(x = space)
x
x
Runaway Psalm
x
God, lay the morning
Down on us
Softly, unless there
Must be a storm
Give our senses
Easy labor
Except in greater need
Then call us out
To work the needs for people
Who should have
A day in which
To praise you
By still waters
To take breathing lessons
For whatever comes
In the next hour
And forever,
Cherishing each moment
And the way
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Inés Castellano on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
The Twenty-Third Song
(a paraphrase)
x
My life is wrecked
I feel ruined
And here you are, Lord;
I don’t know if I asked for you,
And I am so relieved
That you are here
x
I thought there was a desert
But, look, there’s water
Cold and clear;
It is the best that I have tasted
And I have no doubt
That it is good for me
x
This is more than I deserve
And maybe I should leave—well,
I feel your hand
Guiding me back;
I should stay a while
x
I thought this was the end,
That I could not lose any more
And it was getting dark;
But you are here,
And maybe you were with me
While I was stumbling
Back there
x
Look, here’s food:
And who are those around me?
They don’t come any closer
x
Before I eat, please
Bless all this
And maybe me;
You are the one
To do it, after all
x
Should you be with me
Through all that is to come,
Then blessings
Will continue, even in
The splintered times
x
And because of you,
Your presence in my life,
When this life is done
And the next mystery begins,
I shall be with you
With a living place in heaven
Or on Earth renewed
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Edgar Castrejon on Unsplash
The Forum, Roma
x
Newsong
(starting with Psalm 96)
Sing to the Lord a new song,
Which means we should be writing all the time
Crafting notes to go with words
Consider instruments
Tempo, attitude, occasion
We have the reason
There’s no reason
A new song because creation’s always new
It crests upon us with the dawn
That is seen aboard spaceships
Over the arc of the deep-blue sea
That comes inside my house
And yours
Why do we sing so many old songs again
And one more time
Nothing wrong with that
We apply new energy each time
But we are also called to create
Beyond new versions
Why, because creation itself
Teaches of itself
Every time it rings anew
Does the dragon sing inside its keep
Does gold sing underneath the earth
In there melody inside the mitochondria
Where gene pairs harmonize
Scales
Rhythms
Measures without measure
Blank pages, open minds await
Hearts ready to practice
To perform all nerves aglow,
Wary of the audience
Wondering approval
If delight
Will we beat a dance that
No one’s ever stepped?
Will we step a dance
That no one’s ever stopped?
Coda
Encore
Rest
Then return to make again
Co-make
With the composer of the universe
Who asks of us again
To find within ourselves
Something new
C L Couch
Vintage tambourine musical instrument 1960s | Musical instruments …
My Timbrel In the Sun
Hayley Brodrick saved
Psalm 52
song of passion
Some things are not enough even
From an impoverished place,
Contemplating gifts.
O God,
Where is your own longing?
And where might mine match yours?
Psalm 53
song of compassion
Lord,
Why should you listen to me, anyway
But I’ll keep talking, just the same
Someone is missing
And others are searching
It’s far away
I don’t know anyone there
But there are hearts
And life that always matters
So I’ll ask
Sinner before the altar
Please help those in motion
Watch around (above, under) the rescue
Help us in our better work
Bless those in need of rescue
Please
Bless the rescued
And the rescuer
http://www.uscgnews.com/go/doc/4007/2914970/
C L Couch
Psalm 50
(a song about un-ending)
hours
sing monastic
song throughout
the night
how do we
sing with
what’s not
been heard
in heaven’s
day
we practice
with tentative
skill
for you are
excellence
our unto
the Lord makes
sense
when on
an uneven
way
pleasing you
we are free
to turn
it is enough
for you
you are delight
we know
the joy
Psalm 49
(a penultimate song)
Before the last,
One more thing,
Please, to say:
O Lord, like all
The seasons that
You muster,
You are constant
In provision;
Might we live in
Gratitude,
Thirsty children
Who can yet look
Up before
We stoop, saving,
To drink—
Risking, yes, a
Moment of hurt
Brilliance
Gazing, as we
Do, toward the
Direction of one
Who has
Left life for us
In a healing cup,
Freely filled with
Consequence,
And bread that
Was earth-fired,
Once
Psalm 48
God Breaks Through
The day comes
When God breaks
Through
When an open hand
Will not be
Withheld by grace
Or by design
We cannot bring
It down—release
Or entice it
Our timing has no
Meaning here
We should leave
It all alone
A mind ordains, a
Host obeys
The earth will be
Complete
Ready to be
Apprehended in
Capture and in
Understanding
Day time and
Night time
Without time
psalm 4-something
too tired for capital letters
proper phrasing and
reliable numerals
I extend my hope
my hand is open
will I have it when I draw it back
will it be empty with some taken off
will it be an open plain upon which is
something of a gift
something to keep me going
source of sustenance
symbol of believing
even the lines on my palm
might tell me as they intersect
that patterns are really chaos
without some understanding
nothing gnostic or occult
no wise artificial secrets
only openness, like a hand,
when the act is fragile
ready to receive whatever
you place on me to do
Psalm 46
A new world comes
And some would say
It’s here
By your hand, we might
Live in better days
The images we make
For politics or
Entertainment
Are wrung through
With shiny fakery
I think our new day
Will arrive,
Lord,
When we learn to say
I love you to the ground
And to the air
And to the wind we
Cannot see but truly
Feel and have:
When we learn the
Value of unseen things,
We can say I love you
To each other
Then your new day is
Manifest
clcouch123 
Recent Comments