church gone
as in I went
to church today
was
driving
and
drove in because I know
the church is pretty
and probably
for something
more
saw cars pull and people going
inside
so I went in
as well
hoping I could
I don’t know
make my way by gestures
forgotten
words
half-remembered
but
worship
anyway
the church was lit as much by
morning light
I think
a stark shadow rendering
in silhouette
the gigantic cross of
Jesus
I listened to the homily
about the special
day
today
of guardian angels
of angels
everywhere
I’m sure
we gently waved to each other
maybe
a legacy of the pandemic
and we smiled
I did not take part in
the Eucharist feast
since
it was twenty years or more since
confession
(I
don’t
think I would have been caught
out)
we left
I left
got in the car
resuming my drive
more
or less
to nowhere
into a world that matters
where
and when
(yesterday)
my
niece is
sick with cancer
c l couch
photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
Unlikely Sabbath
(a kind of call to worship)
We
Understand
Misunderstand
(together)
The sabbath
As a time to go to church
To pray
Officially
For things we might remember
Afterward
Then be free of all of it
For food
For games
For preparing all the real time
To follow
The next day
Or
Instantly
As we might be driven
Driving
That is
Ourselves
But is the sabbath more than services
And really
Was it ever
Well
Ancient reminders
I suppose
The priests to the people
Saying
Or as if to say
By the tent
Then by the temple
In here is the
Holy of holies
Don’t forget it
Don’t forget
Our dedication
So
What is the sabbath
We might
Wonder
Being first
A seventh day
Created
A day for God to rest
And so
A model for
Ourselves
Modeled after God
After all
And so
First week
Completed
And so
Laid out for us
Six days of creating
Then a day
This day
To keep it holy
As in set apart
For
A spiritual reason
Like the fruits of
Field and vine
Set apart
For spiritual
Remembrance
And
I don’t know what
To say
Anymore
Except that it was
Said
Thank goodness not by me
To remember
As in have
The sabbath
It’s a discipline
To rest
An invitation
To play well
To remember
The source
Of love
And everything
That’s good
C L Couch
Photo by Sai De Silva on Unsplash
Nature for Liturgy
This is your day
God
But then
So was yesterday
A litany to you
Could have been
Between the sunset
And moon
Rising
Or even closer
The response
Of branch
To wind
We could guess
The words are everywhere
And should we know
The language
We could antiphon
With
Nature
Find the circles
And to join
Them
In
Nature’s lack of need
To worship
But providing perfect places
For it
All the same
An invitation
All the same
From
The world that
We have
Gradually
Used up
Irony
And gratitude
Shall we apply
In moving
Aside
(inside
or outside)
To be
Here
In splendid
Airy
Easy
(save for awe
mountain peaks
or seeming
depthless
oceans)
Company
In unaware companionship
But offering
The same
Anyway
For our hours
In irony
And gratitude
C L Couch
Photo by Chuck Eugene on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
True Worship
x
How does one really
Worship God
The glove compartment
Old gift boxes
Or stuffed
Desk or counter
Drawers
x
These are not
Nor do they contain
Anything like holies
Of holies
x
Nor do our lives
Say
We walk
We talk
In worship of the Lord
x
We go to church
Or temple
There are shiny things
There
Are they worship
What are the right
Accoutrements
x
We go away
Vacay
Even a retreat
Is God just off the shore
Or in the park
Or in a city
We have not
Traversed before
x
Or
Yes
Keep it official
Bring on the pipes
The choirs
The big noises
Organized
Maybe with fluid motion
On occasion
Of the litany
x
Are we now qualified
For worship
x
Some say
It must be corporate
There must be at least
The two or three
Though as many as
May muster
Is preferred
x
Can I worship on my own
May I
Or at the table
Meetings
Meals
Could anything
Like worship
Happen
x
Yes
No
My sources say
Hazy
Ask later
Though we suppose
It isn’t happenstance
And can we plan
The Holy Spirit
Let alone
The glory of the Lord
x
God is great
Remember the Sabbath
There are injunctions
On the worldly
And maybe there are those
Who believe
We find worship in
Mediation
Sitting still
Knowing in the easy
The presence of the Lord
x
How about
Where there is joy
For loving
And together
x
C L Couch
x
x
John 4:23-24
Romans 12:1
x
Photo by Ilse Driessen on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
amen, amen, amen, amen, amen
(you can sing it)
x
there were good hymns
in church
and a couple that were sleepy
the sermon was terrific
for being true and in style easy
as if we could believe
afterward
and live it through the new week that
all this was meant to serve
amen
x
c l couch
x
x
photo by channel 82 on unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
A Jazz Mass
(recovering lost verse)
x
Jazz mass
A mass of jazz
Inside the church
That might
Be
Preservation Hall
x
Or come with me
To Cleveland
Or
New Liberty
Or a flat place in a field
With divots
Happening to happen
Just right for
Our instruments
To rest
While we musicians
Get to listen,
While exhaling,
Too
x
Inside the halls
Of the Lord
Which might have heaven
For a ceiling
With hell beneath the basement
So let’s stay here
On Earth
To worship
In good syncopation
(planned,
unplanned)
With an aim
Sometimes
To raise that roof
More heaven-toward
x
Loud
Or soft,
Sharing the stories
Of both places
And our prophets
And
Our prospects
x
Don’t charge for tickets
Maybe leave
A jar
Inside the door
More visible
When leaving
Should
We leave
Because there might be food
(after spiritual food)
And then another
Set-to
All of us
Jazzy playing
Jazzy-praying
To the Lord
x
C L Couch
x
x
A Jazz Mass is a worship service with service music and hymns played in a Jazz genre.
Jazz Mass | Saint Ambrose Episcopal Church
x
Photo by Mary Hammel on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
worship
x
we sing songs of praise
sometimes we dance
we are led
then
by the arts
sometimes we touch each other
safely and affirmatively
we pray
we confess
we ask for pardon
we pray for others
those we know
to give their names
crises in the world
praying for the stranger
we listen
there is teaching
churches wise as serpents
collect the money first
with more music
sometimes the teaching
takes up half
which means
we have a love of learning
and a need for it
mostly
there is a response
to scripture
verses are selected
and expanded
credence is affirmed
doctrine promoted
our identity
defined
more so
though
we take in points for living
taking up points for life
after the service
x
sometimes we stand
sometimes we kneel
gestures of faith
that say
even without saying
that there is a presence with us
we acknowledge is great
is good
as in virtuous
worthy of our tries
at praise
and obedience
x
is God
x
c l couch
x
x
photo by grant whitty on unsplash
x
happy birthday, bard
x
(x = space)
x
x
on the altar
x
lord
what shall we give
but everything
and what is everything?
if i offer myself upon an altar
then will you send an angel
to stay my hand?
if i offer up my part in relationships
will you have an angel
tell me
not so much
before i am alone?
if it’s my wardrobe or accounts
or the corporation or the army
(like saint francis)
or plans
x
earthly luxury
or earthly victory
will you send a hallelujah chorus
to tell me, no, not that much?
or will you tell me to keep
going:
my body to begin with
as a living sacrifice,
my mind turning only as you turn it,
the sadness of
living against the world
for the renewing of my mind
x
my body as a sacrifice
in worship
without sacrificing animals
or the worldly counterparts
but sacrificing me
the only thing to set apart,
holy for you
x
could you ask that much
or do you ask that much all the time
while i do not hear?
then i should listen with the
hearing that you gave me
x
c l couch
x
romans 12:1-2
x
x
photo by ricardo gomez angel on unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
3 poems for summer solstice
x
x
Merry July
x
Solstice
It’s summer now
Summer weather smacks us
Here
Temps aiming for 90
I guess in Australia
New Zealand
New Guinea
Little America
Winter is begun
Throw logs on the fire
Sing winter carols
Withholding Christmas and
The other holidays
‘Til the start of summer
In December
Christmas in July
A custom mostly mercantile
In the north
Could be the real thing
With trees and
Were it high enough
Some snow
Ornaments and lights
Certainly
Merry Christmas in
Alice Springs
Wellington
Tierre del Fuego
On the Falklands
At the southern pole
Santa’s summer home
Like winter
x
x
Intentions
x
God, what shall I
Say to you?
I worship you
In contemporary ways
I’m sorry for sins
You have seen in me
And known for centuries
I thank you for your presence
Having made all good things
And the ways to deal
With the bad
I ask of you
To welcome home
Those who die
And heal those who live
Cure cancer
End war
Well, I can ask
x
x
Siblinghood
x
It’s like science fiction
Slipping out of time
Our of normalcy
Eating meals on time
Cleaning on a schedule
Ingrained expectations
Instinctive, conditioned
Responses
x
To fall outside of these
To live with fewer clothes
To hope for decent meals
In penury,
To dream of trips
But only travel like Thoreau
Walking to and from
The town
x
Everything else happens
On the inside
How sad this is
At least how strange
But there’s a purpose
Those who fall outside
Will look back
And when not wistful
Will prophecy
In art
x
x
C L Couch
x
x
Saint John’s (Midsummer) Fire at Dragør Beach (Denmark)
XSimon, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53634435
x
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