Journey to Ixtlan

The poem “In Many Forms” is a consideration of loneliness.


In Many Forms

Loneliness comes in many forms
that separation of the soul
from a world of emotion's swirl
and the touch that would console

each with a flavor sustaining life
an essence needed to obtain
something more than holding place
in the coldness of the joined race

ask the tears the message brought
by the moisture of sad resolve
this substitute in the mists
a reality that life can’t resist

so many forms conspire as one
leading to the empty void
separation among the ghosts
intangible to those who need them most.

© 2019. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20191204.

The poem “Now My Lot” was inspired by the quote “There used to be a void inside of me, but now there's nothing” written by Tumblr user @winterleapingfrog. The verses speak to the difference between having a void that others can fill and the numbing emptiness that allows nobody inside. The former is terrible. The latter is worse.


Now My Lot

Once I had a screaming void
a vacancy that overwhelmed
the otherness on all sides
surrounded by anger’s shoals
echoing rage at life’s wrongs
a million voices all my own
the loneliness was so dark
absorbing light into itself
reflecting back the counterpart

companionship was thought the balm
the fix to all that hurt
injustice vanquished in the end
the champion was at last found
they answered the sirens call
sacrificed the best of life
this vanity became their stand
fighting life on two fronts
slaying demons in endless swarms

the inky depths took a wage
stealing more than their due
while pretending to respond
the battle raged as my hero fought
embracing a contract none should sign
for sanity lost in both of us
realizing too late that victory
was gained at ruin’s prompt
one to save while the other lost

emptiness is now my lot
a vacancy without voice
nor substance found to stand upon
what was a lake is now a line
the old gloom shrunk to a point
so much less than a void
now the blackness has been replaced
the silence there reflects life
only I exist in aftermath.

© 2018. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20180610.

It can be VERY difficult to ask certain people for a much wanted dance. I suffer from this, and as far as I know, so do most people. The poem "Another Day" reflects on the frustration of the mute voice when a dance awaits one unasked request away.


Another Day

Another day and here I stand
potential partner to the dance
the music starts, the floor is set
yet here I stand as if stuck in place.

No chains are seen on my limbs
no gag restrains my voice to speak
desire would have me leap to you
instead I stand both dumb and mute.

Not quite equals, though close enough
to bend would be the natural course
accommodation would be your grace
if only I would state my case.

To my mind the reasons are
inadequate to this frozen jest
ridicule by an inside voice
with no sense when spoken out.

I'll end my tale of vented woes
with a statement that should be plain
you're not alone if you suffer
when the voice cannot request.

© 2016, Sean Green. All Rights Reserved, 20160824.

The poem “Different Birds” contrasts the lifestyles of two types of people, with advantages and shortcomings. We as birds are somewhere in between, but is where you are what you wanted?


Different Birds

They say the sky is meant for those
who fly beyond the aviaries
risking life in limb in the blue
while the heart pines for company.
The clouds are quite neighborly
though too short in their lifetime
here in the moment in fluffy glory
then passed away as winds blow.

The sun shines on the good and bad
the rain does the same in hand
associates shared with the world
enveloping instead of close to breast.
Others may be glimpsed on the wing
perhaps pausing on the limb or wire
yet they leave to other parts
of a sky too large for solitary ones.

They say the cozy cages are best suited
for those who hold safety paramount
company secure as fellow inmates
behind the bars of gilded iron.
The perches hold the constant toys
bells and baubles seen before
ever present in the air
wallpaper to the seeking eye.

The cover comes every night
just for the inhabitants of the cage
hiding the world from the view
especially for the ones underneath.
Lastly there are the fellow inmates
see everyday in repetition
they'll never leave for the reason
that no one leaves this place alive.

© 2016, Sean Green. All Rights Reserved, 20160511.