Crusoe

(x = space)

x

x

Crusoe

x

It took me years

And years to come

To understand

The need

The requirement

To have a life

To have a life to offer

x

Then there is a story

Pages

Chapters

With an ending

That might satisfy

A larger world of woe

And grace

Even rescue,

Notwithstanding

x

What is left

Is little time

The gift grows smaller

Like some things

In other tales

But we have time

As is

On this side

And choices

That are not invisible

In fact,

Are rife with potency

x

The grace of God

Love and understanding

Growing up at last

The tragedy

The humor

The finality

Of wisdom

On this side

Then to another shore

An irony for Crusoe

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Jordan Steranka on Unsplash

x

Wealth of Nations

(x = space)

x

x

Wealth of Nations

x

O God

For invocation

Oh, God

To plea

Our world groans

With war

And the imbalance

Of the greedy

Systems

x

Justice should be a system

Greed is not good

Unless you’re winning

For a while

While all our cells corrupted

May yet cry for mercy

x

The ears to hear

Might be

The last to go

x

God

Help us

And forgive us

The Earth is ours

And we forget

And leave it to a few

Who vote for nothing

But self-fattening

And a self-deceiving glimpse

Of real power

x

Let all rise

(the poorly-

agendaed, too)

To march

Or stand in place

To sing

As if

Accompanying Earth

With all the antiphons

The spheres above

Below

That glide

And when against each other

Glory in the sacred touch

The music

Of all order

And all chaos,

Arranged

As creation’s gift

x

And this is wealth

Not the other

Once we feed each other

And can stand or march

(or sit with age

or disability

and purpose)

To hear the strains

Of everything

And offer ours

x

Our gift

Unto the glory

Of Earth

And all-around’s,

Of God’s all

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Illiya Vjestica on Unsplash

x

We Prayed Today

(x = space)

x

x

We Prayed Today

x

“Today is a privilege” she said she’d

Embroider on a pillow

And on the other side, “I’m still

Breathing”

Because for all the despondence,

The despair we take to prayer

In our group,

There is beauty and joy

And so much to love

In fact, it’s what we love that turns

That often

Leads us to prayer

Compels us

We pray for the good things, too,

Wanting the goodness

We pray over cherishing the messed-up

World we have

And the messed-up lives we care for

And our own

We say amen

Knowing it’s never

The end

And we say thank you

With intention

We mean it

We are grateful

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by KARTIK GADA on Unsplash

x

Paradise Neither Lost nor Found

(x = space)

x

x

Paradise Neither Lost nor Found

x

It is not the best of times

Just now

I have to own that part

Of the Dickens

Narration

Too many sick

I know

And there is war

Infamous

Famously defended

I’d like to know the wisdom

Of the ages

Those who contemplated

Long ago

How to redeem the mind

And sanctify the heart

How did they do it

When we’re so

Smarter now

x

How may I call up

Desert mothers

Desert fathers

My might I stir

My own kind of Celtic blood

That came to northern shores

And tried to have companionship

With nature and each other

Until organized, metallic

Factions entered

And took over

Slew what did not submit

Killed what submitted

Anyway

x

That’s my northernness

I guess

I guess I like it well enough

I’d like to know yours

And what you have from the

Southern half

Because you might

Have that

East or west

As interesting

Exciting

The fascination of our differences

Shared in easy friendship

Easy joy

The direction points aren’t bad

Unless you make them

Points of dominion

Or points of fear

x

Fear not

We can come toward each other with

Fingertip excitement

Passing through time

And sentiment

To share a call that says

The Earth is one

We are one

We are one and one and one

And one

x

C L Couch

x

If she doesn’t mind, I’d like to dedicate this work to Judith Nilan who wrote so kindly of me recently and whose friendship is cherished by me and by anyone else who is her friend, I’m sure.  You should read her blog because it would be good for you.  Her blog address is https://stonefireblog.com/.

x

x

Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash

x

Anchorite Devotion

(x = space)

x

x

Anchorite Devotion

x

I cherish

Quiet in a cup

To drink

When I need some

Peace on a plate

When a bite is needed

Some silence in the air

But not so much

We cannot hear

The songs

Of earth and sky

The thrumming from beneath

To feel

The sighing from so high

We dare not

On an ordinary day

To try

x

A homespun layer

Maybe two layers

For the day

And through the night

A few words of friendship

And a few more

Then intimate,

Unspoken words

With God

x

There is a book

Of hours and another

Sometimes wisdom’s

In the page

In the part between

The letters

As well the illustrations

The space in which

We first learn

That blank space is the quiet

We may go there

Then to learn

About the mystery

The text

And images support

But can’t fill yet

As if to know the words

To speak with angels

And with animals

And with the air

x

All things the creator makes

To set in humming motion

x

C L Couch

x

x

Statue of Julian of Norwich by David Holgate, west front, Norwich Cathedral.

By Poliphilo – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19972764

x

Will What You Will

(x = space)

x

x

Will What You Will

(2022)

x

It is the last day

Of the Christmas season

Marred last year

By crimes

Twelve drummers drumming

In a drumhead court

For some

x

The rest of us take down

Our trees and lights

Burn the skeletons of trees

In the town square

At least that happened

In my town

x

We sang the last of carols

For a while

The nation need remember

That some gatherings are good

Some spectacles

Modest with intent

And execution

x

Grant us wisdom, Lord,

The meaning of the season

As is said

Not so much sectarian

As loving in and from

The hearts and minds

We have

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Michael Descharles on Unsplash

x

What You Will

(x = space)

x

x

What You Will

x

It’s Wednesday

A good time to think

On God

There is no holy day

I know of

x

Either way,

God cares

And doesn’t care,

Welcomes us anytime

For prayer and

Conversation

x

I know,

A mystical transaction

But there it is

Sometimes mysticism’s normal

Underhill might agree

(Evelyn or Frodo)

Gerald May

Or Parker Palmer

Mary Oliver

x

But let’s say

Ursula K. Le Guin

Who stirred with genders

In her work

Long before the rage,

Who lived

In writing

And in company

x

C L Couch

x

x

a brief bibliography

x

Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness, No Time to Spare

Gerald May, The Wisdom of Wilderness

Mary Oliver, Upstream or any publication—any gathering—of her poetry

Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak

Evelyn Underhill, Practical Mysticism

x

x

Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

Tree in Forest, Autumn Season

x

Asking Questions, Desert Mother

(x = space,

because I can’t cut and paste

using the new WordPress editor—

grrr)

x

x

Asking Questions, Desert Mother

(two poems)

x

x

Asking Questions

x

After the years,

Asking questions that

Could be left to children:

What do I want to

Be when

I grow up?

What do you want

Of me, dear Lord,

Or anyone (else)

Who cares?

How do I give without

Being taken in?

(okay, this question

more for the grown-up, maybe

embittered)

x

And do we

Always ask these questions,

Or is it more rarefied

To do so?

Or simply strange

x

There is a wider

World of happenings,

Some brutal and, well,

Simply bad

Though much of it

Is beautiful,

Inside and outside human

Flesh and in

The natures we’ve been given,

The nature of ourselves and

The nature of the planet

x

These days, especially, it’s

Not hard to find out

What’s going on,

Though much remains

Hidden by

The agenda-hiders, which

Is regrettable

x

All shall be known,

Eventually

And it might go hard

But, you know, for now

Let’s keep asking questions

Of ourselves,

Our world,

And of God

x

Let’s take lifetimes, then,

To learn to ask

And then be satisfied with

What we learn

When asking,

Because we’re still outside the gate

Often forgetting there’s

Paradise nearby

x

x

Desert Mother

x

I have a sharp pain

In my foot

To distract me

From the headache

x

I guess this is

Negotiation with the

Lord

Who made me

And tasks me

In such ways

x

I am old

And beyond children

Except the ones

I talk to

In this way

x

Whether or not I’m heard

I shall not know

Because I’m here

And they

And you

Are there

x

When I am

In heaven, I still

Might not know how

The children of

Earth have done

Until you are old,

Then sleep

As I have done

And wake to me

And all the rest

Who have been waiting

For you

x

And, yes,

We have other things

To do here

So will you

x

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Michael Milverton on Unsplash

Wylie Bay Rd, Bandy Creek WA 6450, Australia, Bandy Creek

Sand Sand Everywhere

x

Earthwise

Earthwise

 

God, it seems

You’re quiet

While outside there’s noise

The promise of a storm

 

You could be speaking through

The storm, I guess

I’ve never known you that way

Though there are limits

On my listening

 

Maybe if I were shaman-wise

I’d understand your language

In the trees

And through the rain

And if the thunder means

You’re angry or

You’re sad or making declarations

Or nothing of the sort

Since I’m sure

The flowers speak as well

As all things

On their own

 

You split the sky

The earth rises

Smaller creatures scurry

They know where

 

We’re here, and

We don’t understand

All that would be given

If we didn’t try

To take it first

 

God, this is

A prayer

For peace among ourselves

So we might get

The message sent

That everything and

Everyone has voice

Especially the quiet

 

And with our senses

And with more

We might receive the word

That starts

The universe

And also

Brings us home together

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Glenna Hopper on Unsplash

Isle of Sky