Journey to Ixtlan

The poem “Memories Collect the Dust” is about the souls who fought on the front lines of social rights efforts.


Memories Collect the Dust

Those that came before
shot by arrows and trapped by lures
forged the trails all now walk
without regard for the lost

walls made of glass ten feet thick
doors shaped with sharpened thorns
these avenues were their path
as egos pressed to hold them back

conservatives exclaimed strong ire
as the bodies fell by the side
intolerance had a long hand
exacting martyrs drenched in blood

the price was known in those years
and then forgotten with banners hung
in the halls where glee persists
while memories collect the dust.

© 2019. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20190722.

The poem “Like Icarus” references the mythology of Icarus, the man who fell to earth after his waxen wings melted by flying too close to the sun. The speaker of the poem is foretelling his fall from debaucherous ways, by route of wrongful passions or misdirected emotions.


Like Icarus

Like Icarus I will fly
sometimes I ascend too high
buoyed by attraction’s bliss
or too low by lustful quests
steering to the depths below
bob of body, line of loin
all of this I'll pursue
wings spread to find my way
fire and water foreshadow doom.

Passions blaze from fire's embrace
hot to merge, too bold for good
longing only for revelry
the party all may now attend
excluding kin of morality
inhibitions cast aside
debauchery will be the flare
melting the wax of my wings.

Emotions rule from water's flood
mist kicked up as loves unfurled
in lusty forms of desire's quest
devotion absent with craving's search
hungers spring form from base feelings
not looking back, only front
with sad outcome to my flight
leaden soaking of my wings.

Brother Icarus you were my guide
with fates shared in our time
flying high or flying low
each has a due gods will accuse
Icarus we’ll race to see
who will crash to earth again
though in my case I’ll remain
in the pits of hell that day.

2017, Sean Green. All Rights Reserved, 20170111.

The revelation of Mark Foley's online conversations with teenage male pages has resulted in his resignation and admitting for drug/psychological treatment. In the aftermath of Mark's departure, MSN is reporting "Congressional leaders, who called for an FBI investigation as Foley resigned, turned to finger-pointing over who knew what about Foley’s behavior, when they knew it and whether anything was done to protect the teens."

This brings to mind a beef I've had a long time...

I get grumpy about people who cannot accept their due desserts. Whimpering about "why me???" is dishonest. The archetype of this is the villain who attacks the hero again and again, trying to kill, dismember and maim his foe. The hero survives and eventually corners the villain. The dishonest villain is the one that sputters, "oh please please please don't hurt me!!! I beg for your forgiveness!!!". The honest villain looks the hero in the eye and accepts the punishment. Does this mean that the villain cannot attempt to escape his 'fate'? Of course not. The villain can try to escape, and fight another day. Are we heroes or villains in life? We are both, depending on the perspective of oneself and the world around us.

An extreme example of honesty in the face of energy physics is the serial killer. While it is immoral (some can argue) for the serial killer to do what he does, the act of killing others is not unnatural. The serial killer is doing what he will. Society will also do what it will when the serial killer is captured. The natural act of a healthy society is to keep itself safe, and this includes the imprisonment or execution of the serial killer.

A less extreme case is political leadership who sought to retain Mark Foley in their midst through the time of the November elections. Where is the acceptance of their fates now???