Merry Whichever

(x = space)

x

x

Merry Whichever

(greeting)

x

Merry Whichever

Happy New Year to your calendar

And all your months,

However they are named

May each day be ingested

With wisdom and

Delight,

Wisdom for the ages,

Delight in the pleasures

Of the day

x

May you know love

More than in the abstract

Some good learning beforehand

Wouldn’t hurt;

Might you have peace,

If the worlds great and small

Agree

x

Most of all, may

All of you

And any

Know the presence

Over us

So great,

So small as to be

Working inside

Our capillaries

x

Call it God

Or the Spirit

Or the impulse of the ages

The human push

Toward improvement

And a symphony of

Maybe out-of-tune,

Asynchronous

Possibility

x

May the one

Or many there

Protect you

And keep you

In each other

x

C L Couch

x

x

Part of the painting “my take on an ion.”

Photo by Jené Stephaniuk on Unsplash

Los Angeles, CA, USA

x

Favor Hesiod

(x = space)

x

x

Favor Hesiod

(writer of Theogony)

x

Remember

Myths aren’t lies

That’s for conversation

x

Fables are

For teaching, which means

They are

For learning

x

The more fantastic

Stretches

With gods and

Agencies for gods

And such

Are a try

At understanding

Truth to questions

Without

Conversation’s answers

x

What is time?

Why are their seasons?

Why is this

A good year?

What about

The next one?

What happens after

Death?  What is our

Purpose while we’re here?

How might we live

With passion?

Why do we have it

In the first place?

x

Not lies

But tries at truth

Without the words

Or understanding

Motivations of

Forces outside

Ourselves and

Ourselves

x

What happens when

Someone climbs

Parnassus or Olympus

Has a reason, too,

And a story

x

For all we’re told

And tell ourselves

Old stories are foolish

If not stupid,

We still ask questions,

Same questions

x

Some answers

Will be chemical

Now,

But elements

Persist above

The table in a

Ring of sky

(or under

Earth)

That we cannot find

For all our wishing

All our striving

All our talking

For a purpose

x

So we return to stories

And make new ones

x

C L Couch

x

x

Theogony, myths about gods, creation, and more

x

A Rendition of Life on Planet Earth

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6638499

x

Introductions

(x = space)

x

x

Introductions

x

Snow on my small town in

The MidAtlantic of

The USA,

Nothing dramatic—

x

It falls and stays

On quiet places

Such as grass

And parked cars,

While on the things that

Sponsor movement

There is only wetness,

Dark and clean:

x

On streets and sidewalks,

Moving cars,

And such

x

From the waist up,

It seems November

x

Today we’re met

With winter

(here and now)

Not in discontent,

A week before it’s due by

The saint’s calendar

x

We should take it

A decency

In an indecent year

x

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Aditya Vyas on Unsplash

x

The Year When We Do Nothing

The Year When We Do Nothing

(pandemic time)

 

This should have been

The year when we do nothing

When we live with fear and boredom

And are resolute

When we soberly keep up with the news

And mourn the passing of so many

When we sing from window to window

As was done in Italy

Finding all the gestures that we can

Safely to say we’re here

We’re counting

We weep

And we maintain hope as bravely as we can

 

A year when we remember

Prioritize

Keep perspective

Love each other, those who are leaving us,

All who remain

As carefully as possible

In a year, we can have expectations

We’ll be smarter, then

About how to live

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Artur Aldyrkhanov on Unsplash

Valensole, France

Bokeh in Lavender

 

Day 181

Day 181

 

It’s Friday afternoon

Day 180’s passing

And so the children should be

Out of school for summer

Last rides in yellow buses

For a while

 

They can populate the stores

For a time

And visit in each residence

Pets should be happier

For the company

And lemonade or something like

Becomes a commodity

 

I don’t mean to say

It’s all sugary

Some will need work,

Too many will go hungry

There will be

Pain from separations of all kinds

 

But some will take trips

They will enjoy

And though not expressed,

Wear a new kind of gratitude

 

As a child,

My summers weren’t idyllic

But I couldn’t help from time to time

First relief, then

Reveling in freedom

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Luiz Guimaraes on Unsplash

 

El Año Pasado

 

El Año Pasado

(20 Septiembre 2018)

 

It’s a year since Maria

Wrecked into Puerto Rico

I don’t know what to say

Since I don’t make policy, and

No one has dropped funds on

Me to make things better

My widow’s mite went to Ciencia PR

A group of scientists and learners

That persists

 

They love discovery and invention

And are of many kinds and ages

Affirming the timelessness of

Method, observation, and synthetic

(in terms of reasoning)

Progress

Someday someone here might save us

I shouldn’t be surprised

 

Though I wonder how they were ignored

In their hours

Might be subsumed by the privileged

Who will all of a sudden say

We’ve been behind these saviors

All the way

(and how far behind is that?)

 

Well, I can still remit my pittances

And pray for everyone bilingually

I studied that much in school

And feel ashamed for mine who

Will do nothing

Believing the corrupted lie

That all is well

Look at us

We are so good

Perdónanos

Nuestros pecados

Y en olvidarse

Ustedes

Su vida y su esperanza

Hope or expectation

 

C L Couch

 

note

(don’t worry, it’s only college Spanish;

I’m sure I made many mistakes)

Perdóname para estos)

 

 

facebook.com/cienciapr/

 

 

A.D. 623

A.D. 623

(I was looking up the area code)

 

a princess died

which sounds saddest of all

though loss through war should matter

more

but there’s a story here

to push my human heart

to wonder

 

and to wander through

the leaves to find the source

and grow a memory

for you

 

C L Couch

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/623