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The Real Thing

(x = space)

x

x

The Real Thing

x

I am not in the war

Except

With my mind and heart

My contributions

Here and there

Not for a winner

But for everything

To cease

While there are citizens

And innocence

To count

x

I can’t imagine an explosion

(over me

and I am done)

Next to me

So that I live

But everything is changed

x

For what

And whom I’ve lost

All basic things

And anything

Refined

x

A world that’s there

Even to know

The risks in temporality

And to persist

Then what I know

Is gone

And I am hurt

My body

And my mind

x

I might get fixed

But something will not mend

Something broken

That the screws

And prayers

Cannot reward

With success

x

Some part of me

Who wonders now

A beggar on the plane

Of dreams

And real hours

When I dance

With hate

And seeming

Justification

x

For it all

To have happened

And it’s happened

So that

There’s an end

Before the end

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Jeff Kingma on Unsplash

x

3

nether campaigning

(x = space)

x

x

nether campaigning

x

the demon

knows a gun

or a Bible

and what shape

a trench might take

and the cosmic trouble

when a soul is gone

then how to argue

for salvation

of the other

the wide pathway

into hell

x

demon thwarted

demon satisfied

a report for

adversaries

smallest of decrees

ringing through

one judgment

or the other

x

two kinds of howls

for outcomes

two kinds of retributions

for the work

in afterlife

after a soul is counted

one way

or the other

x

they lose

you know

the demons

finally

they have contracted

signing by descent

to grasp for

less and less

until after last battles

when the aftermath

is simply

nothing

x

c l couch

x

x

one might read The Great Divorce or Revelation 22 of the Christian testament

x

photo by Jani Kaasinen on Unsplash

x

1

The USA President in Israel

(x = space)

x

x

The USA President in Israel

x

The President speaks in Israel,

There’s something popping with

Small flames

Outside the embassy;

He speaks mostly in support of Israel

Though he speaks to

Civil and civilian losses

On both sides,

All sides

x

Because there are sides

Having removed from each other

Because

There is a war

x

Hamas should not have done what it did

To start;

That was sinful

And stupid:

It was followed by

The deaths of many citizens

Around Hamas

(I mean geographically

and also

dis-strategically),

The destruction of homes

In Gaza,

Hospitals

And so many lives together

And the lives alone

x

The Israelis

Suffered

First,

Others underneath

Or beside

The missiles

And the bombs,

All the bullets fired;

And Israel responds with wrath

x

Hamas keeps fighting,

There is a war

x

Are there promised weapons

For Hamas?

Promised philosophy?

The codes–

The Jewish, Muslim–

Say

To love the neighbor,

Welcome the stranger,

Understand that creation

Is an act of love

x

The greatest power

Behind success of nations

As it is behind

The cosmos

And the reason

For the cosmos

x

On the devil’s table,

Looking one way or the other,

Is now a bullet-point,

A mark

For thoughts and plans

Of genocide

Believing that

We get rid

Of a people

Then all shall be well

x

And so the fighting

In this hellish hope

And demons’ cause;

They cheer infernally

x

It’s people

Not agendas

Killed:

The abstract, ersatz

Notions remain

Weaving a web

And also caught up in it,

An ouroboros

That consumes itself

To add a symbol

To the metaphor

x

We have nowhere else to go

Said Golda Meir to

Senator Biden

Some years ago,

And it is true

And also true

In fact and spirit

For many Palestinians

x

Both of us are there,

Both are home

x

How could diasporas

Be on the table, too?

x

What Hamas did

Was stupid

And sinful

Warfare on a quietish,

Tense day

Like any other there

And now there are fronts

Fighting also on mixed lines

With and beside the plans

x

People

Ununiformed

And uniformed

Suffering the most

On all sides

Of the weapons

x

There shall be an end,

Cessations maybe

Then the end

And what then shall happen?

Who shall win?

We think there shall be a winner

And with reason

But crazy to believe

Anything shall be resolved

For good

(for good)

In victory

x

The losers shall be punished

And might be promised

Through back doors

Into dark rooms

That nothing is over

When there shall be new campaigns

From promises

x

Cessation might

Overlay a mask of peace

That for relief

Might be suitable

For a while

x

I’m sorry,

I’m afraid,

We are afraid

Victimized by terror and by war

Who pray

Who petition for

Practical peace

x

Out of love that is not sweetness,

Well,

Is sweetness

But wears a skin of wounds

With scars

Still persists

Far more real than

We tend to think

Instead

Of worldly power

x

Please come to the right

Even righteous table

x

End the war

With tense

Satisfaction

Then go for peace for real

On this side of everyone’s

Parousial paradise

Ungained

Maybe blasted,

Might be apocalypsed

But not yet lost

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by ritesh singh on Unsplash

x

1

Blameworthy

(x = space)

x

x

Blameworthy

x

I can blame

I’ll take the side of Israel

Though this time ‘round

There were other people there

When they returned

Like the Canaanites

I suppose

From Bible school

x

And shall I blame

Hope for trumpets

Toppling Jericho

And fire from breaking urns

Surrounding Midia

x

Is it possible

To weep for land

For everyone on land

To have a home

x

I rent mine

It isn’t nice

But there are no explosions here

Unless the furnace blows

Or there’s a plane

Falling

Whose engine is the last thing

I shall hear

x

Meaning everywhere is delicate

I suppose

Everywhere is fragile Earth

With fragile people on it

Fragile war

That tears apart

The fabric of two people

Rent for love

Sometimes

Or satisfaction

Or in the ritual triumph

Of human judgment

x

But lives are torn

The limbs

Muscles

And bones

Organs shut down

Or live ones acting

To help the others

Shot

Or shrapneled

Or the everything

Atomized

Near the missile’s

Falling

Landing

x

I am frightened

So are you

War does not

In fact

Breed confidence

Fire a gun

Wish it were over

Launch a missile

Hoping that the war will end

With that

x

Our fluid thoughts

And justifications

But there’s real loss

To square

And for now

In this

Is anyone

Considering

At least the people

On all sides

Who want to live

And now

(700, 500)

Have had that robbed

Of them

x

Russia inspires

Perhaps

With current policies

That have led

To so many dying

Destroyed on either side

(worse in Ukraine)

And there

Are other nations

Backing

Sides

x

Our Congress is included

And the people

In our churches

In the streets

Who have a reason

To protest

And pinch

The politicians forward

x

And are there strings

Is there a puppet-master

I don’t know

I want it over

Punishing Hamas

And leaving people

Real people

To stanch the blood

Clean up the streets

Rebuild interiors

x

And somehow

Live together

And have life

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Pierry Oliveira on Unsplash

x

Live: ‘No electricity, no food, no water’: Israel orders ‘complete siege’ of Gaza

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday ordered a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip, blocking the entry of food and fuel into the enclave and cutting the electricity and water supply. The death toll from the conflict between Israel and Hamas rose to more than 1,200, including around 700 people killed in Israel and nearly 500 in Gaza. Follow our liveblog for all the latest developments. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).

Issued on: 09/10/2023 – 04:41Modified: 09/10/2023 – 15:03

17 min

France 24

9:09 a.m. EDT

x

1

Wars that Cannot End All Wars

(x = space)

x

x

Wars that Cannot End All Wars

(on D-Day citing Second, other wars)

x

I can’t imagine

All the dead and dying on

That day

I won’t see or hear

Private Ryan

(or

by the way

Titanic)

I’ve known some injury and

Death

From crashes and

From cancer

The

Suicides

By people I have known

x

Sardined into a craft and then

The craft

By planes above

Or guns on shore

Explodes

On its way

To shore

Or those who leave

The boats

And are cut down

Unused guns

Held

Grenades

At hand

x

By the numbers the

Campaign

Was successful

In that the Allies

Overwhelmed the beaches

Finally

Finally

The parts once come together

A hold by hand

As far as

The living and the dead can

Hold

A military grasp

On the edge of Europe

x

A return

As when

MacArthur would return

An axis away

To the Philippines

x

Military plans

And executions

When it’s

Time

We go

x

Citizen expectations

Change

The accepted loss

In Desert Storm

Was zero

(under two

hundred

died)

Though we lingered

In Afghanistan through

Presidents

The war on terror

By the numbers

And at home

x

These were their homes

The beaches

On into

Farms and towns

War anymore

Is always a home

Matter

Your home

Or mine

x

Imagine that

And live it in

Ukraine

And all the burning places

That could be called

Without PR

Sites

Homes

For war

x

Trenches

Chlorine gas

Same place

Years before

That is

France

Greater numbers next

Nuclear

Numbers

In Japan

Winning

Losing

Graves attest

x

Mostly

We try

Nowadays

To keep all of it conventional

Though there are strategies

And plans

That

We must hope

Stay shelved

Recalling

Greater victory is peace

Living on

These same places

This

Same planet

After

x

C L Couch

x

x

6 June 1944

x

as soon as I realized the date there was a Western (admittedly) instinctive resonance—that something enormous, consequential happened on this date when it was a day a long time ago

x

Photo by Eric HOARAU on Unsplash

Le Tréport, France

x

0

Waiting for the War to End

(x = space)

x

x

Waiting for the War to End

(words I heard offered rhetorically in a sermon)

x

Who goes today?

Who’s gotten

Sick?

Will there be meals?

Will there be

Water

To rely on?

x

How much less?

How many

Lost?

Only questions

In the catechetic style

Absent

Of answers

What is said

Depending, not depending

On a side

A leadership

Misleading

x

How long?

The first day when

Everything blew apart

Making

Normalcy

Seem paradisal

Now

x

When is the end,

The end we

Have,

Because we’re still

Here?

For those who have electric,

Normalcy is

Elsewhere

Where we can watch it

Hear it

Happening

Without explosions

News

Of explosions

Near

x

We’d be envious

Were we not preoccupied with

Terror

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Marc Szeglat on Unsplash

x

0

Don’t Remove This Label

(x = space)

x

x

Don’t Remove This Label

x

I don’t want to reason

Only secularly

But I look where I am

And listen

x

In a long room

Whose beauty is beneath

Because the skin and other features

Are so poorly cared for

x

Which is to say

It’s old and could be good

But isn’t good

x

The noise of the world

Breaks in from above

And neither rule

Nor rent

Is cared about

x

Outside is a cold and pleasant day

At least to see

I see too much

And need to invoke

The other senses so much more

x

Drivers misbehave outside

Sometimes pedestrians

Though the thing about the outside noise

Is that it moves on

x

And I know

There are fires

That burn acreage

In a wild and awful way

And those who fight these flames

Are often hurt

And much is lost

Famously

In fires

x

And there is war I do not understand

And thank you I don’t want to

I’m sorry

But a bomb

Blasting away everything I know

And cuts away at me

By foes’ intent

I would be crazed

In every way

And to know the agency was human

Without randomness

For an agenda

x

And I know that states are falling

While brave people

Stand against

The evil reasons

And the power that, created good,

Is now corrupted

And maybe has been

For a while

But in a den bares now

Its blooded teeth

Behind a guard

That operates somehow

To keep the good ones from approaching

x

And I say it thus

With distance

Not that local evil

Hasn’t worked its way

Maybe the world

Learning of democracy

Is ruled by princes

After all

x

I simply want a quiet day

And promise of another

I want boredom

To be my awful challenge

And in this way I’ll try

To address the rest

I really will

From here

And now

x

You may decide what I am or

Most of you

Ignore me

And why not

Ignoring what

We need

To keep our naïve brand

In place

Like the labels on the furnishings

We do not tear off

Even though I doubt

The wars

Should care

x

I care

Not about that

But decades into this

I care

You might care as well

And more than me

Knowing better what to protest

What to fight for

x

Not to mention

I would rather be

Which makes everything more difficult

With you

Attached

Rather than against you

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Thomas Dumortier on Unsplash

x

0

Toll

(x = space)

x

x

Toll

x

I started to write

Because it was twelve thousand

Now it’s more than twenty

There would be little left

Of my small town

Which is considering

The numbers only

Imagine people

I don’t want to

Imagine myself there

Would be easier

Because I would be doing something

And it would be awful

And my life would break

Like the earth

Beneath the nations

That might come back

Or we will fill it

Not with the dead

But with material

For building and for living

Apologies from government are fine

Maybe we could stop the war

Among the factions

And the other wars

In the region

To reassemble

Reknit the people

Not as Babel

Fallen

But as the New Jerusalem

A promise

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Jazmin Quaynor on Unsplash

x

0

devotional rant

(x = space)

x

x

devotional rant

x

i hear the cat upstairs

my brother dies from cancer

floods kill people

in the South

the Russian war goes on

and there are fires elsewhere

made by us

weapons

and-or

mania

x

there must be reasons for these

and there are

that might be the easy part

will

and stakes for will

this is not for training

this is real

i should say

i don’t know

how all this might apply

to what’s next

what’s coming

x

for now

the harder part

is having what we have

and turning victory

from unshapen shapes

of loss

the lathe of heaven

she writes,

refining all that’s here

x

and yet outside the story

(the story teaches)

we have

what we have

and must make do

and should do better

we should win

not over each other

but over demons

on the earth,

ones that are

ones we make

x

we know better

our skill is better

we can help each other

so much better

some do

the rest ought

to do

x

we have the instruments

play on

war on

peace on

x

c l couch

x

x

note

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin

x

Photo by Austrian National Library on Unsplash

x

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