Journey to Ixtlan

The poem “Ring is Sought” is about the shared desire to connect with others.


Ring is Sought

The ring is sought above all else
this seems the goal for our lot
clouding minds in the quest
for something fresh beyond the self
there’s no commitment except to now
the moment sought and then pursued

to the ends some may taunt
but even they would do the same
connection held as the goal
flesh pressed in response
more than attraction is in play
when the urge becomes a need

sewn throughout by the Lord
or put by nature to grow the herd
neither is of consequence
when base natures take the stage
the urge to merge tops the list
damn the final aftermath

perhaps the deities will relent
when they know the bill's been paid
the luster fades when attained
once to lead to many more
this hunger for the band
to find another once again.

© 2019. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20190629.

The poem “Beautiful Sadness” was inspired by a meme in which Butters, of South Park fame, said

“I'm sad. But at the same time I'm really happy that something can make me feel that sad. It's like, it makes me feel alive. You know? It makes me feel human. The only way I can feel this sad now, is if I felt something really good before. So I have to take the bad with the good. So I guess what I'm feeling is like a beautiful sadness.”

I can relate to this. I take a lot of joy from dancing. It brings me a sanity borne from connecting to people, but at the same time, there is incredible sadness that that’s all I can do. Part of me would like to forego this stimulation, but this would also remove one of the two reasons I want to live, placing my life in that much more of a dire state. I tried to share my sentiments in the inspired poem.


Beautiful Sadness

Beautiful sadness, glittery things
here for a moment and then moved away
I know I'm alive during that time
returning to wish for more of the same
in that space the shine was humanity
focus of all that came the years before
vanishing with the pain that I'll now explain
on the wings of pain sought again and again.

gorgeous misery, purely breathtaking
sadly my lungs have no air to give
to the spectacle that blesses my vision
to the beauty that exceeds my conviction
I'm committed to the world at large
contracts penned, so many agreements signed
though I wish I could spare exhalation
to say that I adore the world I'd pursue

splendid grief, ecstatic distraction
minutes are captured with the intent of years
collected to last long generations
when I may again indulge inhibitions
all too short for the abyss of my soul
crevasse asking for a mountain to be dropped
exaggeration may be in these words
yet still I grasp what I can now collect

magnificent grief, curves and lines
slyly purloined by this larcenist
with the arms that wrap to caress the world
when the universe shrinks to only myself
it's small wonder that flesh is the narcotic
tether to pull when the skin hungers hard
the need is filled by the temporary
fitted where my body presses for a time

divine despair, you've allowed my mind to roam
from the smallest spark to fiery congress
from looks to thoughts to touch and then beyond
the world has shown what I may never have
now my spirit seeks a place to disguise
the ache of tease, the wound of fancy
asking me to admit the price of living
beautiful sadness, again and again.

© 2017, Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20170208.

The social dance scene has a diverse group of participants. Many are devout in there beliefs. This is evident by observing the posting on their social accounts. The poem “Our God” is about the unity found in dance by people from diverse, but devout, spiritual paths.


Our God

Dance is the denominator
for the divine loosely shared
when feet touch the earth
and angels look from high.

Hearts find their measure
in each other's arms
as peace finds it place
in the conquered divide.

The unlike are well met
as walls fall away
a shared habitation
by those who dwell within.

The thread finds its mark
winding through all of those
who seek to connect
when division is thrown.

In place of strong difference
is a stronger good will
seen in partner's eyes
as the soul is revealed.

Love is the message
respect shares the words
the ecstatic finds safe harbor
while the dance shows our God.

© 2016, Sean Green. All Rights Reserved, 20160701.

A friend asked what the difference between love and lust was. I pondered this, realizing that they share many aspects for me. They can both come on with varying speeds and then remain for indeterminate times. The outcome, connection, is shared by both. Either can be one-side, not reciprocated by circumstance or choice. The two are not mutually exclusive, but they can exist without the other. There are upsides and downsides to each. Another response to this question gave me the answer: lust is predicated on an intimate connection of some sort. Intimate meaning one of close proximity, be that proximity inches away or an internet in distance.

This answer is not the only one, but it is how I am wired. I have this relationship with beauty and desire. This drives my poetic output. I have love come over me, completely separate from the swirling vortex of lust. I honor both, though I welcome love with wariness, knowing that I love far fewer people that I lust for, and the love connections ask for so much more. The poem “Four Letter Words” speaks to the puzzle of love and lust, and how they are incredibly similar before the difference appears.


Four Letter Words

Four letter words beginning with L
each with the pluses and so many ills.
I'll share what I know by experience hard gained
from a lifetime well met with plenty of each.

Each may come quickly or creep as a thief
no matter the method the end is the same.
The timing is suspect, no schedule to meet
either quick like a bunny or slow like a snail.

The duration is varied not tied to the method
because each has the chance of lasting a lifetime.
A decade like yesterday, the vision is blurred
when emotions submit as thralls of the Ls.

Connections are made each one has its hooks
that link the unwary and stir the snared breath.
To repay the attention is never the promise
of either the ways of attention passed to the world.

There is one small difference the crux of the variance
between the L of the heart and the L of the loins.
The latter has needs intimacy is the must
no matter the bond no matter the miles.

I lust for the world, slave to beauty I see
I fall to my knees in prayer to Potho's call.
Yet beyond the intimate, the fae ties of this life
are Demeter's chains holding me to honesty.

Four letter words beginning with L
each with power inherent each asks its due.
The numbers may have the former
the latter I hold for the fewer you.


© 2016, Sean Green. All Rights Reserved, 20160529.

Artistic creation is a terribly personal affair. Sometimes it is private. Other times it is shared with the larger world. I go with the latter, and in these efforts, I am tickled to no end when my work is acknowledged by other poets. Are they more special than other readers? No, of course not. Instead they are peers of a sort, and because of this, their recognition is a buoy to my daily pursuit of poetry. The poem “Touched” is dedicated to all creative types that lift the spirits of their comrades in art.

Touched
Poem for Day 075 – 20150316

Joy and darkness,
dance and death,
these are my themes
which I must express.
Seen and acknowledged,
showing interest by act,
visitors are welcome
to my expression of life.

Your interests amaze me,
diverse as they are,
to be counted amongst them
is a treat to my heart.
Our styles may differ,
brevity or verbose contrasted,
classic construction or freehand,
this matters not as paths collide.

Across the digital divide,
another soul of similar mind,
reaching out to confirm my art
as striking a similar cord.
Your attention honors me,
but something is more important,
that I’ve reached beyond myself
and touched another one.

© 2015. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved

A friend asked about finding Peace. I looked through my past blogs and found a rather long one about seeking what others values.  It cut the original blog entry down in size.  The blog entry struck me as a statement about peace because seeking value in the uncomfortable and foreign is not a sure recipe for peace, but it does truly connects us with the world in a way that trumps temporary peace.. 

I found some real quotation gems in the thirty-fifth chapter of the latest Harry Potter book. The wise Dumbledore said:

"And his knowledge remained woefully incomplete, Harry! That which Voldermort does not value, he takes no trouble to comprehend."

Dumbledore's quote is an indictment of Voldermort and a challenge to all. The challenge is great with enormous pitfalls present. Some believe that casting value on things outside of their immediate experience will cheapen those things that already are held to be valuable. This fear seems to have at least two sources. The first is dilution, that value placed amongst multiple places will less the value on the places originally thought to have value. There is a challenge here. The integrity and soul of an individual must be large enough to reach out to more and not dilute the things they hold to be valuable. The other fear is that seeing other things to have value will cast the original things of value in a place of disrepute or wrongness. This is a valid fear if a person cannot accept the paradoxes of life, that things can have the same truth and still be at odds with each other. Especially rigid people will embrace both fears. These dogmatic people, seeing great value in only the things they hold dear and nothing else, will have little ability to comprehend others who differ even slightly.

The lack of comprehension is addressed by seeing value in those things that defy comprehension. Fears of failure must be overcome as values are placed on things outside of comfortable boundaries. Larger truths, sometimes masquerading as complex paradoxes, are available to those who see the worth of contrary or alien states. The valuing of these states removes the gulfs. A respect borne of acknowledging a different value is always possible. The highest goal is a binding of people when value of others leads to a full comprehension of who they are and what they believe in. The knowledge waiting there is incredible, better than any insular form of knowledge or magic. Dumbledore speaks to this as he concludes,

"Of house-elves and children's tales, of love, loyalty, and innocence, Voldermort knows and understands nothing. Nothing. That they have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic, is a truth he has never grasped."