Journey to Ixtlan

I watched Jason Statham in the 2013 “Redemption”. One of the films characters, a nun, remarks “I use God as an excuse not to look at myself”. Heavy stuff. The poem “Just Me” was inspired by this thought.


Just Me
Poem for Day 062 – 20150303

Where can I hide
from a world I disbelieve?
Submerge myself fully in
life's best retreats!

Throw I some religion,
heavy with guilt transmitted.
Laden on the belongings,
shiny toys most beloved.

Now I only know burden,
oppression of the heart.
Distracted by bangles,
too many to be counted.

Pledge my soul to the heavens,
burn the sage on the hearth.
Build the stack of belongings,
to the sky it will climb.

The more I raise up the holy,
the shallower it becomes.
Treasure of the kings,
dust blown by the wind.

Who are the shadows
to whom I'm pledged?
Rust and tatters remain
of treasures put aside.

Support is a wonderful thing
But it is not me, not me at all!
Don’t need no god
Don’t need no things.

Strip away the divine,
Strip away precious things
What do I have left?
Just me.

© 2015. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved

The thing about choosing to live is that there is just SO MUCH TO DO. Getting older doesn't help, given all the accompanying aches and pains. There is a joke that goes something like this... when I was young all I wanted to do on the weekend was party, now I just want a good night's sleep. The trap that I need to avoid is the "coulda woulda shoulda" lure. I could do this, would do that, and should do it all. While this mantra can be motivating, it can also dispirit a person who just wants to move forward and be productive. The answer? I'm not sure.