two poems about essence
The Mouse Informs the Monarch’s Ear
(not by nibbling)
Should I ever become wealthy,
Which seems less and less likely
I’d hope I wouldn’t forget
The essences in things
The way the coffee burbles when it cooks
The distinctive bounce to hear in the final motion
Of the toaster
The delight in another day beginning
Sometimes the relief
I visited the Biltmore once
An impressive place
With its own winery and dairy
It might have been a microcosm
Of feudal living in the USA
(though everyone was paid, I’m sure)
I got up close to the see the shapes
Of lampshades
And consider how the cords plug into
Walls
The height of the walls, too
And all the light that comes through
Windows the height of churches
There is meaning there
It’s in first impressions
And the marvel of the smaller things
That, once the sheen is filtered
Another sense,
Are smaller wonders, teaching more
There is a church in Pittsburgh
That rose like a cathedral in the
Thirties
A source of jobs for many workers
With great and tiny wonders
There was a belief
Above the crypts, behind enormous
Doors,
That every church should have a church mouse
(for ecumenicity, I might have argued for
a cat as well)
And in the baseboard along the chancel of
A chapel, a mouse was briefly
Carved
A parable in wood that might be too easily
Overlooked
There are, or were, jazz services here
Another essence
Not to be missed
Pray, visit the world
In its smallest wonders
There are children there
And love in all its shapes and forms
The sounds and colors
The plainer truths,
The greater wonders
C L Couch
geograph.org.uk
Trish Steel
The famous mouse symbol, found on every item crafted by Robert Thompson’s has an uncertain history. The story told by Robert Thompson himself is that one of his craftsmen remarked that they “We all as poor as church mice.” Whereupon Robert carved a mouse on the church screen he was working on. That particular mouse has never been found but it has continued as a trade mark of quality and dedication to craftsman ever since.
(not at the church in Pittsburgh; this mouse is in an English church)
Essencing
The essences of things
Are they too trite
To talk about?
In the feel of a dog’s fur
The line of well-wrought wood
The heart that beats in love
For the first time
Or for the millionth
The curves that make a flower
The sound when a fish leaps above then back into
Lake water
The horns of trucks and cars, which carry
Up the sides of close-in tall buildings
The sight of stars away from
City lights
A new word
An old one
A new world
An old one
A sleeve pressed
A rug that’s freshly cleaned
The sensation of bare toes upon it
Call on the muses
Supplicate
Remembrance of things past
(Sonnet 30)
And sights set upon the future
(any astronaut
or soldier)
And if there be five senses
Maybe six or seven
Remember time as one as well,
Which bears
All opportunities
Don’t miss it, then
And if you must rise up
Through disastrous need to
Greet a day in peace
Greater wonder then, at last
And first,
For you
And shame upon the rest
Who might
Have done
And must do better
For you
C L Couch
Photo by Alexandru Rotariu on Unsplash
(note by the photographer regarding the “Featured Image”)
I photographed this amazing dog in a small park. He was with his “master”, who was a little kid, not much bigger than his pet. The original photo was VERY unsightly, but I saw something amazing behind this “unsightness”. I took it home, passed it through Photoshop, and the result was a wonderful sight! It’s like I can see this ordinary animal’s personality! (If you want to see a before-and-after, check out http://rotalex.wixsite.com/photography/about at the end of the page) Eventually, I started a photo album named “Animal Close-Up’s”, this photo (Dog (close-up)), being Close-Up no. 1.
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