Journey to Ixtlan

The poem “The Rent You Pay” was inspired by a social media friend who succinctly stated, ‘“Pretty” is not the rent you pay to exist in this world.’


The Rent You Pay

The price that’s paid has a due
survival is the golden rule
persisting here another day
the end of times then delayed

this seems simplistic at first glance
until the rules deny the chance
to determine the here and there
that society deems to declare

attractiveness damns everyone
but there are those that lies enclose
stating how they’re meant to live
by virtue of what they give

pretty is spun to be a rent
with existence as consequence
deny this price if the bill
is presented against your will.

© 2020. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20200402.

The poem “Beyond the Dance” is about striving to live beyond the normative.


Beyond the Dance

Seek a life beyond the dance
that span of staid circumstance
those tunes clinging to the past
embracing moves now long lapsed

classics are spun once again
look beyond that tired domain
cantos to tradition’s rut
now a dirge too many trust

ten thousand steps in unison
once thought to be jubilant
now a procession without end
for the march of the condemned

the dance may still exist
harmony instead of the old dread
if vitality seeks its own song
before the sounding of life's gong.

© 2020. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20200225.

The poem “Kissed a Girl” is a consideration of shared affection.


Kissed a Girl

I kissed a girl who was like me
affirmed by two identities
each knowing their inner truth
reveling in the shared salute

each a deviation from the norm
by percentages expressed in math
this doesn’t matter when the fates
have brought together much the same

the quick embrace of impassioned lips
asks if more should persist
a smooch to bless connections found
confirming fondness linked to love

only time may yet convey
where the kiss may finally lead
with this girl I’d do much more
top to bottom to explore.

© 2020. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20200213.

The poem “Monsters Walk” was inspired by news stories about leaders who bend the shared world to the minority view.


Monsters Walk

Monsters walk the earth in your name
with flocks aligned without shame
to the masters born of men
thought to speak without sin

by declarations the die is cast
to ensure the cause will last
beholden to only power’s grab
there is no difference between good and bad

it’s not enough to serve the day
instead the masses are asked to pray
that generations will feel the yoke
now condemned by the words spoke

faded edicts stooped with age
cherry-picked to the dismay
of targets not of the flock
those decried to matter not.

© 2020. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20200211.

The poem “Habits Die Hard” was inspired by the quote, “I’ve decided to never fall in love again.  It’s a disgusting habit.”, from the 1965 movie Pierrot le Fou.


Habits Die Hard

Falling in love became routine
another day spent in want betrayed
by the nature of the response
to adoration so cruelly trounced

defeated by something close
to addiction if truth be told
that need to feel so much more
than affection of the slow burn

instead the flames consume the source
while hardly scorching the other ones
those targets of passion’s siren call
unable to hear the desire’s resolve

the apt response is to deny the urge
falling in love at last purged
habits die hard when they’re set
this one discarded with sad regret.

© 2020. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20200209.

The poem “Floods Evoke” was partially inspired by a combination of a new job position and a full basement flooding.


Floods Evoke

Floods evoke emotion’s depths
a deluge churning fixed sediments
no longer staid in aftermath
as roiled passions demand address

surges flowing outside of banks
normally holding feelings at bay
those channels bound to sanity
unable to gutter the craziness

lunacy at any other time
is transformed by the tide
now arousing awareness born
on the waves beyond the norm

a cleansing realized after the fact
during the flushing one vacillates
demanding an end before flood
renews a life with fresh resolve.

© 2020. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20200207.

The poem “The Whole Ones” is about dangers of seeking to be masters of righteousness and purity.  These exist only in a vacuum.  In time, exposure to the world corrupts all.


The Whole Ones

Please identify the whole ones
constructed of the sterner stuff
embodying allegiance with the truth
and sanity also to boot
these special souls could run the show
stand watch while the inmates shout
provide the guidance many need
lock up the ones that are enemies

perhaps you identify as these paragons
these seraph of legend's lore
step up to heed the call
lead the masses with your song
the notes carry abundant hope
fully rooted in fertile soil
until the chords become distraught
by the poisons that fill the heart

an alchemy of hatred based
on the differences between flocks
this consumes the righteous soul
now unable to find resolve
between the madness of the crowd
and the noise of inner doubts
what was plainly sourced from above
now descends to the lower world

now we're tied to the left hand
source of the ills they meant to fix
pretending to speak for the right
while contributing to the plight
perhaps there are no whole ones
unless they live on mountain sides
far from the stain of humanity
this struggle of calamity.

© 2020. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20200205.

The poem “Bequeathed” was inspired by the song "Winter is All Over You" by First Aid Kit.


Bequeathed

I'll leave this world to you
the full breadth of latitude
and the stretch of longitude
this is bequeathed to the resolute
those who stood against the storm
bending when all others broke
the survivors with reserves of hope
now the time is of your own

all you review from mountain tops
this legacy left by those who broke
is the remittance for their sins
lest you feel cheated as a consequence
the just rewards for those who loathed
wishing others would be destroyed
now their desires have come to pass
into forevers meant to last

the others may sift the dust
this is what we are to return
some the sooner than others left
behind to wonder about mistakes made
each will take their inheritance
handed down from right to left
marking passage to the beyond
a world now left to be resolved.

© 2020. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20200203.

The poem “Glint of Life” is about the circle of selfishness.


Glint of Light

Selfishness informs the lot
from the small to the large
each with desires to be sate
across the whole of the race

individuals seek to survive
asking worlds to comply
with variations of love and joy
often fitting for the flock

communities join the fray
with decisions some dismay
even as the masses cheer
for the greed others jeer

this selfishness circles round
marginalized seeking balm
pushing back to have their own
the glint of light against a storm.

© 2020. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20200201.

The poem “Forever Captured” was inspired by the quote, “she had rooms in her mind that she would not look into.”


Forever Captured

There are rooms behind the doors
that seem to offer apertures
locks waiting for a key
knob allowing quick entry

this allowance tells a lie
entry there is self-denied
even if others undertake
to explore the shuttered suites

the chambers represent
anxiety born of temperament
the prisoners are living dread
forever captured in their cells

imagination terrifies
knowing what’s on the other side
rooms in the mind are deprived
when their access is denied.

© 2020. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20200130.