Early

here are some poems

a booklet as it were

that I drafted early this morning and,

well,

over sixty years

x

I could not decide

maybe none is good

but for now

call this

x

Early

x

x

x

Wages

x

What do I deserve

Well,

The Bible has an answer

x

So does Donald Trump

And others like:

Acquire

And do nothing more

Than lie about how much you have

x

Too little to the IRS

Too much to the rest of the world

x

Then die someday

And nothing that goes with you

Goes with you

Except for judgment

That was avoided

Or, again,

Lied about

x

No grace

Forgoing grace

Since without cost

Isn’t worth collecting

x

x

x

Fixit

x

I need a sewing kit

But then I’d need to do

What to do with it

Or what’s inside it

x

A socket wrench

And other tools

And then a broken car

With which to contend

x

The fixing life for me

On other planes

Repairing in the multiverse

Somebody like but is not me

x

x

x

Caffeine Relaxation

(paradox?)

x

It’s Saturday

It’s early

It’s cold outside

But warmer than

The February expectation

I have some coffee

Actually

To calm me down

I woke up and my eyes hurt

And in many other places

I feel pain

A kind that agitates

So maybe

Some quiet sitting

And creating

While I sip

And hope

The warmth coming inside

Will work some Starbucks

Magic

Like yesterday’s Tim Horton

x

x

x

Simply Born

x

1

x

A problem with the English

Maybe all the

Europeans

Is this matter of the blood

Whom and what

You have

Inherited

Determines

Everything

Monolithic expectations

That lead to similar allowances

x

To the manor born

Above the salt

A Tudor

Or a Stewart

Maybe selected for convenience

But only from those swimming

In the rarified

Waters

Not of H2O

But, you know,

RHIP

x

We can’t be wizards

Sorry

Any more than monarchs

Because we weren’t born to it

While talent

Study

And determination

Aren’t enough

x

And if we’re born into

Villainy,

Well,

You are a villain

Though maybe you’ll get off

The hook

If you foreswear family

And all the generations

Of your line

x

Time in tracks

Matters:

How your family

Behaved as born

One line after another,

The lines

Becoming nets

Because you’re caught inside

The legacy

x

Slice through

Then go out

On your own?

There’s an exception for

Villainy, again,

Or outcast

At the least

And then you better leave

Before your one-time peers

Reach for stones

x

Maybe it’s American

(Canada, the USA, Mexico,

and all the nations

south)

To believe that

One’s own might be dreamed about,

Discovered,

And worked for

x

What are we good at, really?

And dare to ask

What do I want

To do?

x

It’s not to say

Genetics do not matter

And we should take

Somber care

Of understanding

And of choices there

But maybe

Let democracy prevail

Regarding will

As well as votes

And encourage voices, too,

So bold to say

Does not have to be

So bold

x

Break through, England,

And the rest of

Europe:

Allow for aptitudes

And choices

Beyond

What we think the Domesday Book

Or other inked-in listing

Dictates over us

Over ages

x

Be yourselves

And let us be our own

And in this

Let discipline

And joy

x

2

x

Still

Sometimes I would like to know,

To have discovered that

I come from a long line

Sherwood Forest outlaws,

Musketeers,

Or pirates

x

Romantic,

Then, with no brutality

x

Force used only for

Protection and defense—there’s

A code,

Subsuming the genetic

And determined

x

So heroes, then—and

Is that a legacy?

And how much does that matter?

Once again,

We learn about the past

Our past

And what each one

Was disposed to

x

But then we choose

Not because blood

Allows

But more so wishes

And our circumstances that

Might change

Or make us

Reconsider

x

But knowing

(encouraged to know)

Who we are

And what we want

When

We’re allowed

x

x

x

Brother Orchid

x

My sister said

I should try

An orchid

For an indoor plant

I sort of killed

Everything I had

Even the plants

From visits

At the hospital

Brought here

Then what my cat

Finished off

x

Orchids are stronger

Than you think

They last

Deal well with light

And respond to

Conversation

x

Which is the

Only thing I know

To try for sure

Talking to the plants

And

You know

Watering

Them

Too

x

x

x

A School of Good and Evil

(I had the TV on for noise)

x

You know,

They dub the shows

In many languages

x

It’s a Netflix

Thing;

I’m not sure

About the others,

My cable being limited

x

But it’s a service

To the world

And to

Its ratings,

Even approbation

x

And why not

To both?

Serve

And get rewarded;

Sometimes

Does no better

x

It’s a mindset:

A program,

An agenda

x

There is money

Between hands

In media

More so than

Admittedly

Engaging

The ideal

x

Let it go

Let it happen

Say thank you

If you otherwise

Would not understand

Anything

That would otherwise

Be your own

Experience,

Interest,

Delight

x

x

x

Stories for Circles

(in this case, Winx)

x

A school

And a circle of stone

x

A field trip

Or classroom

x

Maybe that’s

What

Stonehenge was for

And all

The circles

Everywhere

Which is to say for

Learning

x

Then no wonder

There’s the

Story

Of Merlin

Raising stones on

Salisbury Plain

x

The circle in

Which to teach

The young

Arthur

x

Circle of stone

For endurance

All

The surfaces

For testing

And for trying out

Like the world that

He would

Grow into

x

Fight

Negotiate

And also most of all

To rule

x

x

x

A Cloak and Must There Be a Dagger

x

I’d like a cloak

To wear

Though they’re not the fashion

Now

x

Nonetheless

Something to draw

Not to zipper

Or to snap

Or button

Over me

So much

x

A cloak

Might speak to

Characters

Of another age

And

You know

Real people

Who need layers

And with

Which

To reach through

For reins

Or to push pocket things

Coins

And such

x

Yes

For walking along cliffsides

And let the ends

Dramatically be blown

By wind

And hints

Of storms

‘Til they arrive

x

But I think could I settle one

Over me

Then I could drive

My car

Or protect things that I carry

Or simply

Unshaped

Move along

x

It is

I guess

A masculine request

Since women

Wear the cloaks just fine

And ponchos

Should

And when they wish

Sigh

For not wanting

To be seen

For

What I wear

x

x

x

Muskrat

x

I wanted that

To be our song

And the one across me

Told me

About already having it

And with another

x

Kindness, perhaps

Regret

Or moving on

Only now do I

Wonder

With a spark

About motivation

x

x

x

The School after Knocks

x

I wish

I could go to

School again

Things would so different

So much

Better

I’d choose more carefully

And not so many

Things

So that I’d be doing

Things

x

I could create

And without motivation

But my own

x

You see

I’d know something of the future and

The possibilities

Outside of agendas

And

Expectations

For me

From the others

x

x

x

Victoryous

x

Love says

In our good books

Also in the trees

On the wind

And over oceans

Inside oceans

Too

That

Kindness is for real

And keeps coming back

For options

x

Rather than

The steel rule

That what is

Hard

And closed

Taking on

Hoping for

Thrashing of opponents

To win

x

Love says

Try another

Because I am

We are

Stronger than metal doors

And points on lances

Untorn banners

And brighter than

LEDs on boards

That signal launches

x

Love will

Last

Beyond

All that

And on its own

A shadow between forms

Like us

Until the forms are more

Like us

Without mortal impedances

To either side

And we are ready

To choose love

And have love

x

In love

There is not much

More ambition

Certainly not

A mean one

There are

Hope and faith

And with these

Love prevails

Over

Well

Everything

x

x

x

Asking

x

What shall I say to you

Today

But that I care

And want

To know

And to know more

Of your story

x

The pages are easily

Worthwhile

Word by word

And spaces

In between

x

Because you have great value

You are you

And what you say

You have

You’ve been

You are

Best-sells

In the best way

Both easy

And compelling

x

A book that gains no money

But is rich

Has wealth

As your own,

As you

x

x

x

C L Couch

x

x

x

Photo by Nadiia Ploshchenko 🇺🇦 on Unsplash

Finded these cute tiny guys in our garden, tulips in the background added a great contrast to this shot.

Kharkiv, Ukraine

x

Advertisement