haiku (more)

(x = space)

x

x

haiku

x

1

slow nature inside

plants grow in unsure seasons

ours darkness or light

x

2

unsurely outside

winter by a calendar

summer another

x

3

creature on a branch

cardinal or squirrel set

then fly or skitter

x

C L Couch

x

x

(like those earlier, these haiku can relate to each other, though I doubt there is a rule about connection; or each haiku may stand alone, which I guess is more traditional)

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Photo by Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash

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haiku

(x = space)

x

x

haiku

x

1

twenty pages in

the need to gaze and breathe out

outside for elsewhere

x

2

city-wise black trees

darkened too the sky-wept street

nature go with tears

x

3

after rain is haze

exhale into clarity

newly gifts of night

x

C L Couch

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Photo by Emil Widlund on Unsplash

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Early

here are some poems

a booklet as it were

that I drafted early this morning and,

well,

over sixty years

x

I could not decide

maybe none is good

but for now

call this

x

Early

x

x

x

Wages

x

What do I deserve

Well,

The Bible has an answer

x

So does Donald Trump

And others like:

Acquire

And do nothing more

Than lie about how much you have

x

Too little to the IRS

Too much to the rest of the world

x

Then die someday

And nothing that goes with you

Goes with you

Except for judgment

That was avoided

Or, again,

Lied about

x

No grace

Forgoing grace

Since without cost

Isn’t worth collecting

x

x

x

Fixit

x

I need a sewing kit

But then I’d need to do

What to do with it

Or what’s inside it

x

A socket wrench

And other tools

And then a broken car

With which to contend

x

The fixing life for me

On other planes

Repairing in the multiverse

Somebody like but is not me

x

x

x

Caffeine Relaxation

(paradox?)

x

It’s Saturday

It’s early

It’s cold outside

But warmer than

The February expectation

I have some coffee

Actually

To calm me down

I woke up and my eyes hurt

And in many other places

I feel pain

A kind that agitates

So maybe

Some quiet sitting

And creating

While I sip

And hope

The warmth coming inside

Will work some Starbucks

Magic

Like yesterday’s Tim Horton

x

x

x

Simply Born

x

1

x

A problem with the English

Maybe all the

Europeans

Is this matter of the blood

Whom and what

You have

Inherited

Determines

Everything

Monolithic expectations

That lead to similar allowances

x

To the manor born

Above the salt

A Tudor

Or a Stewart

Maybe selected for convenience

But only from those swimming

In the rarified

Waters

Not of H2O

But, you know,

RHIP

x

We can’t be wizards

Sorry

Any more than monarchs

Because we weren’t born to it

While talent

Study

And determination

Aren’t enough

x

And if we’re born into

Villainy,

Well,

You are a villain

Though maybe you’ll get off

The hook

If you foreswear family

And all the generations

Of your line

x

Time in tracks

Matters:

How your family

Behaved as born

One line after another,

The lines

Becoming nets

Because you’re caught inside

The legacy

x

Slice through

Then go out

On your own?

There’s an exception for

Villainy, again,

Or outcast

At the least

And then you better leave

Before your one-time peers

Reach for stones

x

Maybe it’s American

(Canada, the USA, Mexico,

and all the nations

south)

To believe that

One’s own might be dreamed about,

Discovered,

And worked for

x

What are we good at, really?

And dare to ask

What do I want

To do?

x

It’s not to say

Genetics do not matter

And we should take

Somber care

Of understanding

And of choices there

But maybe

Let democracy prevail

Regarding will

As well as votes

And encourage voices, too,

So bold to say

Does not have to be

So bold

x

Break through, England,

And the rest of

Europe:

Allow for aptitudes

And choices

Beyond

What we think the Domesday Book

Or other inked-in listing

Dictates over us

Over ages

x

Be yourselves

And let us be our own

And in this

Let discipline

And joy

x

2

x

Still

Sometimes I would like to know,

To have discovered that

I come from a long line

Sherwood Forest outlaws,

Musketeers,

Or pirates

x

Romantic,

Then, with no brutality

x

Force used only for

Protection and defense—there’s

A code,

Subsuming the genetic

And determined

x

So heroes, then—and

Is that a legacy?

And how much does that matter?

Once again,

We learn about the past

Our past

And what each one

Was disposed to

x

But then we choose

Not because blood

Allows

But more so wishes

And our circumstances that

Might change

Or make us

Reconsider

x

But knowing

(encouraged to know)

Who we are

And what we want

When

We’re allowed

x

x

x

Brother Orchid

x

My sister said

I should try

An orchid

For an indoor plant

I sort of killed

Everything I had

Even the plants

From visits

At the hospital

Brought here

Then what my cat

Finished off

x

Orchids are stronger

Than you think

They last

Deal well with light

And respond to

Conversation

x

Which is the

Only thing I know

To try for sure

Talking to the plants

And

You know

Watering

Them

Too

x

x

x

A School of Good and Evil

(I had the TV on for noise)

x

You know,

They dub the shows

In many languages

x

It’s a Netflix

Thing;

I’m not sure

About the others,

My cable being limited

x

But it’s a service

To the world

And to

Its ratings,

Even approbation

x

And why not

To both?

Serve

And get rewarded;

Sometimes

Does no better

x

It’s a mindset:

A program,

An agenda

x

There is money

Between hands

In media

More so than

Admittedly

Engaging

The ideal

x

Let it go

Let it happen

Say thank you

If you otherwise

Would not understand

Anything

That would otherwise

Be your own

Experience,

Interest,

Delight

x

x

x

Stories for Circles

(in this case, Winx)

x

A school

And a circle of stone

x

A field trip

Or classroom

x

Maybe that’s

What

Stonehenge was for

And all

The circles

Everywhere

Which is to say for

Learning

x

Then no wonder

There’s the

Story

Of Merlin

Raising stones on

Salisbury Plain

x

The circle in

Which to teach

The young

Arthur

x

Circle of stone

For endurance

All

The surfaces

For testing

And for trying out

Like the world that

He would

Grow into

x

Fight

Negotiate

And also most of all

To rule

x

x

x

A Cloak and Must There Be a Dagger

x

I’d like a cloak

To wear

Though they’re not the fashion

Now

x

Nonetheless

Something to draw

Not to zipper

Or to snap

Or button

Over me

So much

x

A cloak

Might speak to

Characters

Of another age

And

You know

Real people

Who need layers

And with

Which

To reach through

For reins

Or to push pocket things

Coins

And such

x

Yes

For walking along cliffsides

And let the ends

Dramatically be blown

By wind

And hints

Of storms

‘Til they arrive

x

But I think could I settle one

Over me

Then I could drive

My car

Or protect things that I carry

Or simply

Unshaped

Move along

x

It is

I guess

A masculine request

Since women

Wear the cloaks just fine

And ponchos

Should

And when they wish

Sigh

For not wanting

To be seen

For

What I wear

x

x

x

Muskrat

x

I wanted that

To be our song

And the one across me

Told me

About already having it

And with another

x

Kindness, perhaps

Regret

Or moving on

Only now do I

Wonder

With a spark

About motivation

x

x

x

The School after Knocks

x

I wish

I could go to

School again

Things would so different

So much

Better

I’d choose more carefully

And not so many

Things

So that I’d be doing

Things

x

I could create

And without motivation

But my own

x

You see

I’d know something of the future and

The possibilities

Outside of agendas

And

Expectations

For me

From the others

x

x

x

Victoryous

x

Love says

In our good books

Also in the trees

On the wind

And over oceans

Inside oceans

Too

That

Kindness is for real

And keeps coming back

For options

x

Rather than

The steel rule

That what is

Hard

And closed

Taking on

Hoping for

Thrashing of opponents

To win

x

Love says

Try another

Because I am

We are

Stronger than metal doors

And points on lances

Untorn banners

And brighter than

LEDs on boards

That signal launches

x

Love will

Last

Beyond

All that

And on its own

A shadow between forms

Like us

Until the forms are more

Like us

Without mortal impedances

To either side

And we are ready

To choose love

And have love

x

In love

There is not much

More ambition

Certainly not

A mean one

There are

Hope and faith

And with these

Love prevails

Over

Well

Everything

x

x

x

Asking

x

What shall I say to you

Today

But that I care

And want

To know

And to know more

Of your story

x

The pages are easily

Worthwhile

Word by word

And spaces

In between

x

Because you have great value

You are you

And what you say

You have

You’ve been

You are

Best-sells

In the best way

Both easy

And compelling

x

A book that gains no money

But is rich

Has wealth

As your own,

As you

x

x

x

C L Couch

x

x

x

Photo by Nadiia Ploshchenko 🇺🇦 on Unsplash

Finded these cute tiny guys in our garden, tulips in the background added a great contrast to this shot.

Kharkiv, Ukraine

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2 poems about power

(x = space)

x

x

2 poems about power

x

x

A Day without Power

x

The plug on the computer broke

Last night

I had what was left of

The battery’s charge

I thought about what to do

Without the use the computer

To get a part for the computer

x

I live in a small town

There aren’t big signs saying

Fix Your Computer Here

But I call a friend

And with real words we discussed

The problem

x

He knows more than I

And so helped me make a list

Of non-electronic possibilities

I moved on one of these

Using the car

(not a mouse)

Going to a place with walls

Not firewalls

Looking people in the face

And telling my brief story

x

We found something universal

That could fit

My machine

I purchased the new thing

That wasn’t cheap

But a day without

Going into two days

Was not desirable

x

In the world,

There are better needs

And bigger

I didn’t lose electricity

And I’m not in a war zone

I am poor

But there’s help to get me food

When need be

And sometimes other things

x

I am sick

And usually tired

But am ambulatory

And have lots of pills

That help

And there are side effects,

Which mostly thanks to taxes

And my age

I can afford

x

I tend to think your needs

Must be greater than mine,

More real

And more pressing

But in my larger story

There was one decent passage

I can share with you now,

Hopefully to hear

Your story, too

x

x

The Power of Friendship

x

We’ve been through COVID

Got our shots

More or less retired

From our jobs

We both believe

And sometime have

Good conversations about faith

We share books

We don’t shop

Or take trips together

We might cheer on different teams

He has a house

(mortgage paid off recently)

He is married

Has three children

I’m forever the third wheel

x

We give rides for each other

When needed

For tests or procedures

He’s gotten me to hospitals

When necessary

And sat through

Unovertly

Through many times of waiting

x

There’s power in this

Unplanned

We simply met through the department

And it’s been many years

Untypical perhaps

Too academic

I think we both

Like the mind

But there is more

As there is more to people

And a complex world

x

The future will provide

There is no prophecy

Apart

We have our issues

And our challenges

Together

What David and Jonathan

Might define

Or Gertrude and Alice

Something in the ether

And before the TV

Watching movies (us three)

On Friday

x

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Robert Linder on Unsplash

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2 poems about Epiphany

(x = space)

x

x

2 poems about Epiphany (small e, large E) or the epiphanous

Here are two poems about this date, religiously and globally.  It is Orthodox Christmas, however (and Happy Christmas!), with Orthodox Epiphany twelve days from today.

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Epiphanies

(track the Es)

x

Merry Christmas

To the Orthodox

Though it is Epiphany

For the west

And west of east

Epiphany is day for

Discovery

In class we might be taught

That epiphany small-e

Denotes a moment when

Things come together

And we realize

Something grand

About life

And living

x

The catalyst isn’t something

Well-known

It’s not the wedding day

Or the trip to Disneyland

Not even

Hiking to the peak

It is washing dishes

Playing with children

(don’t let the moment

get you struck

with a game ball)

Beholding the postal carrier

Who knows

Something for

Each one of us

What we realize

Is that

Life is this

And shall not be the same

x

For an example

You might have missed

In school,

Stephen Daedalus

In Portrait

Espies a woman by the water

No one he knows

And will not see again

Yet he discovers

Realizes

How the world is

And his part to play

While she is not Arthurian

And Excalibur

Is not presented from the water

The scene is ordinary;

No one else could

Tell

And we know

Because we have the story

Only here

Not worthy in a ledger

Or a history

Or an age

Or of a people

x

It might be

That each of an

Arthur

Or a king

Between genders

All of us

And one by one

But that is an essay

To argue a metaphor

For an assignment

As Arthur learns a destiny

For Camelot

So we discover

What we have

In a realm of one

x

Could this be

A partnered thing?

Modernism

Would say no

But now that we are post-,

Why not?

x

Epiphany large-E

Means discovery

As the Magi come upon

The child Jesus,

Understanding all the prophecy

That hinted in a star

And in old narratives

That someone

Would be here

To change the world

x

There is another such

(same day)

Recalling Jesus with

His cousin John

And baptism by the Jordan

Jesus is grown now

And insists

His cousin dedicate

Jesus with water;

John demurs,

But Jesus shall have it in

No other way

And when the water pours

The sky opens

There is a dove descending

And a voice to hear

Announcing

And approving

Jesus to God

And back to Earth

This is the discovery

(large E)

For him

The prophet

And the human world

x

For us beholding

Realizing

Changing us

Perhaps

However evangelism

Falls

Like a descending dove

x

x

The Patrick’s Day Party

x

Today is the sixth

Of January,

A date that could live

In infamy

But won’t

The government is stable

Except for Republicans

And Democrats

Who decided that

Polemics is the better

Form

Of politics

Shall there be a conservative

Democrat?

Shall there be

A liberal Republican?

By no means

Not here

Not now

x

Perhaps it’s time

For other parties

Our parent founders

Did not have in mind

Only two

We could bring back Whigs

I don’t know

What Whigs are

I still imagine them

In wigs

Of a past design

The Know-Nothing party

Is too on-the-nose

For how things

Go today

The Federalists?

The Loyalists?

The New-Year’s-Eve?

x

I’d go for the

Saint Patrick’s Party

We could all wear green

To treat each other

And our planet green with

Sainthood

x

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Malcolm Lightbody on Unsplash

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2 poems about ecumenicity

(x = space)

x

x

2 poems about ecumenicity

x

x

Many Things to Make

(nothing like a rant but a ramble)

x

And there are other great traditions, too,

About which I know next

To nothing

Remembering the Gulf War when

Some of us felt ecumenical

And took part in gatherings of Christians,

Jews, and Muslims

Where I got to hear the testimonies

Of the followers of each

And who they were as persons

And believers

x

There was a young woman

Of Islam

Who articulately smoothly,

Even beautifully

That who knew her better than her parents

With regard for her

And so who better to arrange

A marriage for her?

x

And I was convinced

And I disagree

And there was beauty in the

Disagreement, too

x

Doubting that we changed much

Of anything—there

Was still a war, and our young

People left to fight—but

In the moments

Of these hours

There were the points of light

The President then

Had been asking for

Inside the nation

x

There is so much more

To learn

About my neighbors

In the nation

And the world:

Who are the believers?

What do they believe?

What is the story of their faith?

Might they respect

The disagreements, too,

So that our world

Has a chance

To survive

To prosper

To believe

So that with integrity

We might reach for another world,

Too?

x

Pray the world lasts

Until we meet upon Megiddo

Not to fight

But have a meal,

Exchange apocalypse in faithful terms

And human

For a conclave

And a celebration

Of each other

x

x

Reasonably

x

Most of us believe

And there are those who don’t

Though binary’s not enough

There must be more

Than defining one thing

By its opposite

Humanists

Secularists

Unitarians

People of the Renaissance

Who gave science a category

Near faith

Without faith

x

Objectivists

Phenomenologists

People of reason

Rationality

Naturalism

Modernism

Fitter for post-modernism

Than the rest of us

x

Who could lead the way, in fact,

In appreciating

Difference

And diversity,

The creative celebration

Of the mind

And the experiment

x

Sorry I must

Define these as an

Other

But they must be

Welcome at the table

They could welcome us

We could invite each other

x

coda

x

Yes, which is not to say

Believers are irrational

Some are

Some want to be

And there are those who keep

Their faith as

Something in the wild

Those who lost at Whitby

But kept the Celtic

Style and ritual

Below

And now in daylight

Seek in celebration

Understanding for the rest of us

x

But faith has reason;

Might we say

That reason is creation

By creator?

Say no

Say yes

But allow for some very smart people

To believe

x

No one has to change

Except in violent intent

It should be an instinct to

Understand oneself

When understanding others

x

Keeping in mind

With hopefulness

That the one requested

Will in turn

Turn toward you to say

And what is your story?

Delightfully,

Be ready

x

C L Couch

x

x

I was writing before dawn and thinking about the seasons that are upon us now, wonderful times—and that in the spirit of this or that we might serve each other not only better but also for the first time, the stakes being, well, everything

now it’s dawn

x

by M. Garlick/University of Warwick/ESO – http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1627a/, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99645426

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two poems for Thanksgiving

(x = space)

x

x

two poems for Thanksgiving

x

x

The Godmother

(Sarah Josepha Buell Hale and Thanksgiving)

x

In the USA

Other nations have

Their days

It was Hale

An editor

Who lobbied

Above Washington’s

Claim as a foundation

That

The nation needed

Officially

Thanksgiving

Hale wrote to Lincoln

Other Presidents

Before

That this day was

Needed for a nation

Even in the

Horrible paradox of war

To say thank you

To whomever we should

Be saying thank you

x

Lincoln conceded

Gave a proclamation

That would not be set

For many years

Long after Hale’s

Life on Earth

Was done

x

A first Republican

Then a long-serving Democrat

(who liked new deals)

Sealed the deal

And so we have it

Fourth Thursday

In the ninth Roman month,

November

To you and me

x

x

The Day We Have

(on Thanksgiving)

x

Football and turkey

Then more football

Stuffing and cranberries

Maybe ham

Or roast beef

Or sandwiches from

The many places

Selling sandwiches

x

I suppose there will be

Beer and wine

(beer before wine is fine)

Water

Juice

Soft drinks

People ‘round the table

Between quarters

x

If turkey,

Then turkey sandwiches

(little mayo,

cranberry sauce)

Before the day is done

With

More sustenance

Kept inside the box

For tomorrow

And tomorrow and tomorrow

Since there’s too much

Lucky us

Who have too much

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Morvanic Lee on Unsplash

x

Thank you!

x

courage

(x = space)

x

x

courage

(compash)

x

the brave leaves

are in fact

leaving;

the wind has done its work

there is inescapability

in the season passing

if I wrote useless things

upon electronic leaves

perhaps my season

will be passing, too

x

it is a pledge, I guess

the old word tontine

a formal offering

to work

to put down

to express

to depict

to make my painting here,

unfit for a museum

maybe for local work

the verses in the subway

a slogan on a placard

should I reach

and arrive so far

x

like glory in the sky

parochial sky

parochial of one

should I hear myself

out there

constructively

x

c l couch

x

x

photo by jeremy bishop on unsplash

x

haiku (3) after Hallowtide

(x = space)

x

x

haiku (3) after Hallowtide

x

x

seasons ending in

new seasons beginning to

take hold then let go

x

x

red leaves like children

bright and shiny always changing

into something else

x

x

evergreen until

needles wither due to lack

of water and air

x

x

C L Couch

x

x

Red of Fall

Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash

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