Blessings of Lights in Darkness

(x = space)

x

x

Blessings of Lights in Darkness

(appreciation of a Gentile toward the Jewish family)

x

Somewhere in Advent

Hanukkah begins

x

Sundown tomorrow,

I believe

x

Eight nights of blue

With silver lights

That dedicate

The temple

From our enemies

x

They’re gone:

We don’t have to think

About them

x

Now, there’s chocolate

And treats

In games

And gifts,

Small delights

And big ones for the heart

x

Anticipation

Practice

Family

x

My ignorance

Like ignorance

Has walls;

I’d rather be inside

The spirit of redemption

And occasion,

The community

x

The relief in having realized

Somber times

x

The pleasure now,

The fun

Of shalom

x

Eight days

Of miracle,

Of remembrance and the meaning that

Creation is in food

Also in candle lights

And in each of us

Singly

And specially together

Now

x

The one who saves is blessed

And offers blessing

And is the one

As one

Who provides seriously

And playfully as well

x

Is here

Beyond the count of days

And nights

But who is here

Inside these eight,

All the intimate hours

As we draw near to them

To have,

To share

x

Next year in Jerusalem

Then

And now with family

x

From the source of blessing,

Bless

And

Keep you, friends

x

C L Couch

x

x

Call of the Light

Photo by Robert Zunikoff on Unsplash

x

Art Show

(x = space)

x

x

Art Show

x

My goodness,

It’s brilliant outside

The green has changed to red

Lit by the angles of

The sun’s afternoon

x

The larger trunks

Are tubes of transit

Moving our eyes

To the show

For which there’s no ticket

But the chilly air

(also a transiting device)

x

What is blue is blue

In the moment

Looking out and up

There is no impedance

From a cloud

Or interruption

Of a contrail

x

If there were

It would be a

Recipe’s ingredient:

Another element in

A complex design

x

It’s quiet through the window

There could be movement

But there isn’t any

Maybe to stay the moment

We may look longer

Let the silence

Stun the colors

x

Have this

As a MidAtlantic gift

Before a winter’s

Bareness calls,

Giving notice to

Another kind

Of traveling exhibit

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

x

Hear the Sky

(x = space)

x

x

Hear the Sky

x

Today the sky is talking through

The rain,

Discussing how to wash the

Earth

Tonight the sky

Might be humming a humid tune

About solace, anyway, and rest

x

The sky can sing

Through brightened colors

The rainbow, yes,

But don’t forget the message

In the blue,

Beauty that is not owned

By anyone

That doesn’t care for borders

But flies over them

Unchallenged

x

The sky is its own master

We can hear that anytime

It will speak its blessings

Or admonishments

Maybe we should listen

And respect

And offer messages of harmony

Ourselves

x

Does the sky hear us?

It may have heard

It might hear again

x

C L Couch

x

x

Sunset in Vancouver

Photo by Ferdinand Stöhr on Unsplash

x

Let Me Tell You about My Day

(x = space)

x

x

Let Me Tell You about My Day

(first hour or so)

x

Pre-dawn

x

Blue

And if you look into it,

A promise of silver

x

In a while,

The mourning doves might call

Take over for the cardinals

And the robins

Who might be louder elsewhere

x

The doves

Sing us into green

x

Town noise might subsume

The outside sounds

(except the doves who

are right against the window)

Except that it is Sunday

So the morning

Should be

Relatively quiet

For nature’s sentineling

And mine

We’ll find out

x

As for other senses,

Touch and smell and taste

Should have their turns

You might

Guess at the prospects

x

There’s still a war

Two wars, three wats

Still a virus

Many viruses

People will die today

And people will be born into

Air-breathing life

x

I’m a little late

Proposing all of this

Because the coffee cup

Slipped from my hand

And all the coffee

Slid

Down the down the

Sides of everything,

Flat surfaces

And cushioned

(a play of surface tension

and of gravity),

To land upon the floor,

Most of it

Slight sweet

More creamy than sweet

An expensive brand

Though not a kind

More dear

x

So I took time to

Clean the mess:

To clear out things,

Take things

To the sink

Where I’ll deal with them,

Sponge and paper towels

And cleaner for

The rest, for the floor

Now things have to dry

Then to be

Cleaned again

And there’s more coffee

To take out from

Its machine

x

Sigh,

One of those days

And what does that mean?

x

I see

The blue

And sense a silver promise

Like new friends

In a scouters’ song

x

I reckon now

You’ll have a day to survey

Finally

Of many hours

I’ll look forward to any

Of that story that

Might come my way

x

C L Couch

x

x

Before Dawn

Photo by Tao Yuan on Unsplash

x

Onion Snow

(x = space)

x

x

Onion Snow

x

Crocuses and

Daffodils were

Growing

There is fog

Above the ground

Where condensations

Clatter without

Sound

Strange time of year

Odd conflict

Teaching flowers and

The land

Something

Via snow

Withholding spring

x

Gentle war

We could learn

Without the bombs

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Eva Härich on Unsplash

x

Monday’s Children

(x = space)

x

x

Monday’s Children

(coffee then reading, watching, hearing the news)

x

It’s a Monday,

Blue and green

It’s Stephen King’s birthday

And tomorrow is the birthday of

Bilbo Baggins

And Frodo Baggins

The anniversary of

The big party underneath the big tree

Thank goodness for

Big trees

x

Zendaya won the Emmy for lead actress

(though she is an actor)

On TV this past year

Since it’s a kind of peer review

And a mutual admiration

Society of a

Society I am neither in nor out,

I stay up with these things

Tangentially,

Though I’m glad for her

And her

Accomplishment

She must be well-supported

And did I squeeze a bitter grape just now?

x

To all those who accomplish much,

I’m thankful

For those who have helped them,

More so

And for those who accrued

Through

No effort but the virtue of their own,

I am impressed as well as

Pleased, though it’s not about me

And it needn’t be

x

Now, I read today that  women make up

Fifty-one percent of my society,

While thirty-one percent are white men

Is this why we’re so

Frightened?

Fear leading to anger

Leading to sin

We burn the crosses, rig elections

Cheat the press to make the case

That we should be in charge

The new majority, by the way,

If we must count

In this fashion

We’ve known for a while will be

Hispanic or Latino,

Going as Latin-x these days

In spite of brimstone efforts

At the border, in the cities

This will happen

x

I’m looking forward to the changes

And when the cap is taken off

Am I a traitor to my kind?

No, my kind

Is homo sapiens—

I can say for myself

That pinkish-pale or whatever

My skin is is interesting enough

But the color wheel is vast

And extraordinary (for being

ordinary)

And it is there

Or here—even the color blind

Know the textures change

x

We are in this variegated world

In the flora

We are the fauna

We don’t need secret knowledge

Except as an exercise,

And bent has always been

The hiding of agenda

x

Join me in the world

All the colors of the senses

(in this way,

synesthetes rule)

Patricians, even partisans

Let go

With everyone, take hold

Of what is good

What is love

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Roman Bozhko on Unsplash

The Wheelhouse, Los Angeles, United States

Handlebar Tape at Wheelhouse Coffee

x

Coeli

Coeli

 

The sky is a

Wow

Blue

The kind a robin’s egg

Could say

Hey, you

My color came from you

The green is

Startling, too

As if to say

Surprise!

I was here,

All the time

 

In this humid place

Of climate change

(yes, it’s real

sorry, children

we’re leaving this

for you)

Maybe for

A change,

The rain last night

Cleared out

The steamy parts

For this morning

If so,

Thank you, rain!

When I lived

Higher up,

It used to happen this way

All the time

Clear sky after

Rain that cleans

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Kambani Ramano on Unsplash

Sossusvlei Sand Dunes, Namib Naukluft Park, Namibia

Mother & Daughter

 

Synesthesia

Synesthesia

 

Blue is a magic number

I know, Schoolhouse Rock fans

It should be three

And it is

But sometimes associations need

To take a second seat

In favor of new leanings

Today is Saturday

It’s orange

 

C L Couch

 

 

Petr Kratochvil (Website)

 

Prismatic

Prismatic

 

It’s math, you know

Yellow on blue and green

Make joy

Black and white equals

Good

All the colors are from God,

And they are gifts

That harmonize

The promise of a rainbow

The sign of Noah

A pledge not to

Destroy but leave things

To build

 

C L Couch

 

 

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