we are grateful for
what we have and what we use
true the First People
c l couch
photo by Kevin Crosby on Unsplash
Bear Lodge, mistranslated as Devil’s Tower
(x = space)
x
x
machine time
x
repeating numbers
for today
ones and twos
the sun is shining
angled beneath
clouds
mist that has risen
and such
above it could be blue
and then the black of space
with all our trash
and earnest vehicles
in orbit
x
look down
and there’s the floor
to the left
is cooling coffee
right in front
is this machine
with a screen that challenges
endurance
still so much easier to use
than typing through
a master’s degree
on Olympia, Corona,
and my sanity
x
remember paper?
that’s what we used
for turning in assignments
before the imposition
of electrons
paper, sticky stamps
other adhesives
it was a world, then,
that we could touch and hold
and know we’ve used
x
c l couch
x
x
photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash
x
Word Up
There was no red phone
I learned that recently
Khrushchev and Kennedy used a teletype
To stand up over Cuba, negotiate
Through hardheadedness
A cold war
Now they might text
Or tweet if
Saints won’t abey their thumbs
There’s meeting face to face
And I guess the telephone might do
But we need direct communication
I learned this in school
How about you
Nothing like talking
Or writing with intent and art
Don’t worry
I never perfected either
And tire way too easily these days
From trying
But the message
The message
Still exists in words
That must be shared
From time to time
With care’s articulation
Call it ceremony
Call it ritual
Call it marriage day to day
Or the energy of friendship
Yes at the game, at work,
At home
Keep talking
Use words
In your better way
Sometimes, that’s all we got
C L Couch
By Vmenkov – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2910085
A pair of Laughing Doves sit on the electric (or telephone?) wires in Milyanfan village, in Kyrgyzstan’s Chuy Valley.
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