Journey to Ixtlan

The poem “Discarded Wings” borrows from the myth of Icarus, the boy who flew too close to the Sun.


Discarded Wings

Pardon me while I put down my wings
scorched by contact with the sun
fortune smiled to pardon sin
now I’m estranged from the sky
they no longer function as designed
artifact of my father’s hands
pressed to service in storied past
now a memory in the labyrinth.

A life was spent amongst the clouds
vanished before by jaded eyes
backdrop assumed as I flew
now far above my fallen state
within the reach of my hands
that forevermore too short-lived
stands eternal above the earth
while I scuttle so far below.

You may ask what was my sin
flying too high for my good
I’d only nod in reticence
implore the query to search my mind
the highs and lows sought me out
best to worse of humankind
with the middle a safe retreat
no longer wanted as I soared.

I dodged depths of water’s grave
instead I turned to the heat
now I’m in the island maze
wandering from discarded wings
returning now to the end
the Minotaur will soon be fed
if only I could rise to glide
take safe flight above the ground.

© 2017. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20171104.

From 2007... a revisit to relation with God.

Who is my God? Two legged, four legged, six legged, eight legged, and more. No legged, non-physical, and more. They are my GOD. Music is my GOD. Art is my GOD. Love is my GOD. Anger is my GOD. The human experience is the shining start of my GOD.

GOD is not mine to have. GOD is what I share with all those things that are around me and part of me. In the big picture, I have no GOD. Instead, I am god. You are god. My cat Prince is god. If I have to put a name on the breadth of this infinitely nameless thing, I call it Spirit.

Having something that resembles an infinite nameless deity puts me at odds with some people. I have accepted a middle ground with those people who encourage others to believe their version of who/what God is. In the past I had an on line conversation with such an ardent person. I posted the following list and noted that I have a personal relationship with God, and that my definitions of God and Sin may differ from others.

1) God Exists
2) God Created the World
3) God is the World
4) Sin is inherent in life
5) Sin leads to suffering and craving
6) Sin separates us from God
7) The goal of life is to reconnect God
8) Removal of Sin reconnects us with God

The word Sin enters the picture here. I'd like to flesh out what I mean by this reference. My definition for Sin largely from my Buddhist explorations. Sin can be loosely defined as that part of ourselves that distracts us from connecting with our version of the God. In Buddhism, cravings and longings are manifestations of this. What is God when Sin is considered? God is completeness. God is the intuitive 'ah-ha' of how things work. God is the World. God is a personal experience with the divine, because how you fit into the world is a personal matter.

We are connected with God. IMO we are expressions and embodiments of God. So how can we be separated? The separation is an illusion. Somehow we, as humans, begin to think that God is "out there". This separation is fostered by Sin - those things that separate us from God. Sin doesn’t actually separate us from God, but Sin (in all it's embodiments) does strengthen the illusion of separation.

These statements above are all IMO and definitely a WAG. The details of how this works, or even if it works, is different for everyone. A spiritual life is so damn personal. I respect and honor those people who don't believe that God exists. I came pretty close to that in my agnostic days. The cool thing, be it painful or glorifying, is that we have a choice in the matter, and we are all perfect in our own choices.