on reading a passage from Madeleine L’Engle’s journals
there is the moment
when
the medal has been shot
that had been
placed in the V of the trunk
of a tree
out in the country
at the place where they stayed
and how outraged
the narration
turned
toward that phantom crime
become a waking travesty
and
my wondering on reading
if too much were being
made
and in time to wonder
were it enough
because I’m thinking now if each
took to small destruction
in this way
then
there should be a movement
to take domestic and then global interest in
anything that should
remain
whole
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The Crosswicks Journals
photo by Mantas Sinkevičius on Unsplash
divinity just now
Minnesota
Ukraine
Gaza
Yemen
Venezuela
Tibet
Myanmar
these are where the people die
plus we know
all
the places with more occasional violence
states through all
of
lifetime dissolutions
one or one or by a thousand
or a
million
how do we justify
how does
someone rationalize annihilation if by
cause
cessation of life by will not of
the owner and
who
by
crime or murderous politics is uncounted
undeserving
and who is pro-life
pro-choice
who
loves what’s organic and complexly so
with
names and acknowledged spirits
or do some in horror
deign
that the lives of those we declare righteous to kill
are
somehow less than us
and our agents
though disrespect is for the agents
too
and how they’re ordered to
disrespect the lives
the soul
of anyone
tragic places
and the Earth is splitting over crises
not
that God does not allow
humanity and nature
to show
each other
teach each other
how
to turn
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photo by Dave Hoefler on Unsplash
Burning Down the House [photographer’s title]
ours
it’s my world
though the wars are far away
I could complain about war-chemicals
in the atmosphere
and more exigently about
war’s cost of life
the sad and tragic loss of life
by artificial means
those who had been alive
the moment before
and who am I but an Israeli
I am from Ukraine also
and of the Palestinians
Lebanese and Egyptians
Iraq
and Iran
and Russia
knowing some fine people there
I am of all despot states
especially the ones who say they’re not
I am of Earth
and so are you
and so means of destruction
hit at the statues of our lives and states
destroys us
piece by piece
one oppressive act by the next
whatever takes out freedom
will
and life
hours
exchange
one deadly volley
then another back or
somewhere else
maybe
toward allied
then the arcs overlap
and collapse
order
of things
and then we say it’s over
‘cause we say
and then ceasefire’s broken
and
who is left
respecting whom
worse than chaos is
the void
we shouldn’t move toward such
things
such lack of shape and substance
and the life itself
one life by one
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photo by mauro mora on Unsplash
breaking the accord
global nuclear restraints
new escalation
IDF strikes Iran
Iran strikes back and that’s war
long suffer the age
civilians live
or live not seemingly random
injudicious thief
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I don't know by tradition about haiku being topical. But I've wanted to work at the form once a week, and I can't help but think and feel about what's happening on Earth. And elsewhere, when it's elsewhere. I mean for the haiku to stand alone, though clearly I think they're also related.
photo by Anzhela Bets on Unsplash
The building of a cinema and youth center in Chernihiv, Ukraine that was destroyed by an aerial bomb in March 2022 .
Strikes
Only
Military targets
And is there such a way
A war in one’s land
Won’t
Only affect
Military forces and machines
Yet even
So
Military means soldiers
And support
Meaning people
While an oath to serve is fine
(and it is)
To serve
Defend
And if need be die
The oath or service doesn’t
Detract from
The reality and worth of
Soldiers and support
War might be metal
Regarding two or more it could
Go nuclear
Though
Mainly
War is human
That’s it
C L Couch
What Were the Targets India Says It Destroyed in Pakistan?
by Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/what-were-targets-india-destroyed-its-strikes-pakistan-2025-05-07/
Photo by imad Clicks on Unsplash
Srinagar, Kashmir On Dal Lake
poppies for soldiers
fields of poppies
fields of gravestones
all traditions
and maybe
nonbelief
should leave a blank stone
with name and
service
on an even shape
I wish that poppies were
non-soporific
although
I guess the sleep effect
is good
in what the poppies mean
for
those who sleep beneath
the flowers
and the stones
and those who sleep elsewhere
for the same reason
after service
after sacrifice
should sleep
each
should sleep
until the final call
that would be
a gentle and firm word to say
wake now
you’re well
and all
now
shall be well
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photo by Laura M Goodsell on Unsplash
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
(from) “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae
Binary Opposition
‘Levendy-‘leven
A children’s number
Yet
Everything too grown-up
Was waiting
For the papers on the tables
To be signed to
End
The awful
Too grown-up
Thing
Eleven eleven
Eleven eleven
And then
The terrible ritual
Was done and we could say
The war
Is over
Over there
Over here
The horror
Of a heart of darkness
Goes back under for
A season
Inside the shell of all the mortals
And the devils
Who let the horror out for
Four years
And now
To reckon all such times
And all such people
Knowing also
Innocent
To serve
Knowing by country
And by honor
And that was nearly all
Except
The names that each one
Might have known
To bear inside the pockets
And the packs
Before
Each battle
And on the field
After
Until games
As in the most harrowing
Of contests
Call
In-free
Come to base
The dark is on
Go home
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Photo by Georgi Kalaydzhiev on Unsplash
Sometimes a Celestial View Required
Sometimes it’s as simple
As it’s wonderful
Lord made us
And Lord loves us
It might not seem that way
In hospitals
Especially in cancer wards
Burn wards
Terminal compartments
But there
Is love
It’s in these places
In the prayers
And in the spirits
That are struggling all
Around
Where angels
Set themselves as well
To listen
Watch
And weep
On assignment
Forsaken
Never
By the ones
Remaining
(and that’s most
of them)
On our side
A war in heaven
Wars on Earth
Extant
Allowed
By a God who loves so much
To keep us on our own
Even though there could be
Cosmic automation
And so there are
The sides
The wings of war that
Transitory fly
Sinless disease
Conditions
Damage
And those fighting all around
For health
Finally
For all the foes
Of war
Of what we cause each other
And
Disease
By what happens
For a reason
Or by anyway
Keep going at it
Kid
Keep going for the healing
And all you
With the kid
In the battle
All the battles
On
After
The battlefields
Stay with
Us
Keep us going toward
All the health available
On this
Side
You know
And
Yes
Perfectly
The other
C L Couch
Photo by Bernd 📷 Dittrich on Unsplash
we know they’re there
A Plain and Fancy War
I’ve made
Notations
On the weather
Even risking
A mood
Based on the same
While all the hundreds
Are new victims
Anywhere there’s war
Or war
On deck
As if to step up to
The devil’s plate
In a game against a team
From hell
And this is stupid
Reasoning
So far
Foolish metaphors
Of weather
And of games
While in the east of east
From here
And west in Asia
So much is brewing
Like
The witch’s
Stew
That at this time
Is also fanciful
All because
I do not want
To face
With my face
And what's behind it
The real death
The ghost of war
(un-
metaphor)
Come
To haunt again
And everything
That schemes with it
Famine
Hopelessness
Annihilation
Of the body
And the spirit
To win more souls
For hell
Though for now
It’s destruction
Literal
Destruction
That matters most
And
Yes
The devil’s work
In strategies
And I can’t keep from this
I guess
The rhetoric
The discourse
When we have no mouths
And if we had
What we would have said
Gone ignored
And then frankly
Horribly
Set
To detonate
And then
Explode
The tangling
Of war
The limbs
The lies
That both must soar
In gruesome pieces
Through the battlefield
Certainly before
And after
Without doubt
When
Generals and presidents
Defend
Without forfending
And this is one place
And there is more
In more
Places
With all the consequences
To the body
As we say
And the soul
Cliché for closeness
And the truth of things
We must have one
And have
The other
Losing one
Or both
A battle
On the plains
Or any parts of middle Earth
With all the forces
Human and human-like
Divine and like divine
Assembled
Frankly
Like Megiddo
And now
To consider
What shall happen
C L Couch
Photo by Zihao Wang on Unsplash
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