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
I’ll Come for You
I’ll come for you
When
You are sad
And far away
It seems
I'll come for you
When you are lightless
Then
I shall be light
I’ll come for you
Be the sounding noise
When you are quiet
Find you
On my own
I'll come for you
Stay next
To you
Until
You’re ready
I’ll come for you
And be with you
While the world waits
Or goes on
Without us
As it may
We’ll find an entry once
Again
When ready
You might have wounds
They
Should be tended
Let’s take care of
Those
And be brave
About something else
(remembering
there’s
something brave
in saying ouch
for honesty)
I’ll come for you
And when we’re
Ready
We’ll get up
And move
So slowly back
Into an expected
Life this time with more truth
And carrying a salve
In each other
For any
More pain
I'll come for you
C L Couch
Photo by Gilbert Ng on Unsplash
prismatic day
what if racial
were delightful
what if I
delighted
found deep pleasure
meeting you
or passing you
and
exhaling
with deep pleasure
such an
interesting world
I know
I know
this nation
for example
started in
a backward
human way
since owning people
is reverse
of what God wanted
what God made
if only
in Africa and Europe
and then here
we had
I don’t know
let it go the other way
reasonably
let Blacks own whites
upon the block
at auction-time
and in the fallow
fields
needing crops
I know
I know
those made
and make
an even Biblical
argument for ownership
maybe for skin color
too
and white-righteousness
but I think we could
we could
agree
agree
that in the present context
of the way we live
today
today
such major points
made of minor insinuations
are wrong
at least wrong-headed
and frankly
evil
to have practiced
and to practice
now
I don’t know
call me a lover
I have had
my encounters
as have you
if you have
the world is the world
I guess
and we should take it
as it is
but never
never
leave it there
the unjust parts
the evil parts
the sinful
we have long ways to go
long ways
before we like each other
in the meeting of each other
superficially
then there’s the depth
of skin
beneath the skin
to plumb
in our knowing
of each other
there are the other differences
too
that cause disruption
disequality
disliking
so far to hating
ultra-hating
in some parts of us
here and there
(and sometimes there
is huge)
while these are the very things
for liking
for the difference
for how we are
and we contribute
differently
so much a fearful world
and there are fear-mongers
who profit
from the fear
who delight
wickedly
from the control
the very thing that’s good
turned bad
for perception
for agenda
hiding behind
(not underneath)
the skin
also
the skin of things
so much fear
so much fear
and fear turns into hatred
turns into anger
turns into righteous crime
as rationale
for hurting
for robbing
and for stealing
and a plan
an expectation
to get away with it
for righteousness
God
is righteous
we
are not
and in my doctrine
God as Christ
had to die for this
to open up our
pretended righteousness
to life anew
having surrendered that
while in your doctrine
God is also good
and God is
great
or there is no God
and still you wouldn’t justify
the taking
and the killing
for another’s difference
which could
and should
add to yours
meaning there is reason
as well as doctrine
for the liking
of each other
out of
foundational love
in the creation
and the molecules
of everything
which makes love deep
and practical
and liking
at least good for style
and really so much more
for meeting
and transaction
in the world
so shall
we give the world a chance
maybe as is
as well as it should be
colorful
shapeful
a myriad like prisms
in spectrographs
a miracle
perhaps
but a real delight
as in the taste of
good food
and good company
though there is
the matter of need
though there is
the matter of need
and shall we say
that matters
for deliberation
more importantly
for practice
it could make for
a separate economy
if need
here’s an economy for need
here’s the economy
for money
stocks
commodities
and bonds
the need is filled
on its own
with those devoted to that
the rest might be
for profit
as it is
(though I’d prefer
less life-sucking
if not less
murderous)
so that
we have a world
that might drink and eat
have shelter
and the chance for learning
which would make us
better
less war-like
having less need
for war
an argument
for economy
and peace
and the meeting of each other
in better forums
and
to say the least
more promising
you know
I have been sorry
say I’m sorry
every day
and in sorry
there might be change
maybe stepping toward
contrition
repentance
compassion
(then)
and empathy
like listening
like listening
there are skills
to learn
and a world to see
or without seeing
hear
and more than senses
have some feeling
for a world
that is our world
really
without destroying it
our world
c l couch
today begins Black History Month (the inspiration)
photo by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash
let’s say a year
a year
let’s say a year
a year of peace on Earth
to try
then come back
in a year
to talk about
how it went
how it goes
we might learn
say
that war
is bad for the economy
though the bullet-
and missile-
manufacturers
might disagree
we mean learn
that keeping up
our homes
is better
when our homes
are actually
up
we might enjoy
green spaces
beneath unimpeded
blue
or we might
work so very hard
on the other things
that worry
us
(like wool)
and sometimes destroy us
parts of us
all of us
we might make safer airplanes
and what goes
on the road
we might go
on the roads ourselves
to seek a peaceful journey
match the tone
of the time
set down what we
hear and see and smell and taste
and touch
set something down
to share
via the summit
later
we might learn
that we like this state
and that we like
this place
this way
we might go for
another year
or let explode
all things behind the barriers
that could explode
explode
and go to war
in small
destroying ways
like infiltrating
toadstools
or have an armageddon
between nations
letting in
militias
and weaponed gangs
as well
and fight officially
or with a sense
of random
‘til it all be done
except
it’s never done
or
as was said
we could go for
a second year
of peace
and in that time
upbuild
the rest
but for now
how about
a year
let’s go for a year
c l couch
photo by Pascal Bernardon on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
Exiled
x
Oh
God
Shall we have
A good season
Together
The year has started
And now
Another season
x
Intentions
Overlap
You come into the world
And you are here
The Earth tilts
And always
Has
Far as we know
x
Turns
Like a top
A toy to such as you
Though you
Are not a giant god
That way
x
You play
But not with us as
Playthings
Upon the Earth
An unrolled
Plastic battlefield
x
We toy each other
Which is
An eldritch lesson
We came up with
On our own
x
Objectify
‘Til someone doesn’t matter
Like Cain
Like everyone in western Asia
Like anyone who’s different
Over here
x
We need a season
Need the time
But shall we be reborn
With remembrance
Of a real birth
To save the nations
Ransom
Captive Israel
Then all the rest
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Jorge Fernández Salas on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Lean To
x
Tomorrow is the solstice
Light a fire
At least inside
To illuminate
The difference should
We notice
The Earth
Starting to lean
The other way
x
Toward spring
But through the winter
First
At least in this
Our half the sphere
With summer
To the south
Where
Who might also wonder
What we’re doing
Upside-down
x
A fire
To light up
To redefine the shadows
Make them sharper
And more welcoming
For shadow-beings
And the
Shadow parts of us
x
The Earth should turn
All worlds should turn
Since
In turning
There is gravity
And life
And with so many
Moving
Lights
Boundaried by dark
So that both
May show the way
x
Through the seasons
Of the cosmos
Back to our minds
For reasoning
And imagining
Our place
Ringed inside everything
And the part
We cannot contain
Even inside ourselves
Because the abstract
Hook
Containers
With the infinite
For reason
And imagination
x
Rendering all borders
Malleable
If not changeable
The way the seasons
Change
Yet look
To stay the same
x
We are changeable
Unchangeable
Like Earth
And everything we lean on
While it leans
Like an invitation
To try something
Maybe straight
Like equinoxes
Maybe bent
Like the invitation
In the solstices
And all the life
Moving foundation
As it were
For the inventing
Co-creation
Inside
In between
All the round
Seasons
Leaned into
Also
Broken
Wondrously by
New days
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Sarah Tona on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Unthinkable Think Think Unthinkable
x
God help Lewiston
And Israel
And Ukraine
(and more
always more)
Settings for
What we’d like to think
Unthinkable
x
I care about
Don’t care about
The sides
I care about the living
Suffering
About the dead who died
Suffering
x
About the living
Who remain
To bend
In mourning
And those who rise
In fear
x
There is anger
War is angry
I imagine
Shooting someone else
Is angry
x
Anger the mask
For fear
Fear the mask
For sin
Maybe we could sin less
With our devices
And machines
Pick up each other
Donate
Through the screens
And if on site
Somehow
Watch out for each other
Get physically involved
(and also hide
when needed)
to hide)
Which can be dangerous
I know
Though everything
Might be endangered
Now
Or anytime
We do more
To resist the devil
Having released itself
Out of hell
Upon our world
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Napendra Singh on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Sizable Gratitude for Small
x
That’s it
I guess
I have something to share
Maybe kind of usual
For trope
If not cliché
I even mention weather
x
Well
I’m sipping
And I feel kind of easy
I know God is here
And maybe
My near angel
x
The hall is quiet
For a change
Our small humanity
Easy
Too
Or absent
x
I’m breathing easier
Might be the new
Medication
Or-and
The added rest
I got this morning
After waking up
The first time
x
I don’t know
I’m drinking water
When I cough
I hope that’s smart enough
Because I want
To feel grateful
For the smallest
Better changes
In this day
x
coda
x
And
Yes
I know
This is not the day
That others have the day
x
Wounded by so many
Things that wound
x
There’s even terror
Too much
In too many places
Great
Or small
Letting the first page show
The way
x
For our remembrance
Supplication
Specific
Book-driven
Petitioning
To love our neighbors
And ourselves
When either needs a dire prayer
For safety
And for healing
For reckoning
Still decency
Still
In the world
Great or
In spite of intimate abdications
The smaller things we lose
In wider things
x
As some have tried
Aberrantly
To move the world
Another way
In spite of natural paths
Natural gains and losses
We must expect
Along the way
x
Pray for the world
Frankly
Lord
That we snap-to like soldiers
Even minutely
x
Only immediately
Waking up
To start to change
The errors
In certain plans
To raise up
And take care of
Real need instead
x
C L Couch
x
x
x
(x = space)
x
x
Greetings from Earth with All Things Earthly
x
So what’s new
The day is new
It’s re-creation
Isn’t it
x
Some would say
The day’s the day
It’s yesterday’s day
Redone
And nothing new
Same sets of compounds
To have earth and sea
And sky
And we are nothing new
x
But cells are sloughed
There is room for change
There is age
There might be new growth
From where our cells
Land
Like the sower’s seeds
Some on good soil
x
There is a thought
That built on yesterday’s
And does that count
As old or new
x
How shall we measure
Ongoing
Something old
Something new
Something borrowed
Something blue
Here meaning
Blue for calm
Thankful for
The return of sky
x
And as for borrowed
It’s all borrowed
After all
We own our souls
We should own our skins
On Earth
Our thoughts
And our discoveries
To have
To share
x
Should be no fear
Rather with impunity
Or the fear of loss
Unrecompensed
x
So here’s
To a new day
It is founded
It is its own
It is tomorrow realized
It archives yesterday
As for what’s new to argue
Let’s first be
Thankful for the having
Then appreciate the cells
That change
The thoughts that build
That what we thought as next
Is now
x
C L Couch
x
x
Dancers
x
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