We Say, We Believe

(x = space)

x

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We Say, We Believe

(maybe it’s Revelation 23)

x

God is love

The metaphor

Reality

So much better than

God is gold

Even

God is power

Though God is both

The metaphor

Reality

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God made the gold, at least

And also power

Power lent

To us

And in the Earth

Inherent

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Borrowing

And legacy

That’s not our own

No matter how many times

We name another name

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We do not last

Not on our own

And everything on Earth

That was our own

Is naught

So that when everything’s renewed

There will no monuments

Except the living

In a city

Where the temple

Is a person

And water is provided

That’s life-giving

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C L Couch

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By Voky89 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72763611

This is a photo of a monument in Ukraine, number: 53-101-0501

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Christmas 12

(x = space)

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Christmas 12

(or What You Will)

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They’re drumming loudest

Of all

Not like Buddy Rich

More like Sousa

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Twelfth day

Twelfth night

The vigil for Epiphany

A holy time

We have a different kind

Of pageant, here

x

Not that it’s unholy

And it’s intentioned—it’s

Insane

I should say it

I have to watch it

And to hear it

And there’s the cleaning up

Each day

And after?

x

Fish and Wildlife

Are here

And I’ve contacted agents

For the talent

And even though

We’re here

And Julian is there

Maybe she is right,

And

After many sighs

Some resolution

All shall be well

x

As for you, true love,

Please

Please

I don’t know

Please go away?

Wait, you’re responsible for this

I think I liked the pipers

They may stay awhile

So I may hear them

Better

And if they behave,

Some of the birds

May stay

For show

To accompany

(sorry, FWS

please come back tomorrow

or stay

for the concert)

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And, love,

I don’t know if you may stay

I do know

Our relationship needs some work

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C L Couch

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Photo by Melvin Darrell on Unsplash

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I wrote something for each verse but did not post them all.  There were days when other things were more pressing or distracting.  I do have the entire series.

Shakespeare took the title of his play from this brief season, anticipating Epiphany, a time of discovery.

Thank you.  Let love be true.

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Christmas Campaign

(x = space)

x

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Christmas Campaign

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Christmas

Is a month away

Precisely

In this year of 2022

Good timing for Black Friday

I don’t understand

They’re only things

And each other’s company

The presents

x

Not to be maudlin

Or mawkish

Sometimes the truth

Must come with syrup

That makes it sweet,

At least

x

I wouldn’t know

How to deal with

Great expectations

Of receiving things

Rather than

Only ourselves

x

There could be meals

Recipes

Desserts

Special drinks

Coffee

We could defend each other

Don’t let people drive

Until they’re ready

Turning out spare rooms

(Spare Oom in Narnia

with a War Drobe)

x

I don’t mean a campaign

And I do

Christmas is love

More than possession

Though there’s nothing wrong

In wanting things

And owning them

And if there are dangers,

I think

You know what they are

x

A month from now

Merry Christmas

It doesn’t have to be sectarian, for

Maybe part

Of Christmas love

Is diversity

And the widest possible

Welcoming

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C L Couch

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Photo by Andrej Lišakov on Unsplash

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The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, specifically The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

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love alters not

(x = space)

x

x

love alters not

x

. . . Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove.

(from) Sonnet 116

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now the next chapter

x

love alters not

has come to mind

I’m not sure why

x

the poet claims

in poem’s voice

that as we change

love doesn’t change

x

I wonder also that

we might do better than

(more in addition to)

the fixed mark

x

love doesn’t change

when we encounter change

because we will

it will happen in us, too

age, talent

insight

dreams fulfilled

or unfilled

x

will we love the same,

shall we?

x

and I’m wondering

with time and change

set on a frantic world against us

yet

in all the deeper layers of endearment,

if we change

might we evolve

(I know, that word)

into our earthy, better loves

x

so that both

both adapt

as well as remain

(and well-remain)

and like the roots

of earnest Earth

unreached, reached,

and reaching

all directions

(the extents of our exchange)

we last ages

in age

x

trust doesn’t change in time

it seasons with the seasons

more reliant

and more comfortable

resolute in crisis

and with good drinks

set at table

seated by the sea

that dreams with us

of better earth

in redeemed entirety

x

thanking each other

for the love

that has not changed

and changed

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c l couch

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Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

(upside-down heart to look like a triangle; triangle meaning delta; delta meaning change after heat is applied—whew, sorry; maybe on a t-shirt)

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Quiet Victory

(x = space)

x

x

Quiet Victory

x

There is yellow sunlight

On things this morning

Or is it gold

Or is it wishful thinking?

Church is going on

I’m trying to listen

The advantage and the irony

Of virtual

If I’m distracted

If I distract myself

It sticks

(the distraction)

x

(Saint) Paul is confessional

I think that’s good

I was thinking yesterday

Of (Saint) Peter

And his qualities to lead

That are pretty awful

He leads anyway

Jesus said so

Called him foundational

To a new movement,

A new church

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We are flawed

And at our best

We do not deny our flaws

Because that is honest

Because vanity

And ego

Won’t win anything

The battle

Or the day

Or the age

Or the world

Or the cosmos

Better to be the silent planet

As Lewis has created

Until we speak in power

Due to love

And lead the battle

And the world

And the age

In love

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C L Couch

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Solar Eclipse

Photo by Obed Hernández on Unsplash

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LoveSpeak

(x = speak)

x

x

LoveSpeak

x

What does God’s love say

In the face of danger?

Through many dangers,

Toils, and snares

God’s love says

I’m here

The love is here

The source is here

The host is here

We’re here

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Though there be anger,

Scorn, and fear

From enemies and friends

Alike

Because doubt and unbelief

Might have to have

Their way,

The love of God is first

And follows

Like the currents inside Earth

And over,

The moving pillars

Cloud or fire

That are before

And after

x

Alongside in

The truth of companionship

But I can’t see that

You can

It’s more than senses

With which we perceive

As best we can

x

Presence and love are better

They are inside

And out

They speak without words

Until it’s time for words

x

When we have ears to hear

And cannot hear,

Count on the company

Of the divine

To know us better,

Pick us up

If fallen,

Go with us onward

Leading, should we ask

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C L Couch

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Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

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“Amazing Grace” (the hymn) referenced above

x

A Simple Love then Complicates in Fear

(x = space)

x

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A Simple Love then Complicates in Fear

x

A simple love then complicates in fear

A lust begins a hot surrendering

We think we have it all when love is near

T’ward deeper feeling’s ember tendering

And we believe a faithful person true

We’re human, after all, possessing flaws

And may decide what is for fondness due

Those fails incumbent not unto our laws

The question is what flaws will each abide?

We fear to change, though poems say we must

‘Cause perfect love won’t find us on this side

Thus alter will or no or aging just

New and anew, decide for you and me

Then we shall be and Hamlet’s not not be

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C L Couch

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Photo by Leo Fosdal on Unsplash

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benedictus

(x = space)

x

x

benedictus

x

we could be pleased

with what we had

and sad for what is missed

we could love what there is

let go the hate for

what was taken

who took it

we could love with a love

not pure, because there’s always

imperfection

we could correct and sigh

sigh and correct over faults

x

we could love

because alternatives shall drive us

into places where

no one really wants to go

or stay

more so, we could come home

to the dwelling of our hearts

and smarter thoughts

inside the land that God more fully made

that shall remain

when the rest

the doubt, the pain, even scorn

shall fall away

while love remain

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c l couch

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hoto by savvas kalimeris on unsplash

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Briefly, the Apocalypse

(x = space)

x

x

Briefly, the Apocalypse

x

The circle won’t be broken

Angels will hold

The breaking places

‘Til we get there

x

We’ll keep the world together

Until an ending that is proper

Appropriate for

New heaven and

New Earth

x

C L Couch

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Photo by bhuvanesh gupta on Unsplash

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