keep going
as in maintaining
anyway
and shall you rise
I hope so
rise through all distractions
that are fallen
and keep you falling
still
decide
then
what you will
and don’t worry
how I judge the rest
that’s up to me
and I know
potential
and ability
take each one on
sometimes in pairs
and finally a people
with a fate
now let’s
find out
what that is
maybe together
c l couch
photo by Hamdhulla Shakeeb on Unsplash
Isle
Maldives, Maldives
published 12 hours ago [2 p.m.]
Shall We Dance
I don’t know what
To say
More importantly,
I don’t know what
To do
What would you do?
You would love through everything
And give
And serve
You would breathe justice
And you would also allow everyone a voice
And give everyone a turn
You would let water roll
And gather it in still, green places
So that people might have a drink
And maybe around which
To build
And then let the water move on
So that it gathers safely
And keeps moving to feed others
You would
Protect the land,
Give people what they, what we, need
Though we would yet be on our own
Because that is the truth and mystery of will
You would allow each one an hour on one’s own
And make it fine
When each of us returns
To be welcomed back sometimes as if we had been gone for a long while
You would let us be parents
And also children
The child to be a child, certainly,
And also let the grown-ups be from time to time
Like children
You would remember we aren’t perfect
There are flaws built in through sin that maybe wasn’t ours
But in some paradox
Or even some kind of unfairness
We’re left to deal with
One by one
And in every generation, until everything’s renewed
‘Til then
You’ll keep us from perfection
Yet love us without flaw
While we will pray and liturgize haphazardly
Depending on our creeds and the splinters we’ve allowed
‘Til unity
Make sense
For love
And practicality
And you come down
Come up
Come form the side
At last
To finish the justice that was started in creation
To fix our flaws
The way we broke the Earth
The way we break each other
Mended finally
To last
As last
And how we were
The first day that you made us
When we had a garden to tend
That for all we know
Was planetwide
At first
And everything to name
Because you meant for us to task
Everything we are
And love the work
And labor of our lives
So today I will wonder
And do things
And wondering’s a thing
And think on you
And think on everyone
And everything
On Earth
And in the stars that as a kind
We have only started
To approach
And hopefully
If flawed
Though flawed for now
And even though
With your approval
As some of us
Wrote and sang
Shall we dance
After our work
And in our work
C L Couch
The popular song “Shall We Dance” is from the musical The King and I, though there is an earlier, eponymous movie (a vehicle for Rogers and Astaire).
Photo by Levi Williams on Unsplash
word
oh
I don’t know
the word should be
love
shouldn’t it
our shibboleth
perhaps
a password to know
the enemies
in our camp
to send them back
with a regret
if they
won’t join
with us
there is a battle
sad to say
a sortie
in a war
a war of ages
that began
who knows when
well
who on this
side
knows
is heaven’s rebellion
happening now
in fact
have a third
of angels
fallen
only recently
one third
waging war
as if to win
goaded by their chief
no doubt
to believe it
or
to act that way
and
love could stop the war
could stop all wars
if we could
bring it
to the table
and we can
it’s both
strong
and risky
to present
while those across might
react
with repudiations
then
bring their weapons out
from
hiding places
over hills
nearby
but it’s also
the only way
the only
way
that sticks
the only way that leads
to water
and to food
to shelter
and to safety
a
cessation
of hostilities
that will allow
if not incite
the
saving measures
allowing
peace
whether or not
it passes understanding
a Mispah benediction
clasping
without weapons
on
or close
and better
without weapons
in the mind
the war is over
who has won
invisible God
has won
the one who will
not gloat
or exact
spine-breaking
reparations
but will direct
the world
to rebuild itself
with help
from the angels
who are angels
for love
does this
love
does all of this
I learn this late
we learn this late
but there is time
for some
and more
in time we have
and time
beyond
time
love without
conditions
since there is too much
time
on the other side
(once there)
these
so do our best
for now
let love
be love
and to impose
with hope
and without
strategy
(consider the war
above)
or expectation
love
the word
and then the word
amen
c l couch
photo by Feliphe Schiarolli on Unsplash
reasoning
(a prayer)
O God
Oh
God
(invocating
supplicating)
how are you
in our lives
how do your angels
work in dialogue
between
two sets of wills
your will
so elastic
as to have us
mess it up through
discretion
or what seems perhaps
an accident
or random thing
from us
and yet your will
predominate
your cosmic will
and will for all your spirits
made
and always
from the beginning
ending
and beginning
and everything between
so how shall we have our days
our hours
in ourselves
not pawns
but active players
in some plan of yours
one plan
and all of us
somehow
as parts
yet what we do
must matter
from the inside
to the outside
even the outermost
and is it miracle
or an extraordinary
definition
of happenstance
or some other medium
in which
we move
and have our being
and our choices
matter
they are valued
they turn into
the ultimate reality
and for our judgment
into paradise
how does that work
what stretches
most
within your will
that becomes a point of doctrine
for our lives
a code
for our discretion
well
what we know
is what we know
that our choices
make a difference
in a universe
of shared presence
manifested
so you choose
so I choose
so we chose
not in a vacuum
but some substance
our of
everything that’s real
the real
that is material
divine
individual
and overarching
if not overlording
oh
Lord
our Lord
how majestic is
your name in all the Earth
maybe an odd affirmation
(time to time)
when you
have no name
being I am
we have names
we have bodies
we have spirits
we have choices
and all of it
has value
part of your way
that goes in every
direction
where solidity
and spirituality
have room
for a plan
we don’t know part of
but in whom we are
the stake
we decide
we could always
learn the rules
(they are in many sources
universally)
then go so far as
to obey
c l couch
Psalm 8:9
photo by Árpád Czapp on Unsplash
a little chappy-book of poems
Anyday Fog
Fog
Fog today
A Dickensian lesson
(get started
on Bleak House)
To know
That like the existence
And the movement of the fog
There is connection
Between all of us
Regardless of economy
Or privilege
Or barriers
Presumed
That as far as the single race goes on
Do not stand
Aloof
We are connected
That is the way of things
Do not forget
But relish in it
The reality
And all the possibilities
Together
Or stay apart
Behind our barriers
So-called
To let the fog move
Inimically
Exuding fear and guilt
As we forbid ourselves from
Seeing
(without eyes)
And acknowledging each other
The fog connection
Irony
For there it is
Well
Then let
The better lesson of
The real thing
To a greater thing
Take over
All our humanhood
That should lower unnecessary things
In the way
Then let in
The light
(more than light)
Too Easy
Blindness
Blindness chosen
Not the sense
But the lifestyle
Even
A cause
That in the dark
We shall strike
And have our way
Forgetting
(among other things)
The anthologized
“Dover Beach” that
First-year students
Are foisted
To read
With the “ignorant armies”
In the night
That clash
Who wins
Who loses
No one knows
Except that blows are struck
And there is wounding
And humanity destroyed
By degree
Those who are blind
For real
Know the sacrifice
And the ridiculousness
In selecting darkness as
The quality
For sight
And shall we choose
To be ignorant of each other
Shall we fight
From distances too great
To know much beyond
The switch
Or the button
We could draw near each other
Rather
Withholding our destroying
Part
To leave the great part
Of curiosity
And even peace
Let go
Learn who is my neighbor
On the planet
How might the Earth do better
If we re-trained ourselves
For nature
The greater challenge
To
Like military
Pull back the extremes
To repair
Then prepare
For what’s next
To know
Who is next door
Not to pry
Or lord
Or anything overlording
Or pervasive
To learn each other
As we are
Even the agendas
Learning how to speak
To listen more
And to understand
(lessons in language
might be
the first thing)
Allowing curiosity
To be positive regard
Respect
The better agenda
Knowing which virtues to use
To influence
And which to use to
Be changed by
As we grow
In and with
Those we have relegated to
The other
As an objective distinction
(no such thing)
To render targets
Rather
Than people
Simply put
Do not destroy the world
That’s rather stupid
But put down the guns
(the buttons and the switches)
Find food
And drink
And other fixing things
With which
To approach
Nourish
And give the world
What is the real
Fighting chance
Family Game Night
(we can do it)
No one wins
No one loses
Leave that to
Real games
And remember to embrace
Congratulate
Game-winners
While in the world
We do better
With nothing like a game
At stake
But how we live
Together
Make enough
The base for everyone
Then all we reach for
After that
In other words
Feed everyone
Because
We can do it
(Rosie
says
we can)
Provide everyone
With something safe
To drink
Shelter and the opportunity
For education
Of ourselves
And the world
The unpeated past
The glories in the present
(let science say
amen)
Maybe
Remembering
The God who made
Everything
Is waiting
Withholding Armageddon
‘Til there’s faith
In the outcome
For those who choose
To care
And believe
In the world
And the living
Selves
And neighbors
It’s simply
Really
Embrace good
Eschew evil
Learning the two
More how to build
Rather than
Destroy
It’s easy
Each can prosper
After all are well
In fact
Prosperity
Will grow
While all are fed
And drinked
Have shelter
And the means
For education
Will the problems end
No way
But we’ll have a go
With advancements and
With possibilities
Which is
The world growing
Which is how it was
And how
It should be
By us
Eden
With the walls let down
The best Eden we can make
Yes
For billions
Living well
And each other
Has a chance
To go from there
To growth
To gold
Whatever might seem good
Without extremes
Of anarchy or monarchy
Rule one by one
And by assembly
Which is how
The world’s growing
(at its best)
Anyway
Grow on
Absent Lion
(not that there’s climate change)
Well
Winter’s MidAtlantic
Ended
Seventy
In western parts
So where’s
The lion
Seems not
To have arrived
There’s always
Aslan
For always good
A sign
Of faithfulness
And power
In faithfulness
There are other lions
Some as
Metaphors
Others in fact
Don’t go
To meet upfront
The real ones
For their strength
Is in
Predation
It’s the qualities
And made-up stuff
That make
The lion
Useful
(leave the real ones
out there)
As we can make
The lamb
Render its own qualities
For our own good
And at least
In these parts
Earlier
In March
What’s Blue Is Blue
Maybe this is all
I can do
For now
Write against the blue
Until
The retinas
And other parts can’t take it
Then leave
The machine alone
And even
Wonder
How we do this
All
The time
Go see
The eye doctor
Maybe she
Will know
What is healthy
What is useful
What is
Disciplined
For health and
Productivity
To ease the headaches
And the
Stress
Maybe from blues
Though maybe
I need to play the blues
C L Couch
Photo by Vestfoldmuseene on Unsplash
Manic Monday
(and don’t panic)
God sang
The song into creation
The lion did as much
And our holy words
In works
Imply
We are created
We are that song
Or its interpretation
In darkness
And in light
And the bestowal
Of a garden
With the first object lesson
For the teachers
That the garden
Stands
For something we
No longer have
While we must work
In labor
And in labor
For
What we got
Each era is a lesson
We could say
And maybe they progress
The human ages
Which is why
We say
They’re ages
(we get older)
We grow
Some
We adapt
Physically
Some
Though not as much
As one might think
For as long as we’ve
Been here
And this might not be
So much by us
As by
The touch of God
God knowing
We’ll need adaptive parts
As we go on
(grow on)
What do I know
It’s Monday
And I’m feeling existential
With the blues on electric pages
Making less sense
To me
(than could it be
our music style)
Than paper
With its white
And off-white
Receiving of
Our pen strokes
Painting
With black ink
C L Couch
[note to me and now to us
so what’s this poem about?—it’s about thinking and writing, yes, really about both]
I am having trouble with the blue lights on computers. Or the part of the lights that are blue. Or maybe feeling blue. I think it’s both.
The result is that I’m even more recalcitrant in using this thing. This vital thing. I’ve had to use it for a while then rest my eyes. Rest my eyes upon the rest of the world.
So if I’m worse about responding than is typical (and typically it can be pretty bad), then I’m sorry. But as the emperor said quite uselessly, there it is.
--Christopher
Photo by Marija Zaric on Unsplash
Nous existons. Vraiment.
God Buy Ye
God be with you
‘Til we meet again
As God is with you
Now
Which is to say
With us
And a hope
Therefore
For company
As you go upon the Earth
And through the
Changeable
Sometimes trap-laden
Population
God with you
God with me
If I may say
And certainly with us
Mine
And yours
Better than Mizpah
Certainly
More so
When Moses met the king
With the stone heart
More like near the rock
In fact
Where water
Leaped to save us
Or like Galilee
Where thousands met
To hear
The saving word
God keep you
And us
Even through
Maybe a long time
‘Til
We meet again
C L Couch
God buy ye, a Medieval understanding of salvation (paying a condemnation’s ransom with the coin that was Christ’s life); God be with ye a wish for spiritual company and comfort for a friend; all becomes Goodbye
though ironically I say hello from Pittsburgh where I was brought through cold, some snow to arrive; I get another car here, since mine was totaled (no one hurt except some cars), which is technically the main thing; I get to visit with some family, which is the real thing
hoping your winter days (or summer to the south) are grand,
God be with ye,
Christopher
space ranger God
so many
science-fiction futures
read sad to me
yet
maybe I know
why
because they are nearly
always
God-less
the meaning not mentioned
much less
taking part
in new creations
and inventions
comforting
again
our flaws
but gladdened by
the progress
humans make
it might be hard
to craft
too difficult
in fact
since we must invent
our future
stake our hold on it
come disaster
or a clean and silver form
of paradise
and how to say
there’s God in this
that God
pushed us in the spacecraft
that brought the first
to a new world
we instead
must
try to own
and have such bid for ownership
tested
and tried
by what we find
or whom we find
there
toward a final tempering
of us
that accommodates the cosmos
for the differences
we find
to mesh with them
at last
who we are
perhaps we fear
the role
of God would spoil the story
(the real story
too)
and so we play out
only ourselves
on new
planetary stages
and all the things that fly
between
smallest things
(like mustard seeds)
or
parsec-sized things
God might bide
at the launching pad
or well behind
like farewelling parents
waving kerchiefs
allowing tears
for those who leave
we shall not see
again
though
in fact
God sees
and might see toward the end
of our expansion age
how we have done
and what we’ve done
to be here
there might be
judgment following
of our accounting
then decisions
regarding more dimensions
multi-universes
to encounter
encounter serving as
the theme
maybe the most important theme
in sci-fi
and for all the real findings
it inspires
c l couch
Spaceship Earth
photo by Ronald Yang on Unsplash
Recent Comments