2 poems about the will of God
Last Will and Testament
My will
Then yours
I mess things up
Then turn to you
It’s a formula
I guess
Like knowing what I want Scripture to say
Then going to it
Shaking the Magic 8-Ball
Many times
Until it says
What I want it
To say
Doesn’t make much of a God of you
Which is a really stupid way
To think and act
Before a God
But you withhold
It seems
Act in return
With anger that is intimate
And telling
In that way
Though sometimes in the actual storm
That no one saw coming
As a penalty
And sign
Remembering at Last
I’m tired
I want
To write some
More
Without a thing to say
Meaning I want
To write
And have nothing
To say
That God is good
And loves you so much
That God is true
In being real
And being faithful
Perfectly
For you
Well
Out of nothing
That is a great deal
And the great deal about the Lord
Is simply to believe
And that is all
Something called grace
Free and easy
(always free
sometimes not easy)
Does the rest
And we shall meet
Where love has made a place for us
Just outside of Eden
With the angel
This time
Setting down the sword
Letting the fire go
To let us in
C L Couch
Photo by andrew solok on Unsplash
Artist Colony
Do I have
Anything
To share with you
Today
I could
And should remind you
God is love
And also
By the way
That God is true
As nothing else is true
In fact
Is the model
For the truth and
Trueness
That we try
And truth builds justice
Out of reason
And humility
The better things
That we have going
Not being
God
But being made
And image-like
(dark glass
you know)
We are models
With gifts
And what shall we give
Out of our giftedness
Our making
Now we make
And our
Giving matters
So much to
Each other
And also
More than we think on it
To God
So make
Co-make
And give
Even as the world
And circumstance allow
For God is love
And we are love
In this
We are the best we are
On the best Earth there is
Care
And health
And contribution
Shall keep us in
Our giving
And receiving
To take
Care
Be healthy
Let others help
(remember crafting tables)
Be love
While giving love
And
Who knows
Truth and justice might
Will out
In love
C L Couch
Photo by Tom Parsons on Unsplash
A photo that speaks for itself.
[photographer’s caption]
At first, I thought this was Washington, D.C. But it isn’t. But I suppose it could be anywhere, with or without an impressive building in the background.
[my caption]
London, United Kingdom
a liturgy of us
(and smaller things)
exhale
think of something
of the spirit
now
what would that be
the green outside
perhaps
the blue that sponsors
all the green
the gold
the kind we cannot see
that might be
illumination
well-defined
but then
how well others know
there are other
senses
to be saved
and that save us
from
time to time
what do we hear
what do we
smell
and taste
and what are we touching
now
well
flat surfaces of gray
that smell
and (thankfully) taste
of nothing
though
there is
a tapping
we might hear
as above our chamber door
should there be a raven
perching like
the poet’s
trickster
maybe we smell the coffee
that we haven’t made
or the shower
we have yet
to take
(we break for both)
and now
we are back
with
coffee
to taste
water having touched us
and is this
the investment
of the spirit
that made everything
in six
days
as eras
though let’s not forget
there’s a seventh day for
rest
and maybe there’s mélange
a compromise
most days
in which we rise
from tries
at rest
at least
and then invest ourselves
in small things
call them readiness
and chores
and so we live
you know
as best we may
enormous things
to take
smally
and so ingest
as best we may
the cosmos
in our coffee
heaven
for Earth
as best we may
c l couch
photo by Florian Hahn on Unsplash
A Little Prophecy for Friday
(any day—and I hope it’s good for you)
When everyone had
Gathered
In whatever room
Maybe
A second-story place
When he appeared
The first thing Jesus said was
“Peace”
A signal for the resurrection
Maybe
That now a time of resolution is
At hand
That reconciliation is
The way of things
And that
of course
Is what has happened
In that
The way of Earth has changed
Or
Rather it is on its way toward
Being finished
And peace is the new order
Any victory
Through peace
Peaceful understanding
Peaceful
Action
We may announce
Maybe in a Pentecost-al way
(with red
balloons and
such
all environmentally
worked
out)
That a new order is at hand
That
Sorry
Isn’t new
(no merchandising
on it)
The joy that was in Genesis
Unending
Without flaw
Is at hand
And all for us
And God
And God with us
And if the cosmos has
Fallen
With us
Then
All material
And who knows
Maybe issues
Will have their first
Finality
As well
C L Couch
John 20:19
Photo by Ronald Cuyan on Unsplash
Gospel according to for good or ill ourselves
a summer’s day
what is there for us
now
it is too hot
the rain too helter-skelter
flood or famine
for the ground
the seeds
the shoots
the corn that reaches
in both ways
we are
uncomfortable
the heat
too much
the night whose only solace
is the dark
but not cool temperatures
that are not
happening
hottest on record
set the year before
the year
before
and thank goodness
there’s no climate change
and that it has
(thereby)
nothing to do with us
we’ll keep
burning things
beyond what is
suitable
for Earth
sending ersatz smoke into the sky
and the chemical equivalents
dump in water
chemicals aren’t evil
as we know
they have no moral value
as we know
we do this on our own
discover poison
then we use it
to make products
to make money
for the products
and the jobs
that making all the poison
does provide
we need the jobs
we know this
we could
do something else
I mean both
searchers and
providers
we could
do something else
for Earth
and on our way to other worlds
we could launch
in all directions
a fleet of possibilities
against the poison
in favor or
the sanctity of everything
organic
and how about
ourselves
bless the Earth
and pray for it
we humans can
and ask the help of heaven
should that be
our wont
and bless each other
too
as far as humans may
without the sponsorship
indeed the surrogacy
from the Lord
who blesses first
and blest
and should bless or curse
our efforts
as they are
and
(Quijote)
as they should be
it isn’t hard
and it’s hard
goodness
we know it’s hard
to change a world
and severer
in a subatomic way
to change ourselves
the knights are out
(they’re Artemis
and Ares)
while corsairs with full sails
assail the edge of us
while we are sieged
from monsters in the hall
that came
from deeper parts
the deepest parts
of us
yet deeper still
there are solutions
like a treasure
to unearth
and bring to the Earth
starting with the skin
of us
and all our will beneath
new will
(if we will)
not
to recall the knights
but let them quest beyond
to share
their discoveries
there
while we hobbit-heroes
have our work
to do
and bless the work
in turn
O Earth
and Earth’s lord
that has been waiting for us
blessing only in small ways
while waiting for
the rise
of each of us
our families
and the world of us
quietly
yet firmly to say
we know at last
whose house this is
and whom
to serve
which is
the layers of creation
so serve the core
the mantle
and the surface
all the water
all the land
all the creeping
and the soaring things
that we may use
(with water
land
and air)
with apology
(both kinds)
in order to explain
excuse
and also
to define
and thrive
the Earth
is not one
and doesn’t have to be
so many parts
to allow
expressed
yet from the outside
(and the inside
on occasion)
see compressed
as of a jewel
in and of
the cosmos
joining with other lights
both
light and dark
that make the sky
and give us all we need
to dance
beneath
c l couch
photo by Man from Forest on Unsplash
Birch Grove on a Summer Day
the tree
the tree of knowledge
was left there
in Eden
behind the angel
with the sword
now
does all this
seem fair
for what we paid
and all the consequences
promises
of pain
by the way
should we have access
to the tree
or given a seed
to take
to plant between the rivers
where we had to
grow the other things
to live
maybe we could have learned
more
with more servings
or at least
one more bite
if that’s all there was
(and if so
such punishments
for such a single
bite
two bites between our
mother
and our father)
does the tree
with Eden
stand there
still
is it like
the one we’ll meet
in
New Jerusalem
if here
it would be
the first and final
treasure
maybe a good thing
sigh
that as with the garden
in entirety
we don’t know what happened
where it
is
how we might have it
maybe enjoy it
later on
c l couch
Genesis 2:17
photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash
A Psalm of Species Complaint
Up high
Down low
We
Freeze
We burn
Our efforts
Rise
And useless
Fall
Or stay down
To
Begin with
An idea
On the table
That might be forthright
But politics
As we
Know
Politics
Destroys
Where is the comfort
Cooling
Warming
Fit for seasons
Which
In time
Or place
On
Earth
Inspires
There is
Something about
Grass
Withering
Though really
It is us
Our synapses
Our growth
Our
Faith inside
And for each other
To give a world
A chance
An opening
Into
The crying needs
The cosmos
Can take in
(when we hear)
And
Why not
Us
Forgive
Inspire
Fund
Allow
Take part
In what comes after
Consider
Now
Of whom
To ask all
This
C L Couch
Isaiah 40:8
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Loss Is Great
(a fantasy)
1
Loss is great
So in loss
Like a song
I wander
And
I wonder
I’m sure the loss in heaven
Was felt greatly
More so
Maybe
Than the war that followed
That goes on
Still
Perhaps
What do we know
Of time and strategy
Among
Timeless
(and all-strategic)
Beings
Will it be over
When
Revelation says so
And how much is this war
Our war
It seems
For lack of orders
We do not fight
In this
And yet
Something like effects
Are always with us in
Mortality
That is
Temptation
Even falls
Great falls
Some of us
Take
And how much influence
How much willfulness
Decided
How much
Or all
Of it
Person or demon
Devil
Behind it all
Deceiving
That seems to be its job
So is the war all
Around us
Because
I don’t think we’re training
For it
I don’t think we’re supposed to be
Fighting
In it
Meaning
I mean
How could we
2
Orders
Above
Has me thinking
Order
Then orderly
(the noun more than
the adverb)
And might I serve as
An orderly
Behind
The line
Fixing
(helping to fix)
Wounded angels
Why
That would be
Wonderful service
Yes
The wonder
In the angels
But the wonder in
The service
For I could not fight for lack
Of wings
Or blades
Or
You know
An unlimited kind of strength
Yet
I could serve this way
To fix the angels
Then with trench-deep regret
Know
They return
And should a demon
Hurt
Come to the table
Then we fix it
Too
Because in love
There can be no other
Craft
No other option
To apply
Though
When repaired
It
Too
Returns
Maybe tries to hurt us
As it begins
I don’t know what protections
Might be
Afforded orderlies
From Earth
(or moon or Mars
depending on the length
of battle)
Maybe no succor
Whatsoever
Since
Triage
Would be for
Celestial soldiers
Of all orders
First
And there’s the word
Orders again
And maybe I wake up
To hear the cry
Or is it
Near my ear
The mourning dove
Through
Glass
And I wake
To mortal pain’s
Return
C L Couch
(one allusion is to “I Wander as I Wonder,” a song by John Jacob Niles)
Photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash
Truer than Stone Is True
(our flesh-and-spirit undertaking)
God of the moment
Of the now
That’s
Split so small
It might
Take an infinity
To
Undertake
Let alone
To explain
To each
And all
Ready
And unready
Though it seems
That
We get what we get
Passages
For understanding
A world to get
To know
With everyone outside
To help us
Good or ill
To know
And maybe we have hope
When we have hope
(even before)
Which is
That small
Thing
In the box
Left over after evils
Have escaped
Too easily
Allowed
To flash
To make themselves
Seen
And heard
Then offering a taste
Of something
That is ash
Or brimstone
When
Frankly
Revealed
While there are other stories
And our senses
For us
Of reality
Of those with strength
And faith to move
Beyond
Uncertainty
To undertake the tasks
Of earth and air
To nourish everything
With water
And more
For encouragement
For growth ourselves
In strength
Of understanding
Toward
Accountability
Even
A generation’s worth
The heroes
Of the small
Even minutiae
Who are ranked in heaven
Among
Those only statued
For a time
On the mortal
Planet
But those remembered there
Without such things
And yet
Deserving more
Shall have it
(though
simplicity
will do
fine)
Once awakened
And brought through
The gate
To something better
Than Valhalla
No more waiting
But
The hero
One by one
And all
Together
(yes
like D’Artagnan
or better
for reality
Jeanne d’Arc
or
Hildegard)
To know here
And to be known
And
Do I say
Therefore think small
And keep one’s
Spirit there
Though small
Is relative
In that
The atom’s
Small to crack
And then
Behold
More than we can manage
Safely
What’s
Small
Worthy
(more
artifact
or talisman)
Might be
Inside the house
Or in one’s head or
In
Another’s heart
And shall we love the one
And help the one
(be helped)
Then help the other
Which is also
Love
Applying wisdom
Of the ages
(so to say)
Or an insight
Fresh
Arrived
Synaptically
From the good angels
On our shoulders
(also to
say
and most likely
from
cartoons)
Jokes
Impractical
Remembering humor
Is what
Saves the world
Too
Starting with the nation
Of a few
Laugh at the devil
And do not mock each other
But
Laugh between ourselves
And in the room
Because
There might be
Needed
Even healing
Health
In that
Then remember whom
We love
And whom we serve
In
No order
Frankly
Self
The other whom we love
The stranger we don’t know
Yet may
Pray for and give to
When time and means
And faith
Call out
With
The God of all
Quite simply
With each one
Has made
Like
Clay
To shape
And has grown
Like crops
From
Seed
And bring to heaven
As on
The best journey
If so difficult
To
Undertake
Yet worthy of
The first
Step
The second
With companionship
Even unaware
But up to us
To keep the series
Going
Toward
The edge
Of what
We have ever known
And then
Quite frankly
The next
Step
Much easier
(if unknown)
Of
The journey on
C L Couch
Photo by TEAcreativelife │ Soo Chung on Unsplash
I had tea with a monk in Seoul, South Korea.
[photographer’s caption]
Jogyesa Temple, Gyeonji-dong, Seoul
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