one spiritual law

(x = space)

x

x

one spiritual law

x

God loves you

have faith

this is the only message

it’s enough

for anyone

at any time

x

we believe it

and for Jesus

we are saved for heaven

and have entered heaven’s realm

even now

x

like Marty’s distillation

of theology

“Jesus loves me, this I know;

for the Bible tells me so”

x

God bless and teach us

I think this is a promise

in creation

that both have happened

and will happen with

our participation

x

believe

even now

even here

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

x

Don’t Listen

(x = space)

x

x

Don’t Listen

x

I’m sad is all

And maybe I may say

Who wouldn’t be

It’s raining

There are feet of snow

Out west

And that’s dangerous

x

In the south

There were tornados in the night

Can you imagine?

Too many don’t have to

You wouldn’t see it

You hear the train

If you can hear

The sounds of what you know

Changed into splinters

Horrifying

x

You might go dark

Deeper in, that is

Or might be missed

(tornados leap this way)

Or under things

That fell

But living

Needing to be found

x

And a factory nearby

Exploded of all things

Also last night

And people inside

Sorry

Some were killed

Others hurt

And people missing

While searchers search

Press conferences are held

Because

They have to be

x

Another factory

Not so far off

Went this way

Some days ago

I don’t think

It’s a conspiracy

But these destructive

And frightening

Severities

Must be taken seriously

x

Last night’s inferno

Costing

Families

The ones torn up

For good

And those in the community

Losing, too

x

You see,

The people in this factory

Made candy

Of all things

In fact for decades

And should have been

With all the chocolate offerings

Just in time for Easter

x

Now associations

Snow-driven winter

Romantic Southern nights

Anticipation of confections

Well,

The fears will have to go somewhere

Coping mechanisms

Mechanized

(as in ready to go)

Let hope

Like grace doctrinally

Abound

x

So I’m sad

Maybe I don’t know how

To take it in

To breathe vicarious

In addition to my

Own intake

For, well,

My own

Somewhat depressed

I deal in this

And have had counseling

And medication

x

The day’s been gray

With rain

Not life-threatening here

Persistent

Cold and dull

Is all

And enervating

x

I thought about errands

And such

Then thought better

Thinking it better

Or maybe better would have been

To go out

Get wet

Do something

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Peter Jan Rijpkema on Unsplash

x

White Out

(x = space)

x

x

White Out

x

There was hardly any winter;

Now I am nostalgic

x

As I get old

The immediacy of snow

Has sometimes frightened me

x

Am I ready?

(knowing I’m not ready)

x

But now I miss the falling

And the settling

x

Not the extremes, of course,

Or the extremes of heat in summer

But enough that says

Winter is allowed

In our land

x

And I might walk in it

Again

x

So I’m learning, still

(so are you):

I hadn’t thought more generally

And with some surprise

That the bildungsroman

Has never

Finished

x

It goes on bildung-building

(education)

And as roman

A story

Of many chapters

Or a song with many stanzas,

Key transitions,

D. S. to the coda

For life is repeated

Many times,

It seems

Or even improvised

x

And of Shangri-La philosophy

(moderation in all things)

Maybe the winter

Shall return

With some climatic glory

And less (less) fearfulness from

Me

And should anyone

Who feels this way

x

x

C L Couch

x

Photo by Mark Rabe on Unsplash

x

World Water Day

(x = space)

x

x

World Water Day

x

Today is Water Day

And everyone deserves a drink

Of safe water

Drinks throughout the day,

In fact

Or, as my nephew used to say

When a child

Overhearing,

Drink up, Shriners

x

That didn’t mean water

Though

We mean water

Accessible and easy

Without lead in

Flint

Or lack of pipes at all

In western Africa

Or flooding that makes pipe-works

Dangerous

Across the land

And ‘round the world

x

Who digs wells,

Who makes the pipes

xxxxxLays them

xxxxxAnd keeps them?

Why, that would be us

x

This is our responsibility

Since we decided that civilized

Is a good thing

Some thousands of years ago

Then when we discovered microbes

In the water

And later on

When we knew

We had

Polluted everything

x

This is not nature

This is human

Our human responsibility:

Safe water for everyone

Everywhere we are—safe

And provided for

The things of nature,

Too

x

Greed

Gets in the way

And inertia

But there is great energy

And energetic interest

In

Sating all agendas

x

The time is needed, yes,

And

You know

The money

So give the money

x

Let the people work;

Let all people drink;

It’s ethics,

Even anthropology

That is

Why the peoples of the Earth

xxxxxRise, maintain,

xxxxxOr fall

x

Let’s have the world

Let’s have the world have water

First

Today

Into tomorrow

x

C L Couch

x

x

we may contribute to The Water Project (https://thewaterproject.org/) and similar, sound groups

x

Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

x

Beatitudo

(x = space)

x

x

Beatitudo

x

Where did this quiet

Come from

With the light angling inside

Yellow for benediction?

It is a gift

Of spring’s first day

It is happenstance

I don’t care

I’m thankful

For the quiet

And the colors

And the benediction I’m

Taking these to be

Thanking the one who blesses

Everything

In creating

And renewing

Like green rising from brown

Made and remade

And by the way

A gift of oxygen

For us

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Chetan Kolte on Unsplash

x

monday protest

(x = space)

x

x

monday protest

x

get up

listen to the noise

and go

and this is how it starts

x

a day

in the modern world

x

no,

thank you

iI’ll stay here

in the drab place

and time

x

of dark and cold

of sleep

and safety

well

x

i won’t grow up

not i

x

if you must leave

i’ll stay

x

c l couch

x

photo by eduardo mallmann on unsplash

x

Future Perfect

(x = space)

x

x

Future Perfect

x

What is that, Father?

The child asks,

Pointing

Like accusation

x

That is a gun, the

Father says

x

Over the mantel

Perched

By law

x

But, observes the child,

It’s falling apart;

I can barely tell the shape

Of it

x

Yes,

Father replies,

And that is the way

Of all guns now,

Now that we’ve grown

To take

Care of each other

And put the guns

Aside

And, as we have,

Reminders

x

Later in the day,

Mother enters

And has news

From work:

x

The assembly made the choice

At last

To take them down,

To put up other tokens,

Totems, symbols,

What have you

What have us

Instead

x

And so

The gun is taken down,

Parts swept off the mantel

And

For a while

The peaceful emptiness there

Pervades

While the family

Talks

About what to put there next

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Patrick Metzdorf on Unsplash

x

a day like no other

(x = space)

x

x

a day like no other

(16 March)

x

we had our Ides

tomorrow is Saint Patrick’s

famous days

while

this day is ordinary

formless

without expectation

to do with what

we will

thank goodness

x

it is a Lenten day

for seasons

and liturgic calculation

and it’s important

as a day in forty days

for thinking

and for faith

for faithful thinking

x

but otherwise

it is alone

between two famous days

so different

that we cannot call today

a bridge

it simply is as is

x

and ready

for whatever

we might

unfamously do

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Adli Wahid on Unsplash

x

Everywhere

(x = space)

x

x

Everywhere

(IWD 2023)

x

It’s International Women’s Day

While in some parts of the world

It’s nearly over

And it’s over

I wonder what happened?

What nations adopted

Legislation

That affirms,

Almost absurdly,

The humanhood of women?

x

What programs might have taken place

By groups who want

To announce

Or better yet

To shake the world

With a civil earthquake

To bring tectonic change

Into culture

x

What artists and art groups gave us new ways

To see and hear

And touch the way

To change?

And what God waits

To intervene

When the threats increase and wholeness

Is defined

Only in part

For some?

Better yet, let’s intervene ourselves

x

Let’s push on tyrannies

Until pushed over

And things are built

New places

And new institutions,

A world that’s femininely organized,

Which is to say

The most human

Of all worlds

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash

Salha Khan, a Kurdish hero. Statue in Erbil. سالحە خان ١٩٣٢ – ٢٠٠١ لە هەولێر #kurdistanregion #erbil #هەولێر

x