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

x

“The Rape of the Lock”

(x = space)

x

x

“The Rape of the Lock”

x

Is a poem-story

About a theft of hair

(a basis for satire)

From times when

“Rape” meant abduction

(bad enough, though

if you know

The Fantastiks, then

you know)

x

Even so, not a good

Word, made worse by

The way we use it

Now—given charge

And change

With reason

Words have power,

Don’t they?  Sometimes

More than action: try

Proclaiming “dictator”

Inside democracy

(listen to the only

speech in Chaplin’s

The Great Dictator)

Or cry “freedom” inside

Tyranny

x

Then there’s

“Joy” in a

Cheerless place,

Challenging the time

Another way

x

Have a gentle day

And mind (and mine)

Your choice of words, and

Take comfort from

The people with whom

You don’t have to

Fret so much

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Kristian Strand on Unsplash

New York, United States

Type

x

Corazón

Corazón

 

Can I write about this now?

Maybe a sabbath day will help

It’s the living, you know

They cannot have that

The people of Puerto Rico

Spanish and Taino

Legacy of colony

Self-determination that we prize

So much is always mollified

Into a chance for daily life

And that is gone and has been for such

A long, long while

 

We chose this for them

Our nation did not free them

Did not favor statehood

Rendered a possession in a war

With Spain

One set of owners to another

Arecibo’s there

Ancient San Juan with El Moro

But life is dark

Because there’s no electricity

For so many

For so many

 

It’s a litany of labor

Living that does not allow for expectation:

What might we have today

Food that has not spoiled

Walls that are dry at last of storm

Our children start school soon

Will there power in the classroom

Or at home for studying?

The nation could answer affirmative

We haven’t

 

We could build them back

And Texas, too

And, yes, handle the wildfires

In the golden state

And all the shootings in Chicago

We’re reactive

Here’s a tragedy

Could be our finest set of hours

What is it

They’re mestizo?

We don’t know five hundred years of conflict

To comfort?

We’re unaware of what is manufactured

That we need?

 

I’m asking

Because we made a claim

Because we have the navy there

And look for understanding in the stars

 

So maybe we can listen for

Ayúdanos

 

C L Couch

 

 

Free photo: El Moro Puerto Rico – structure, washed, worn – Non …

Jooinn

El Moro Puerto Rico, structure, washed, worn, stone

 

Banshee

Banshee

 

She calls death one at a time

And only she can do this

How many of her kind

Might number all the realms

She does not know

She cannot

The grammar is of one, no

More

No more can exist at a

Time

 

There is no plural here, for only she

Can split the night

A responsibility of one, and then

Not even that

She folds into time until

Her nature is invoked again

To rend the cloth

To terrify even the somber parts

Of night

Dawn becomes mortality

 

All this is hers

 

C L Couch

 

 

CC0 Creative Commons

Free for commercial use
No attribution required

(Pixabay)

 

The Parable of Nathan

The Parable of Nathan

(2 Samuel 12)

 

David was the king

 

Nathan in the court

Prophet, one of what had once been

The ruling group

 

Nathan told David about

Someone rich with money, lands,

And livestock

Who stole the one sheep of

His neighborhood to have

A feast of mutton

 

Who is this thief and murderer of

Law and goodness,

The monarch demanded

 

Nathan taught

He prophesied a lesson

Timeless truth to borrowed power

(Which is all the power there

Is)

 

This thief of God’s provision

Nathan said to David,

It is you

 

C L Couch

 

Kalinaw

Kalinaw

 

Onomatopoeia

 

Long-vowel

Sounds (with

Skip of an i in

Between),

 

K to begin

Consonant-

Firm,

L then

N to give

Brief space,

Ending in

W

 

Even of

Silence—simply

To look or

Use another

Sense—the

Word evokes

Feeling and

Presence

 

Believe

Words have

Power

 

They do

 

Find quiet

 

Say and enter

An utterance,

 

Door to a

Place

 

Inside

You’ll know

 

C L Couch

 

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!

powwords

powwords

 

words levy power like

wizards casting spells in lore

 

words do take over

especially with nothing left

 

when everything has failed

and utterance remains

 

we are words

we are made of words

 

well we are not

though it can feel that way

 

do you know the secret

word that elicits gnostic will

 

do you know the word

that can heat a frozen spirit

 

 

inspired by recent posts of

annie at what the woman wrote

melinda kuscera at in media res

working together

https://whatthewomanwrote.wordpress.com/2016/03/24/a-way-with-words/

https://whatthewomanwrote.wordpress.com/2016/03/26/pathogenic-poetry/

 

To All Nebuchadnezzars

To All Nebuchadnezzars
(in the present age in exigency
anywhere, this is the prophecy
of speaking truth to power)

Said Daniel to the king:

You are brittle with power
While I have talent, speak
With zeal, and touch power
That’s true because I know
It’s not my own

You will cast me out and
Throw me down

I will survive the lions, while
You, above, will soon suffer
Suppurating disease

The carrion of falsehood
On which you feed will have
Its way with you, eating
Infected meat of poisoned
Blood that comes from
Your own veins

Why not send me, if you
Cannot bear my presence,
To a new place where I
Might love the people you
Have cursed whom I can
Help, and you remain

Within your rich and sullen
Chamber, adorned in
Shadowed fate

Nothing changes, king; for
I will arise from the pit in
Certainty, while you will
Never recognize how you
Dwell in your own deep
Place without protection
From the beasts