Monday Possibilities

(x = space)

x

x

Monday Possibilities

x

God is love

God is a spirit

God is a lion

Too

And a rock

x

Not a rock

Though we might paint

“Jesus Saves”

On one

x

There was such a place

I was ridden by

Then drove by

While I was growing up

x

A rock

Next to a pool

A stream

Some kind of moving water

Because

The place looked dark and fresh

x

“Jesus Saves”

Why

Yes

He does

God who is that spirit

And that love

Even a lion

Helps to make it so

x

There is a trinity

A kind of multiplicity

Who knows how

Wide the

Godhead

In all the dimensions

When day by day

In all our wandering

We know barely more

Than three

x

A kind of multiplicity

Is God

That made the rock

And made the paint

(though did not sell it

though somebody

could)

But doesn’t sleep

xxxxxThat’s energy

xxxxxInside the Earth

xxxxxAwaiting

x

I guess it’s Monday

I’m thinking about

The possibilities

While I have mean neighbors

But friendly faces

In my life

To recall

At will

And call with real immanence

As well

x

Where is the lion

But in a free place

Offering

(a big paw)

An invitation

For us

There

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by 2H Media on Unsplash

A statue on display in the Grand Egyptian Museum.

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first holy saturday

(x = space)

x

x

first holy saturday

x

1

x

it seems there’s nothing

but a void

after which is fear

there could be doubt

but what is left

to believe in

first

x

the body’s cared for

there’s the irony of a guard

to keep things safe

while making sure

we don’t get in

to take him

x

so what is left

but us

and an enormous world

ready to quash us

and to take our air

our allotment of

anything

allowed

x

we have gone too far

they’ll say

but we have killed the head

and now the serpent

body dies

and we shall have it

or leave it

shriveling in the shadows

or bring it to the light

to finish

dessication

and metaphors aside

we mean you

and to have you

x

your paltry movement

and there are many crosses

provided by the Romans

and the Greeks

and Egyptians

before

x

you are done

we shall have you

you are annihilated

not even space on Earth

shall have you

x

we can delight

considering

a line of graves

underneath the field

that we buy

with the silver

Judas has returned

x

well

not well

and so we hide

small care for each other

we dare to send for food

and prepare it

without fire

to share it in the dark

x

these are holy hours

we try

to pay attention

x

some count the hours

most of us

cannot do

something so constructive

x

it is finished

last words

we heard them

so did they

we wait for

we don’t know what

we have forgotten all the miracles

and all of what was said

to go with them

x

we hide

and that’s the hell of it

as it seems

that hell has won

x

2

x

there is the edge

of a hole

through which we see

what we have been taken from

and shall we try

to return

a circle

an eye

we hurt

wait, an eye

who sees

we see

does God look at us

or Rome

or the Sanhedrin

x

how can God look

God died yesterday

we saw

we heard

and it is terrible

but there’s nothing more

even from the cross

were the words

that it is finished

x

we can’t even wait

we can count the hours

but there’s nothing there

there is grief

the rightness of it

rituals

for a while

x

but then there’s nothing left

we are ridiculed

then captured

captured and then ridiculed

when it’s safe

when we are bound

bound perhaps

to crosses of our own

x

why do we even have

this day

it is a holy day

so to say

holy hours

holy minutes

x

if yesterday

had been the day

if the cross beam was

a blooded lintel

then the deadly angel

missed

or misread

and took

the righteous

anyway

against the plan

x

but it’s not fair

to miscast angels

who are commanded

by a God

who let

if not arranged for

all of this

and now has disappeared

gone to Sheol

though how can God

wait for God

x

there are no answers

only rumors

that we cannot hear

the world has closed us off

in here

and we will not snipe

or bear false hope

or cheat

material truth

x

while we are waiting

worse than that

having nothing

to wait for

x

we mourn

we cannot look

or look

taste and see

we miss our God

we were friends of God

for a little while

x

we are lost

after our paroxysms

maybe we

catch our breath a little

and shall we go where

we proclaimed it long ago

that without God

there is nowhere

the nowhere of the Sadducees

maybe

x

but on to night

and after night

not daylight

but a void

judgment perhaps

but what could we have done

when we were told

what we were told

x

friendship for hours only

new love

and now

it’s as if creation

matter

molecules

might as well

have never happened

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Filip Kominik on Unsplash

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Send Something

(x = space)

x

x

Send Something

x

A little love

A few notes in a song

Words on paper

(that’s a note)

Or however

Frankly

A bit of chocolate

Or another treat

Would not go wrong

And may simply

Sensually

Render aid

Toward something right

x

C L Couch

x

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Photo by Tamas Pap on Unsplash

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Pledge Break

(x = space)

x

x

Pledge Break

x

Goodness

It’s late

I haven’t really

Said anything

I’ve let the tyranny

Of memories and songs

Take over

Drafting elsewhere

x

Tyranny

That could be blessed

For pleasures recalled

And challenges

And to reconsider

Resolutions

x

Well

What is there to say?

Love God

Love each other

I’ll try to do better

Always better

Improve

Even invent

Devices and topoi

As devices

Not cleverness

(clearly)

But invitations

For the nonce

And later on

x

For that is the joy of words

Arranged

That they might be

Considered later on

x

Like words

I like your words

And almost everything they carry

I’m sorry

But for now

I must set aside the hate

Even for justice

‘Til mediation

Greater wisdom

So much greater than my own

Take over

x

We must talk

At least we should

And I can hope

We do

At that table

Where all words

Be shared and understood

And a new world built by them

From every session

Made

Into our mission

x

While most of us

Lead lives away

Improved

Steadier on the path

Cosmically designed

Determined

Our input welcomed

Now with grace

Re-made

From our negotiation

With each other

Willing to listen

By the end

Of sessions

And be changed in

And for

A universe

Always moving

Always changing

x

Together

There’s the wisdom

There has to be

Or else

Franky

We’ve earned oblivion

x

I say

We say

Enough

Let’s fill our cups

And serve each other

On our plates

Wise love

Via service

Receiving thus

Salvation

x

Poetically

And prosaically

Yours,

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

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Facets

(x = space)

x

x

Facets

x

1

x

What is love

But ether

And it’s action

We feel what we feel

We want to feel good

We have

Responsibilities

Sometimes some stoicism’s

Called for

Pink and red

Silliness, devotion

Both are good

And necessary

x

Love means doing things

Everyday things

And then there’s

Exigency

Something urgent happens

We respond

x

We argue

And we’re sorry

We’re afraid

There is a challenge

To have others

Believe in themselves

x

If there’s only selfishness

In you

Change you

x

And if you want all this

Have love

It is lasting

And delightful

It is solid

And it’s fluid

It changes us

Love changes

It’s supposed to

We have fun with it

We grow

And if it’s good love

It should last

Grow up with it

Grow old

x

2

x

Remember also

Let the circle widen

There are good people

Standing by

It is a lattice

A shiny, moving web

A honeycomb

The marble of the Earth

That turns

That displays wonder

With the movement

Of the atmosphere

x

Keep breathing

It is wonderful

Let love be oxygen

For muscles

That do work

That offer passion

That do play

That understand devotion

Pledge-keeping

Even without a pledge

In mind

x

Love is fair

There should be justice

In the house

In the yard

In the office

On the playground

With our friends

With strangers

Yes, be careful

Love needs time

And air

And food

Real food

And of the gods

And God

x

Devotion’s play

Love’s work

So many parts

Live them through

Live through them

Delight

Evolve

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash

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Valentine’s

(x = space)

x

x

Valentine’s

(belongs to you)

x

Valentine got famous

For correspondence;

Other saints send messages

x

Valentine left words

Of love and encouragement

As other saints have done—as

You or I have done

x

Then red and pink took over

x

Red for hearts,

Pink for I don’t know

x

Lace got in there, too:

We covered up our furniture,

Covered our piano legs

With that

x

Well, why not?

We need the colors in the winter

And red means passion,

Loyalty as well

x

While pink is fragile

As are all relationships

In part

x

Happy day for strengthening

Like exercise,

Metal in devotion

Like the metal in the jewelry

For a sign we wear

x

Happy Valentine’s

With valentines

x

Don’t force it

Or deny it:

If deny it,

Maybe do so

With a saint’s

Prudent

Contemplative quiet

x

For the rest,

Give the cake

Share the cake

Eat the cake

Enjoy refined sugar

Or have raisins

x

Or above the silence

And beneath the noise

Go slowly—pleased to

Talk it through

On or by

The sidewalks of the world

x

C L Couch

x

x

now you have a day to plan—you’re welcome

x

By Lorie Shaull from Washington, United States – Happy Valentine’s Day!, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56401542

x

We Say, We Believe

(x = space)

x

x

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

x

God made the gold, at least

And also power

Power lent

To us

And in the Earth

Inherent

x

Borrowing

And legacy

That’s not our own

No matter how many times

We name another name

x

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

x

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)

x

x

Christmas 12

(or What You Will)

x

They’re drumming loudest

Of all

Not like Buddy Rich

More like Sousa

x

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)

x

And, love,

I don’t know if you may stay

I do know

Our relationship needs some work

x

C L Couch

x

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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

x

Christmas Campaign

x

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

x

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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