If life is a river
consider its source
mouth of the substance
is divorced from its course

the banks are presented
as sound advice
followed faithfully
until the flood

that torrent consuming
land once thought safe
from the deluge
spawned by the heart

don’t ask the waters
to quickly depart
the surest of journeys
begins at the end.

© 2020. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20200105.

When life seems empty at the end
the question is “now what’s next?”
a muted answer is whispered forth
lost in the teeth of the coming storm

too long nurtured by reticence
the tempest is harvested at long last
bearing fruit with sad appeal
the poison disguised with the sweet

when satisfaction falls too short
the mark eluded when plans strayed
if one could say the shot was aimed
to find something without blame

this game revealed as zero sum
with only losers in my head
give the world the winning purse
while questions ask what’s been rehearsed.

© 2020. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20200104.

Joy derived from money’s bloom
is sad offset to the coming doom
ask the barons for their crumbs
cold medallions are the surplus

those dividends that fill the purse
aren’t enough to reimburse
the bill that children will receive
after the guilty are deceased

their bones laid in watery graves
or scorched beneath the sun’s rays
shed no tear for these ones
the siren sounded while they toiled

looking to the bottom line
while their spawn became the ******
pawned for the brass ring
if only this were fit to eat.

© 2020. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20200103.

A new me at decade’s start
this was the new year’s prompt
the gentle nudge at the first
demanding change as the result

transformation is then assumed
against this press of latitude
moving towards the north or south
away from tropics of the past

those balmy realms evoking life
result in doldrums of measured strife
just enough to feel alive
while plans are made to survive

holding still while dusk descends
the year becomes another day
parity found between the pulls
beginnings lost in life that’s full.

© 2020. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20200102.

The choice made of identity
one or the other to fit in
is made when survival asks
individuals to protect their ranks

the paths opened have their risks
with a threat at dagger’s edge
to sanity or life’s continuance
neither salves the normative

there’s no attempt to trick the group
instead the ruse is hoped adequate
to shield the self from the diatribes
prompted by ignorance of the tribe

identity is clearly known
in the heart of the one
while safety asks for compromise
to flaunt or hide against the knife.

© 2020. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20200101.

Comparison sets the bar
between the haves and the have-nots
when the measure is biased towards
standards held by the high ground

appearance associated with the face
or movements set by mark of grace
offer a hill to look upon
stating merit is miles above

those contrasts of altitude
focused on beatitudes
those attributes of blessedness
perceived by those with less

the answer is to celebrate
qualities that separate
identity is held by the one
accountable to their patch of ground.

© 2019. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20190131.

I thought she slept all the time
in the realms beyond this life
tempting fate for the chance
to discover what she truly wants

the distant shores where slumber reigns
were her home beyond the mundane
where the truth was revealed
at the cost some count extreme

she finds peace while vexed concern
filled the minds of bystanders
those who are satisfied
by the standards of boring life

occasionally she’d wake to post
what happened when eyes were closed
I’d read the words while jealousy
asked why I could not do the same.

© 2019. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20191230.