Cold Comfort

(x = space)

x

x

Cold Comfort

(without irony)

x

I’ve gone on before about

The cup of cool water

I mean it’s cool

And it’s water

And to offer it

Is so good

Is it easy?

In an applianced culture,

Maybe,

Where ice is a small push away

But in a desert land,

One must find the water

And if inside rock

The water might be cool

And we can offer it

To relatives

To friends

And strangers

Even adversaries

Enemies who might need

To drink first

Before starting negotiations

Or given simply because

The gift of water

Is small

Amazement

Brings peace to the home

And for any

Table

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Ilya Plakhuta on Unsplash

Ukraine

x

Declared

(x = space)

x

x

Declared

x

Here,

There’s food for energy

And water

I know, for many

An easy trip to the store

x

War ruins this,

Of course,

There and by extension

My shopping receipts attest

All our bills

x

There has been the war of greed

There and here

x

Though

Away from war

Except for greed

I don’t have to fear for bullets

Or wait for other missiles small and large

Cry the air,

Find my flesh

Find yours

x

The planet will reclaim

The Earth to wait

And us to judge

Well or poorly

The killing of each other

Loss

Hardship

And disease

x

Our tries everywhere

To build

To know each other

Energize the world

Food

Water

Safety

A just ambition

Peace

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Антон Дмитриев on Unsplash

Sunset in the exclusion zone.

x

The Wonder Dog

(x = space)

x

x

The Wonder Dog

x

I used to let

The dog go

In the creek

Taking off the leash

Once we were behind

The houses

What a happy dog

Upstream was all right

There was freedom in that,

Too

x

Muscles got used

That needed using

The shaking of the chain

Hanging in the closet meant

That

All this could happen

x

Once released

x

C L Couch

x

x

Water Flowing over Rocks

Photo by Robert Zunikoff on Unsplash

x

Give It Up

(x = space)

x

x

Give It Up

x

How childish

I sound to myself

When I think

Cynically

Cynical is futility

We have

Que será será

It is what it is

For defense

A shield from

Reality of change

Rather settling

Into the world’s wisdom

Trying on

The burden of

A chain

That has no chance

For change

No hope here,

Thank you

Only resignation

You want change,

Talk with

The cult meeting over

Somewhere

One side of the Galilean

Waters

Or the other

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by james ballard on Unsplash

Sea of Galilee, Israel

x

The Ravens

(x = space)

x

x

The Ravens

x

The Ravens came to Elijah

Carrying food

In beaks or claws

They might have been confused

x

The food they have

Is not for them

Or baby ravenlings

The (grown-up) ravens on a mission,

Nonetheless

x

There is a prophet outcast

Alone and starving

We suppose there’s water near

(God says so)

But there is no food

No animal or plant at hand

Maybe Elijah

Isn’t a hunter, anyway

x

Food is delivered

In spite of impulse

In spite of everything that

Should be natural

x

The prophet

Will live on

There is a mission there

As well,

Having many words

To quote,

To deliver of his own

x

C L Couch

x

x

² Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: ³ “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. ⁴ You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.”

⁵ So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. ⁶ The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

1 Kings 17 (NIV)

the entire passage tells of this miracle and others (2-16)

x

Photo by Valdemaras D. on Unsplash

when I saw this, I was right away reminded of the story of Elijah and the ravens

x

People Need

(x = space)

x

x

People Need

(we need)

x

Work

And salvation

Food and drink

Both safe

And a revival now and then

Safety itself

And companionship

Light in darkness

Not blinding

Not enigma

Shows the way

Only some direction needed

x

A place to go to sleep

Maybe with others close by

To wake up in a medium

Of security

Here, we call it democracy,

x

Which begs the first

And final matter

That is freedom

That we paid a paradise

To own

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Matthew T Rader on Unsplash

Plano, TX, USA

A water drinking fountain with water flowing from it | Check out my blog: matthewtrader.com/unsplash

x

Petition

(x = space)

x

x

Petition

x

God is good

(it’s how we start

a certain prayer)

And God must bear

What’s evil

Not for lack of love

But for the gift of will

That was

A gift of love

x

We think angels

Don’t have it

Yet there was a war

In heaven

They will match up

At Armageddon,

The last ranks

And those who last

Will join us in

New heaven

x

Creation is broken

We have stories

We can mend it now

Imperfectly

But make a circle

Others know how

And would show us

If we bring down

The barriers

Yes, the real walls

x

There is legacy

In circles

Protection, celebration

The will to live

Because there’s love

Unashamed

Enduring

Persisting when

That’s all there is

Because the rest

Feels on fire

If only for a time

x

Wait as in be patient

Wait as in attend

But we have one gift to give

Give it now

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Buzz Andersen on Unsplash

Kalapana, United States

I was visiting the Big Island of Hawaii with some friends and family, and my brother convinced the group to take a lava tour by boat. I always kind of balk a little bit at overtly touristy stuff like that, but I think everyone was a pretty shocked when we got our first look at the Kalapana Lava Flow after about a half hour boat trip down the coast. It’s such an awesome, phantasmagorical sight and, since they actually get surprisingly close to the spots where the rivers of lava meet the ocean and throw up sulfurous steam clouds, also a pretty visceral sensory experience.

x

We’re Sorry, Monday Morning

(x = space)

x

x

We’re Sorry, Monday Morning

x

I have some toast

I’ll have some coffee soon

And there’s nothing like cold water

To begin it all

Libation and consumption

Lead to liberation

(with les jeu de mots)

We need water

Mine goes through filters

Because we cannot drink what

We have ruined, only

Stave against pollution

Does anyone on Earth

Or above the Earth

(the ETs who are watching)

Think we are lunatics,

Invested of the moon

In an invented way?

And what can we do?

Fix all the water

Apologize to Earth

Tell Gaia that

We won’t do it again

x

C L Couch

x

x

Itto Ogami, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53127564

Piazza del Campo!

(Fonte Gaia, Siena)

x

Attending Nuclei

Attending Nuclei

 

The spirit of God

Moves across the water

In the bathtub, not because

It’s trivial but because

It’s everywhere

Breathing, laughing, cajoling

Cleaning

As a spirit of God should

 

Present at creation, making

Things happen, here

And there

Inside the tree but not the tree

 

Taking part in everything

That’s made

And with us when

We’re washing dishes

More water

 

Water and air, we need them

Nothing lives without them

Except maybe anerobic cells

That might still cry out

From time to time

For a sip

Adding a speaker to

The microscope to hear

For all the cells

 

For all the grocery lists

For prayer at breakfast

For flat tires and new children

New cells on everyone

Everything that every second frames

 

Here endeth not so much

A lesson;

Here starteth—starts–a

Day of days worth knowing

Because when we want,

We find

The day and knowing it

Astounding

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Camilo Fierro on Unsplash