to pray

(x = space)

x

x

to pray

x

not wishful thinking

not wishes

maybe wishes

maybe where your wants

and mine

and ours

might come together as if this were

how a point of light

in the sky at night

were made

x

we might accomplish this

our wishes changed

our wants intersect

so that

there is something like justice

and like mercy

x

both humility

and confidence

in faith

amen

x

c l couch

x

x

Photo by Tyler Jamieson Moulton on Unsplash

x

Sometimes Agnostically Yours

(x = space)

x

x

Sometimes Agnostically Yours

x

God, what shall I pray

To you?

I’m sorry for my sins

And I mean that

I ask for forgiveness that

Frankly

I struggle in receiving

x

I ask for daily bread

That might be

Bread

Or

Something else

I need

Pretty much right now

x

And I shall wait

Probably

Pretty badly

While I wait

x

Since need often

Feels punished

And faith

Is much

From an invisible God

To wait for

x

And yet

Stones for bread

Is inhumane

And undivine

And so

I’ll try to anticipate

Exactly the right thing

Provided

x

Sorry

Thank you

Amen

x

C L Couch

x

x

Matthew 6:9

x

Photo by Dave Hoefler on Unsplash

x

Believing God

(x = space)

x

x

I am going away for a few days.  My family is having a wake to remember my older brother who died recently from prostate cancer (detected way too late).  I’m not sure how hotel wi-fi works or if it works or if I work with it, so I’m not sure about being in touch here while I am gone.

x

x

Believing God

x

Immortal, Invisible

How much sense

To believe in such a thing?

Like a ghost

We cannot exorcise,

Like love

We never want

To go away

x

In something that made everything

And we weren’t there

That guides us if we want

But has an overarching will

At work

Regardless

x

Intimate and inside

Glorious in nature

Even when

Nature is terrible

And thus

Capable of fright for a response

x

We go there

And shall it come here?

A word

A choice

And we are outcast

Another word

And we are home

In a place with many mansions

x

Source of fiction

And nonfiction

Belief on trial

But so go justice

And mercy

As ideas

x

Is it everything that’s good

Compelling faith

And then the action?

And is God

The best of all?

The maker, sponsor

Source of everything

That lasts

That’s worth the lasting

x

Life

Loss

The spark that’s there

And holding the spark

When it goes out

x

Something everyone

Can get and have

Like good stories

Told well

And, well,

This is the best story

We can have

And is alive

All the time

Forever

Gladly for aye

And amen

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Lucas Hoang on Unsplash

x

certain hymns and verses in John are sources for allusions

x

Glory

(x = space)

x

x

Glory

x

It’s a Sunday feeling

For those who have a Sunday

To be speaking

And singing to the Lord

x

The pastor cites

The shortest psalm

As an invocation,

Which is an invitation

More so a directive

To be singing

x

Can you imagine David

Dancing first

Before the ark

When it was brought into

Jerusalem?

There was singing then

And all the instruments

We’ve heard about

That played

x

Today is Mission Sunday at this church

So there are connections to the world

x

Everyone’s invited

Everywhere

Not as a number

But as you,

You are invited

To meet Jesus

Through us

Not because we are messiahs

But because

We can quote him

Tell his story

Show you something of his love

For everyone

And the hope that the whole human world

Might be saved,

x

Which is God’s wish

But not God’s will

For God has mitigated God

In favoring our will

And our decisions

Yes, it’s the reason why

The world is so flawed

And screws up so badly

x

That according to the story

Has made us

The silent planet in the universe

Burning other planets

With what happened in the garden

And then

Going quiet

While the planet’s fate is determined

Of itself

x

Then there will be noise

x

But here is David

In Jerusalem

And there is great noise

Locally

That celebrates

That helps to consecrate

The presence and the symbol

And our rendering of faith

In holy God

And in each other

As neighbors

And a nation

x

The world will not know you, Lord;

And nations will fall

x

We could wish it were not so,

And we do

x

But not everyone will be there

In the sky

The circle won’t be broken

But our hearts,

Well,

They are other matters

x

It’s a Sunday feeling

For those who have a Sunday

And take one

Or on another day

x

We have been ransomed

From kidnapping,

From the prisons

Huge or small—all intimate

When they should not

Have to be

x

The world violates our souls

And yet we believe

And from the ashes

Of all sins consumed

At last,

We shall rise

Who choose to rise

x

The glory of the Lord

In homely ways

Inside the heart

We do not understand

x

How something so

Cosmically grand

Can live in something

So small

As our souls,

One soul by one

x

Then there is the glory

That we read about

And then imagine:

The universe made straight

While also bending low,

We with that

And all the Earth

That knows at last

This is it,

The certainty of God

In blinding presence

That will not hurt our eyes

And the song of angels,

Unbinded song

That should destroy

But will not touch eardrums

Adversely

x

The glory of the Lord

Clearly

All there is,

Compelling

As to break our souls

Though it will not—in fact,

We’ll never had been

Better,

Freer,

Then to get

Our next assignments

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Christian Cagni on Unsplash

x

Salut

(x = space)

x

x

Salut

x

The day has

Gone from blue to gray

And if so

That’s what we’ll have

But still it is the day

And it is ours

Not to possess

But to keep

As in maintain

Improve

In gratitude

x

A paean to the planet

Only gods who are

Not there

Desire;

Praise is fine

But better spent

In care

Like rearing children

Or taking care of grown-ups

In their ages

(maybe six and seven

out of seven)

x

In other words,

Do well by Earth

While it is

Under you and over you

And inside you

For planets

And our home among them

Circling stars

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by redcharlie | @redcharlie1 on Unsplash

x

haiku

(x = space)

x

x

haiku

x

1

twenty pages in

the need to gaze and breathe out

outside for elsewhere

x

2

city-wise black trees

darkened too the sky-wept street

nature go with tears

x

3

after rain is haze

exhale into clarity

newly gifts of night

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Emil Widlund on Unsplash

x

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

Mille Grazie per Preghiera

(x = space)

x

x

Mille Grazie per Preghiera

x

I feel as if

I should offer

A prayer

To God

For something

x

Gratitude

Confession

Promise or

At least desire

To do better

x

Petition,

Intercession

Plus my own things

x

I’m not sure

How that’s the praise

That’s called for

While it seems

Mostly like complaining

x

Except to say thank you;

Maybe there’s praise

In that

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash

x

sorry for any Italian language that I broke

x

thank you

x

Difficult Sky

(x = space)

x

x

Difficult Sky

(hard to read, to navigate)

x

Today is

Strange

In our little corner

Within corners

x

Particles are falling through

The sky

x

They could be sleet

They could be hail

x

Either way,

Like a warning

Not that we feel apocalypse

We mainly feel the strangeness

x

And that might be the warning:

Today is strange

Be ready

By not being ready

x

And it’s Ash Wednesday

So try to make

A Christian meaning

Out of that

x

Well,

Christ came to save the world

And this day needs

Saving

x

But simply go inside,

Which might be enough of

A measure

With no need to go all

Soteriological

x

Wear the ashes:

Outside, they might run

x

Inside, they might

Instruct

In safety

And in contemplation

x

Or leave your foreheads clean

And think about the ashes

On the inside

(of the inside),

The way thinking might be

Sectarian

Or universalist

x

Either way

If you permit,

Have a good, ashy

Gray day

x

Sunny where you are

Perhaps

Or raining

Or another kind of storm

Still for liturgy

Or hearts or minds

Gray day

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

x