Sabbathism

Sabbathism

 

Resting is a process

When we’re not exhausted

So that sleep is something like

Unconsciousness

(we might as well have fainted)

Spiritual rest, more so

A process, and there are

Some truly mortal things

We can do

 

Do you have a favorite place?

Something you like to drink

That will enhance

(not abrogate) the experience?

Like violins singing beneath

The piano solo,

Can you wear something comfortable

Or comfortably?

And here it is,

Will you give yourself some time?

 

By doctrine, it’s a whole day

But take what you will give

Half a day, an hour

Twenty minutes, five

Do you need a prescription?

Get someone to write you one

Better yet, write it

Yourself

 

Read something, then and there

Write something

Pray something

Or do next to nothing

But be present

In the moment, as de Caussade

Has recommended

Think things

Feel things through

Decide something, if you must

Though you don’t have to

And it might be better

If you don’t

 

Afterward,

Reach out to someone else

Especially, if you took help

To make sabbath happen

Didn’t I mention getting help?

Well, feel free

Always feel free

 

C L Couch

 

 

(The Sacrament of the Present Moment by Jean-Pierre de Caussade)

 

Photo by Matthew Angus on Unsplash

Jerusalem, Israel

Devotion in prayer.

 

All Days

All Days

(pandemic time)

 

July seems to be rushing

Toward conclusion

I’m not sure how that is

But there is a number at

The lower right-hand corner

That changes

Every day

And soon will be over

 

Maybe because it’s hard to

Tell the weekdays from

Each other

I was certain Sunday it was

Saturday,

Which should be the

Mind providing one more day

Rather than one less

But, you see,

All the days are merging

In self-quarantine

I imagine you know

What I mean

 

Some day we’ll be over it

Not because we say so

And we’ll look back in time

To wonder how we did it

With worse help

From Washington—well, there

I’ll need

To get beyond it, too

Not simply the spate of days

 

Cheers to August

More time for discovery

Maybe the science news

Like numbers for days

Will turn forward

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Tim Umphreys on Unsplash

Council Bluffs, United States

While shooting off fireworks on the Fourth of July, a summer storm rumbled in the distance. Crystal clear skies, beautiful stars, and picturesque lightning made for an incredible moment.

 

Ordinary Invitation

Ordinary Invitation

 

A pale day

Painted in yellow

Talking to the trees and sky

Green and blue in perfect tones

Framed through the window

Because the house is old,

Tall and wide

In this moment, there is fortune

Lucky to be here

You’re invited—look at that,

You’re here

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by yns plt on Unsplash

Çatalca, Turkey

 

No Indifference

No Indifference

 

If there is a God

And there is

Then why all the terrible things?

Because there are

There have to be

Otherwise, it’s all a game

And God is a demon,

Only the biggest

But there’s another question, too

For all the terrible things

That happen,

There should be no inspiration

No interest in virtue

Even to using it when lying

Why should good have an interest

At all in our deliberations?

But it does

We want it, pursue it

Even bad people

Want good things

Companionship, ambition

Self-satisfaction, pleasure

Nice things

Nice sensations

The bad has been twisting them

Hiding inside means that

Should be hidden,

A bent form of going after

What is good

Like every villain in every story

 

But there are heroes

Please understand, as women

As men

And people of all colors

And locations

And there is virtue

That usually starts with something

That is true,

Perhaps the truth

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Pavel Nekoranec on Unsplash

Am Lustgarten 1, 10178 Berlin, Germany, Berlin

[cropped]

 

Miracling

Miracling

 

I’d like to live in sunshine

I’d need some shade

Maybe water in the distance

Perhaps a chair and a small table

While I’m ordering

I shouldn’t forget the breeze

That would be an easy place

Oh, all the time

 

I’m imagining

My situation next

To a tall tree

From which, you know,

All the shade has come

Did you get that, angels?

I know you have important work

To do

Are you ever on a break?

 

Maybe between assignments, you could

Swing (should I say wing?) my way

Toward what really are

Small miracles

Even though they’d make a world

For me,

Any company—

So I’ll need more chairs

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by MusicFox Fx on Unsplash

reminds me of the character of the seraphim in Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quartet

 

Touchstones

Touchstones

 

I’m looking for

I’m always looking for

Something small and elegant

Like a Fabergé egg, perhaps

Or an egg-sized trilobite

The larger things

Belong in museums

Where we can see them safely

Mostly

Hoping crowds can keep themselves at bay

They can’t

 

I’ll take my palm-sized treasures

Though, like moon rocks, the Fabergé

Would be too much

I’ll take my fossils

Or a stone polished by water

Or the found things

I’ve made into tableaux

Enjoy retired moments

Before I go

Outside again

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Kunj Parekh on Unsplash

 

Future Tense

Future Tense

 

Mostly, I’m hoping

Some of this will lie around

Like Claudius’s second copy

According to the novel

To be found under an urn

Behind a shelf that no one sought

To look (behind)

For ages

 

That dusting off

(however that’s done

with electrons)

There will be some words

From someone we didn’t know

Maybe some initials,

Half a word for clues

 

We’ll read

And have two sets of wondering:

What was this person saying then?

What is this person saying now?

The first we’ll most likely

Never know

The second will be up to us

We own the words, now

 

C L Couch

 

 

(I, Claudius and Claudius the God by Robert Graves)

Photo by Tistio on Unsplash

 

Today’s Apology

Today’s Apology

 

Sorry, I come to this tardily

Today

In the morning, I was at

The doctor’s

And came away, which I guess

Is something

Then I wandered for a while

Stopped at the store

Wandered again

It is bright summer

 

Because there’s air-conditioning

In my car,

I have no complaints

How are you?

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Paweł Czerwiński on Unsplash

 

Newly Wise

Newly Wise

 

The comet has been passing

I haven’t seen it

There’s too much ambient light

Too many clouds

Or too much haze

I did pretty well with Hale-Bopp

And I’ve seen good photographs of this one

That might be all there is

 

At least for days we haven’t been

Waiting for the end

As was the way with comets’ appearing

Reappearing

We know our plagues

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by JC Gellidon on Unsplash