Journey to Ixtlan

The poem "Anger's Cure" was inspired by a friend's posting about the wisdom of anger. I responded that anger is a signpost and not a desired destination. The associated passion may be with us for part of the journey, but the companionship is asked to be short-lived.

Anger’s Cure

I met the friend on the road
no stranger from times before
while I traveled towards my goal
only wishing to arrive alone
no good would come from amity
a rapport that denied good faith
when motivations would be damned
in every afterward imagined then

I turned away from these thoughts
instead of considering ego’s wants
filled inside with rapt desires
forgetting falls that bruised my heart
they were the chum when I had none
standing by me when life was glum
now their return bode anew
the need to walk in fury's groove

they asked to climb upon my back
share a warmth by the flames
that burned bright in response
to their presence by my side
the only answer I had to share
was a yes from every cell
the desire to smash the world
was the focus I'd soon despair

now I ask if they could leave
depart before I would arrive
complete the journey at day’s end
in the company of sanity
my friend of temperament had their place
at the milestone where they stood
my destination is not their home
life removed from anger's cure.

© 2019. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20190427.

The poem “Silence of Sanity” is about the need to vent when the world seems to be already filling all available space with its own outrage.


Silence of Insanity

My scream could fill a world
if there was room for company
among the inhabitants
howling to state their case

the din speaks with dialects
separate from east to west
debating by calling hue
their causes in dire conflict

cacophony shared by all
though the agendas vary much
this theme that must persist
no matter the mother tongue

together against the world
defined as the other guy
some with sincerity
others to cause injury

the outcomes are the same
no matter what motivates
I’ll stand by my need to yell
then lose the utterance

broken by consequence
without desire I’ll embrace
now stand too mute
with silence of insanity.

© 2018. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20180716.

The poem “Anger’s Coin” is about the destructive value of anger.


Anger's Coin

I once viewed anger as a coin
the trespass I could spend
against a world that seared my soul
and in response to boundary's breach
I'd fling arrows with flaming ends
striking down my enemies

the world would burn in response
cinders laying hot on the ground
to the affronts hurled my way
I'd scorch the planet to the stone
take the innocent with the vile
in an effort to survive

the rage of God would not compare
that righteous hand exacting toil
on the sinners I've declared
they will suffer tens times more
then one hundred to soothe my rage
asking only that they may die

anger lives in my soul
a demigod born within
seeking ruin on all my foes
now the wastes are my abode
destruction granted by Satan's wish
granted then as anger's coin.

© 2018. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20180501.

“Dark Flute” is about the seething nature of the beast that derails sanity and hijacks the mind.


Dark Flute

This is not the companion I would choose
but it's the one that I'm chained to
by virtue of unwanted injuries
now held close in sour memories

the causes are lost in the halls of time
forgotten by those who did the worse harm
sum of wrath now so much larger than
what others witnessed have come before

fury expressed in the unbidden snarl
with a twitch from the responding eye
I become an animal in temper’s grip
last human visage stripped by the rage

they would say that flesh’s nature was the failing
the past tilting the scales towards the worse
so many fingers influence the chafe
prodding madness from Azathoth’s dark flute

the demons may find joy in this circumstance
while angels weep waterfalls at the lost love
bystanders to the greatest blunder made by man
anger walking too close by my side.

© 2017. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20170619.

The popular poetry of the net seems to focus on anger and sex. The poem “Angry Poetry” is about the former.


Angry Poetry
Poem for Day 052 – 20150223

What kind of world should I generate?
Fingertips hold poetic tools of destruction,
ready to convince you of terrible shared reality
as I spin my words glibly from the tongue.

I could wring my poetic hands,
damp with the blood of defeated foes,
bludgeoned with my angry words
and stabbed with vindictive prose.

My pain could stain the walls,
Rivers of bile discouraged from within,
Rivulets of torture expressed without,
smeared across your surprised psyche.

Spew my angst across the page,
that will get your attention,
touch a nerve or two within,
twist your guts in sympathy.

Now that I’ve got your throat
Held tightly in my prose,
I’ll go for the emotional jugular
and we’re joined in shared turmoil.

This is the world I’ll generate,
Poetry designed to intimidate.
A verbal Armageddon,
raze the page, set words ablaze.

Is this the kind of world I want for myself?
It is, if I want to be burned alive.
Words define my reality,
for good, bad, or ugly.

So know this kind reader,
Journeyer of similar soul,
I may share the anger with you,
but I still believe in the good.

© 2015. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved

Question... what do you do, or what have you done, when you are feeling a lot of anger with no 'proper' avenues of release/expression?

I feel like I would destroy my world and the relationships in it if I vented in certain directions. Some rearranging would be nice, but I don't think the 'friendly fire' casualties would be worth the outcome.

thanks!

Anger Questions

What am I really angry about?

What is the problem, and whose problem is it?

How can I sort out who is responsible for what?

How can I learn to express my anger in a way that will not leave me feeling helpless and powerless?

When I am angry, how can I clearly communicate my position without becoming defensive or attacking?

What risks and losses might I face if I become clearer and more assertive?

If getting angry is not working for me, what can I do differently?



How to Clarify My Anger

1. What about this situation makes me angry?
2. What is the real issue here?
3. Where do I stand?
4. What do I want to accomplish?
5. Who is responsible for what?
6. What specifically, so I want to change?
7. What are the things I will and will not do?


Things to keep in mind when I am angry

Do speak up when an issue is important to me.

Don’t strike while the iron is hot.

Don’t used below the belt tactics: blaming, interpreting, diagnosing, labeling, analyzing, preaching, moralizing, ordering, warning, interrogating, ridiculing, lecturing, don’t put the other person down.

Do speak in I language.

Don’t make vague statements or requests.

Do try to appreciate the fact that people are different.

Don’t participate in intellectual arguments that go nowhere.

Do recognize that each person is responsible for his or her own behavior.

Don’t tell another person what she or he things or feels or “should” think or feel.

Do try to avoid speaking through a third party.

Don’t expect change to come about from hit – and – run confrontations.

Take responsibility for my part for maintaining patterns that evoke anger.


Avoid Triangles

1. If you are angry with someone that is the person you should tell.

2. If I am angry, speak in my own voice. Don’t bring in an anonymous 3rd party. Say: I feel, I want, etc.

3. Avoid secrets, distinguish between secret and private.

4. Don’t become the third party in someone else’s triangle.

5. Don’t use the child.

6. Keep communications open without inviting others to blame or take sides.