Missioning

(x = space)

x

x

Missioning

(for Mandy Shunnarah)

x

It’s Wednesday

And a hump day

Too many cases breaking out

Al-Qaeda talking up Afghanistan

Fires in California

New Apple phones

Unveiled there

I need shoes

More importantly a place to live

Local friends are helping

And good thoughts

Come from everywhere

Faroff family stands by

I’m eaten up with nerves

They eat me

Consume the calm

Like the noise above

That means I’m leaving

After many years

Too many jobs

That took up all

My energy allotment

Concentration

And my attempts to rest

And now

Semi-retired

Accosted with all that

x

My heart needs fixing up

x

This should not

Be all for me

Too many people

Have revocable need

I pray

Others help

With worldly substance

So much more than I have

But this should not be for me

In what I cannot do

It’s to put out fires

Help first-responders

Let go those

Who have no perspective

Build up health

Yes

It’s true

And I must ask

For all of us

x

C L Couch

x

x

Mandy Shunnarah has been writing about skateboarding and skateboarding—forthcoming book, Midwest Shreds: Skaters and Skateparks of Middle America from Belt Publishing (fall 2022).  Hers is a positive, inclusive, encouraging voice.

https://mandyshunnarah.com/

https://www.offthebeatenshelf.com/blog

x

Skateboard on Dry Lakebed

Photo by Kelsey Dody on Unsplash

Alvord Desert, Oregon, USA

x

You Know

(x = space)

x

x

You Know

x

I don’t know

I should have something

More to say

How are you?

What’s up with you?

What have you read

Or heard,

Seen or

Smelled, Tasted

Or touched?

How is the world for you

These days?

I hope you’re well

And having a good day

You deserve it

And to be told so

Many times

x

C L Couch

x

x

Friends

Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash

x

Thought-Powered Words

(x = words)

x

x

Thought-Powered Words

x

The results were not good

I don’t mean to diary about it

But another organ is in trouble

I mean, I feel it

I thought it was gas

(hah)

And now I feel slowed-down today

In fact, since the phone call

Yesterday

x

Pray for me, friends,

As I pray for you

Though it’s not a deal—I

Pray for you anyway, and of course

I’m not sure what you do

x

But love has different kinds,

Hasn’t it?

We have ways to regard each other

Respecting who we are

What’s going well,

What’s not

x

I’ll take a good thought anytime

And be thankful

The words without thoughts don’t rise

As Claudius confesses

(Hamlet doesn’t hear)

But your words are thoughtful

They soar

I know,

I read them all the time

Then watch and hear

With the inner parts

Of eye and ear

x

C L Couch

x

x

citation

Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 3 (last two lines)

x

Photo by Rafik Wahba on Unsplash

Cincinnati, OH, USA

x

Aphoristically Yours

Aphoristically Yours

 

Friend,

 

You know more than I

So I’d rather listen

If you want to hear from me

That’s all right, too

 

Some would say

And they are wise

This is the definition of

A friendship

 

Some might say

It is a paradox

There would be too much silence

For the talking

 

Well, embrace the contrary

If everyone is listening

There might be fewer words

But greater truth

Prevail

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Trung Thanh on Unsplash

Kim Lien High School, Vietnam

 

Surprised by Grace

Surprised by Grace

 

God

I love you

And I wish for

I don’t know

It’s not as if you’re in a lamp

Three wishes?

Not enough

So grant me what you think is best

The million tax-free dollars

Will wait

Unless

Unless

How about some love today

Unbidden, even without

Expectation?

Actually, it happened

Yesterday

Someone brought some

Food, not because

I was in trouble

But because of plenty

And of friendship

That’s love

For a story

Maybe for a

Thousandth night

 

C L Couch

 

 

Image by miniformat65 from Pixabay

 

Toast

Toast

(lids on hot food for now)

 

I woke up with a cold

I don’t care

I have this hour

And a day that could go twenty-four

Or become an age

As in day of the dinosaur,

Which is a really long day

 

You woke up this day with what you have

I hope it’s good

And if it’s not,

I hope it gets good and even better

For the hardship

 

We are awake

We have today

There’s sunshine somewhere

And out there the stars are turning

Movement proves life

Be easy

Or be crazy

Have a thought for someone else

And what she’s going through

 

We’ll see each other soon

Dancing in the skies

The circle won’t be broken or

Truth made out of lies

 

Now thinking-reverie must pause

Because there’s food and drink somewhere

And labor must be easy for a time

I hope we find the feast

Thank the host

Thank the guest

Hang on, if we must

Go in, because we can

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Mark Cruz on Unsplash

New York, United States

 

Friday Felines

Friday Felines

 

I will see cat-friends tonight

They will ignore me

I’m not feeding them

They’ll act as if they do not play

Though I know it’s different

 

One friend

Erstwhile Pennsylvania Quaker

Might decide it’s time for

A first-floor chase

Or to jump on me, reach toward my

Ear as if to say

Quietly through sharpened teeth,

Feed me

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Sam Lee on Unsplash

2 Chome-4-8 Daiba, Minato, Tokyo 135-0091, Japan

 

relative sky

relative sky

 

moonrise

Earthrise

sunrise, of course

stars rise

many in constellations

one extremity after

the other

sword point

cup rim

crown

the other rises, too

all the rest

stars that form in different names

elsewhere

 

fifty years

I saw the landing

and the steps

on a black-and-white TV

which I doubt made much difference

than for our neighbors who had color

maybe I missed the red and blue

in the stiff flag

that looked to wave when

the astronaut shook it

 

I wondered about Collins

all alone up there, still

seventy miles above

I trust they talked with him a lot

kept two conversations going

with the LEM and the command module

with Houston and the others

who took part

maybe one big talk

 

keep talking, everyone

whatever your horizon

for a time, at least

we’re all friends here

 

C L Couch

 

 

Temple of Apollo at Delphi, Greece

Patar knight – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7023940

 

Kaibigan

Kaibigan

(Filipino friends)

 

Don’t know much about a mystery

Don’t know much etymology

Don’t know much about a language book

Don’t know much about Linguistics took

 

But I do know that you’re both dear

And the gift of words you brought us here

How much better the world is to me

 

How much better you make the world,

You see

 

(inspired by “What a Wonderful World,”

released by Sam Cooke in 1960

 

inspired by Rosema at rosemawrites,

Maria at Doodles and Scribbles

for giving us “Word-High July”—see below)

 

Word-High July: Welcome!

 

Maria of Doodles and Scribbles and I [that’s Rosema at rosemawrites] are more than excited to read your takes on the 30 Beautiful Filipino Words.

1. Write or create a post inspired or about the Filipino word prompts.
2. A post can be anything. A poem, a fiction, a six-word tale, or even a photo. It’s all up to you.
3. Linkback/create a pingback to this post: Word-High July 30 Beautiful Filipino Words. Here is a quick tutorial on how to do a pingback.
4. Tag your post with WordHighJuly, so your co-bloggers will be able to read/see your take on the prompt. Here’s how you create tags.
5. Most important of all, read and comment to your blogger friends (old and new found, we’ll never know).

 

HOP ON and let’s all GET WORD-HIGH this JULY!

wrestlingroots.org