2.1030 : 2/27/08 : Great Symbol (Seventyseven: 35 of 81)

If I just had the Great Symbol

I’d get everything

significance importance

and the shiny ring

while you dally at the table

with the trifles and the sweets

I’m onto something stellar

with such sublime beats

though it’s bland as buttered bread

pale as the sky

though it appeals to neither

the ear nor the eye

what

2.1029 : 2/26/08 : Source (Seventyseven: 34 of 81)

Universal like a flood

no turning aside

source of all things

and nowhere to hide

work without recognition

caring for all

holds none to accounts

So it might seem very small

but it is everyone’s home

So you could call it great

And it doesn’t even care

thus it attains this estate

what

2.1028 : 2/25/08 : Clever (Seventyseven: 33 of 81)

Aren’t I clever I know you so well

how much better if I understood

my reflection

Push you right over

Doesn’t mean I’m strong

mere force will never match

true introspection

I’ll be rich

when I stop wanting more

I’ll have my purpose

When I stop dwelling on what’s in store

Someday to find my true homestead

there to stay in perfect repose

long after

long after I’m dead

what

2.1027 : 2/24/08 : Nameless (II) (Seventyseven: 32 of 81)

Call me nameless

Who is?

There is no there

second to nothing

counsel of all kings

everything, everywhere

heaven and earth

came to perfect accord

rained down sweet dew

We made peace under no lord

simple existence

became so many names

epistemology

it it worth all these games?

isn’t it time to stop?

if nothing else to keep safe

as much as I can be

this great ocean’s little waif

what

2.1026 : 2/23/08 : War II (Seventyseven: 31 of 81)

3,218 : 10 ?

All the destruction we’ve bottled

What do you expect

I will not acknowledge them

or give them respect

This ritual of violence

that turns it all upside down

the last resort of the fool who wears the crown

I only want peace and quiet

I don’t even care to win

Should I be happy

the vicious cycle begins again

our history of war is a

protracted funeral dirge

and we can only mourn and wonder

if it’s a defect we will ever purge

what

2.1025 : 2/22/08 : War (Seventyseven: 30 of 81)

If the ruler were right

he would not seek war

blowing up in your face

is all it’s good for

Soldiers spell trouble

I’m sorry it’s true

tearing it up is

what armies do

Keep you borders

don’t go on parade

civil and modest

that’s it, you’re made

We should regret

every war we wage

eventually I’d bet

we’ll be wiped from the page

what

2.1024 : 2/21/08 : Lost in Space (Seventyseven: 29 of 81)

You wanna change the world

you’re crazy

we’re lost in space

and inviolate

not for grasping at

or lazy

tampering, short-

lived disaster’s all you get

a time for going forth

a time to follow

breathing slow

or fast and hollow

time to get strong

time to fall apart

So I eschew all extremes

and keep counsel with my heart

what

2.1023 : 2/20/08 : Towards the Infinite (Seventyseven: 28 of 81)

Rock cock but keep it soft like a bitch

And flow like a river for the world

Flowing like a river is walking always straight

and narrow no matter how big wave finds you hurled

up against smacked back like a baby

maybe: mind on bright but always in the dark

To be a pattern constantly in virtue

Onwards towards the infinite and never miss the mark

Inward glorious, outward lowly

I am the global fountain

From virtue to simple in my hands all soldiers

my tailor’s brigade storms up that mountain

what

2.1022 : 2/19/08 : No Tracks (Seventyseven: 27 of 81)

See how when I left you

I left no tracks

You’ll never pin down what I say

though I say stacks and stacks

I shut that thing like a

stone made whole

and you’ll never open it again

if it’s your lifelong goal

I tied you to that stone

and sent you to the bottom

You ain’t no part of it no more

So smoke ‘em if you got ‘em

I’m gonna save all I can

So nothing gets wasted

I’ll follow my light

and every love I tasted

led me here to teach the bad

and how I cherish my charges

and like a fool where angels fear to tread

in love barges

what

2.1021 : 2/18/08 : I’m Light (Seventyseven: 26 of 81)

3,212 : 4 ?

I’m so heavy I’m light

I’m so serene I rock the mic all night

Therefore the sage, traveling all day

I don’t look out the window not a thing to say

No matter the signs or roadside attractions

I stay home avoid distractions

You think I’m going to tip you all the heat I got?

You think I’m going to let you unseat my spot

I’m restful and thus my own master

For all your restlessness you won’t get there a minute faster

what

2.1020 : 2/17/08 : Nameless (Seventyseven: 25 of 81)

Big nameless

and yet whole and undivided

before heaven and earth

silent and boundless

standing one unchanging

all-encompassing pervading

think we could all call it mother

I don’t know it by any other

name

I call it the Great nameless

a thousand

the same

things that go

that go far

to return

so what you are

great like heaven, great like earth

Yeah you’re the king

man to earth

earth to heaven

heaven does its own thing

what

eponymous

Grasping concludes Songs of Days Volume 2.6, The Axis. Up next, Volume 2.7: Seven

what

2.1019 : 2/16/08 : Grasping (Seventyseven: 24 of 81)

You can’t stretch grasping forever

and stand at peace

Get up on the pedestal

You’ll get seen but not release

If it’s all excuses

You’ll never rise up to glory

And you’ll never be for real real

if you’re only telling your own story

The victories that go out on parade

don’t outlast their season

All these things are waste and mutant growths

And nature abhors them with reason

And as the man of this endless hour

I will not allow my heart

to give them power

what

2.1018 : 2/15/08 : Whirlwind (Seventyseven: 23 of 81)

Is this simple enough

is this quiet enough

to come to fruit on its own terms?

no this is a whirlwind

no this is a thunderstorm

writ brief

by the air with its birds

by the earth with its worms

To be One with the all

to be one with virtue

to be one with loss

owned by the all

owned by virtue

Caught without counting the cost

and if I have no faith in it

it will have no faith in me

that is my whirlwind prose

my frailty

what

2.1017 : 2/14/08 : Bow (Seventyseven: 22 of 81)

Bow to be whole: curl to be straight

the empty shall be full and the old shall relate

have less to be more, much will bemuse

so I gather the one and all others refuse

The pattern under heaven I do not myself display

And this I shine all the day

I keep my mouth shut and everyone knows me

I get the credit by saying nothing of my ability

I bury my success and so I endure

I yield to everyone so my enemies are so unsure

No my fine low bow’s not just sewing the wind

and like a mighty magnet I draw all things in

what

2.1016 : 2/13/08 : Elusive (Seventyseven: 21 of 81)

What is the nature?

Elusive and evasive!

Yet everywhere is form

persistent and pervasive!

Yet everywhere is substance

shadowy and dim!

that kid has got a core

of vitality in him

don’t doubt me now

this is for real

my unfailing sincerity

a name that’s set in steel

recollecting the way of things

at the beginning of history

how would you know such a thing?

by what is within me

what

2.1015 : 2/12/08 : Miss America (Seventyseven: 20 of 81)

I’m done with learning it never made me happy

your little here and little there

I refuse to fear what everyone is fearing

But the consequence of bucking the tide is a bear

Everyone is smiling like Miss America

Like they’re grilling the golden ox on the fourth of July

I tell you today I really miss America

It seems like there’s no one left to ask why

I am staying silent from now on

like a baby that has never smiled

While everyone is swimming in prosperity

Look at me plunging into the wild

What a fool I am what a muddled mind

While everyone is bright I am so dim

All your sharp brilliance wafts over my silent sea

When they seek the one nobody will say that’s him

settle into your upholstered ruts

while I crouch on the muddy verges

but you know I got one thing on you

I am at peace with my natural urges

what

2.1014 : 2/11/08 : I Should Dispense (Seventyseven: 19 of 81)

I should dispense with my

big brain antics

every one would be so much better off

dispense with my finer feelings

my focus on right

they’d all go back to just normal

though you well may scoff

If I weren’t so sharp playing such a close hand

there’d be no more robbers and thieves

And yet all of these fine foundations

are not quite enough

So this age so sadly grieves

So it must bow down to

Something higher

one stroke and back to basics

make so little of myself

come to be next to nothing

hey watch this old dog play tricks

what

2.1013 : 2/10/08 : Great Principle (Seventyseven: 18 of 81)

3,205 : 15 ?

Once a great principle

now left behind

replaced with humanism, law

the blind leading the blind

with the brightest and the best

came the biggest hypocrites

and it all fell out of balance

and nobody gave two shits

and from family to tribe

to city state to nation

your great principle appears

to be on permanent vacation

So it all gave way

to chaos and spats

and sure enough here come

the loyal bureaucrats

what

2.1012 : 2/9/08 : Ruler (Seventyseven: 17 of 81)

I am the greatest ruler

who you never heard of

Not like that handsome fellow

you hung on every word of

but the ones we have now

any one with half a brain

would fear and despise

but when will be defy again?

no faith for the faithless

I bite down on my words

watching the contented

self-satisfied herds

what

2.1011 : 2/8/08 : Empty Cup (Seventyseven: 16 of 81)

Would you believe: I’m looking for the

all the way empty cup

trying to bullseye peace in the maelstrom

envisioning how every number comes up

return to the root

find peace

fulfill destiny

be constant

have insight

‘Cause failing insight well blessed be

It’s a headlong into disaster

but knowing constant

I know all, embrace all

and it gets me to that gear faster

to be just to be over-reigning

to be like heaven

Don’t think I’m complaining

I’ve got a feeling this thing

lasts forever

after all is said and done

that’s a damn long lever

what

2.1010 : 2/7/08 : Ancient II (Seventyseven: 15 of 81)

Insight to the enigma of

the ancient of days

unfathomed depths of oceans

you can only know them by their ways

walk on eggshells

peeking ‘round the curtains like a shut in

proper like a diplomat

while you stick your ugly mutt in

soft ice left in a scotch glass

flat and simple like a slab

hollow like a cave

a muddied stream, slow brown and drab

but at its end runs clear

spilling life into the gap

Which is never filled

but ever spanned by

the cosmic bootstrap

what

2.1009 : 2/6/08 : Formless (Seventyseven: 14 of 81)

The looked at the unseen, formless

The unheard soundless

More listened, informed less

Vanished through clasped fingers

incorporeal but no spirit

Unfathomable fused

three is one but I do not fear it

facing the sun not shining

hugging the earth no shade

undefined unimagined

of form and image unmade

Face to face it’s faceless

Chasing find no back

It unlocks the gate on anything

with charges seething up the stack

what

2.1008 : 2/5/08 : Welcome Disgrace (Seventyseven: 13 of 81)

Welcome disgrace

with a big grin on your face

Hey Calamity!

Hey kid you know I love you like you were me

Because it’s good to be low

How pleasant to find it

Good to get back up

at least that’s how I mind it

And as long as we’re alive

we get calamity

without my self

What could my troubles be?

thus the one who gave it

all away

holds this world in his hand

And only if I raise

the rule of love

will my steward’s promise stand

what

2.1007 : 2/4/08 : Five (Seventyseven: 12 of 81)

3,199 : 9 ?

The five colors are blinding my eyes

The five tones make my ears ring like:

Ah-ay yi yis

My tongue lies in my mouth pressed by

the five flavors

And the racing and the hunting

are such maddening behaviors

Somehow we’ll always find a way

to make things most can’t have

I take care of the belly not the eyes

preferring what is within to without then

preferring to pause where Silence lies

what

2.1006 : 2/3/08 : Cipher (Seventyseven: 11 of 81)

The cipher at the center

is called the hub

thirty spokes turn the wheel

but here’s the rub

without nothing

there’s no movement or change

Parmenides knew it

but that cat was strange

spin a cup out

of a lump of clay

the hollow in the center

the use of it you weigh

imagine a room without windows or door

and see what terrible emptiness is for

what

2.1005 : 2/2/08 : Files (Seventyseven: 10 of 81)

What’s the essence what’s the spark of life

They must not separate on pain of strife

Gathering and channeling the energy wild

become as soft and supple as a newborn child

The inner eye grown clouded and gray

the masters need so badly to put cleverness away

hiding in the role of my anima

storming heaven’s gate from here to Panama

Seeming silent, prescient but still

Doing all yet seeming as if with time to kill

I set no store by these burgeoning files

I call it hidden virtue hidden in these piles

what

2.1004 : 2/1/08 : Fullness (Seventyseven: 9 of 81)

Ply the sword and ply the sword

the stone that you apply to the sword

You will sharpen the edge to dullness

grasping after and hanging onto fullness

You can’t trust treasures

gold or jade

the fancy titles or rich

friends you made

there it is

written in letters of fire

the way of heaven:

do the work

and then retire

what

2.1003 : 1/31/08 : Water (Seventyseven: 8 of 81)

Never striving always

choosing my moment right

super efficient

keeping order through the

next long night

keep my counsel

gentle and kind

diving hidden depths

to cultivate my mind

dwelling low to the ground

in places loathed by all

helping them despite themselves

like water: highest goodness

goes before the waterfall

what