2.1306 : 11/29/08 : Water Rocket

Under pressure

full of piss and hot air

I’m going to pop the plug

and fly down on you over there

the human water rocket

call it water to be polite

that’s not vinegar

and I am bringing you the fight

it’s a war of silliness

rube goldberg war machines

Would be a lot more fun

than all your modern counting beans

what

2.1305 : 11/28/08 : The King’s Robe

Do I need to go back to

the blah blah blah

and is it true

that if I talked it out enough

I’d finally call

the devil’s bluff

recorded in the

book of Job

You can’t rely on

the king’s robe

for protection

from the worst

to prove a point

we’re freely cursed

wear it for the

photo opportunity

and if you care to

pretend you’ve got immunity

but don’t be surprised

when the messengers come

to tell the Lord tooketh away

in your zero sum

game

what

2.1304 : 11/27/08 : Thankless

If the task seems thankless

if the path seems endless

if the object seems immovable

and the road seems friendless

I can’t offer optimism

promises of intervention

only to be there at crunch time

with my very best invention

Well you can’t eat thanks

or cover with them if you’re cold

even so it would be nice to have

a few to remember when you’re old

so maybe look up

from the awful spectacles

and remember to say thank you

to fate’s chosen receptacles

what

2.1303 : 11/26/08 : Ordeal

Almost called it

an ordeal

could I get more

ridiculous

at least my record of

my clownish

pantomimes

meticulous

no war no

serious disease

no grief

knock on wood

if you please

I should be so thankful

how about that

guess I will be

just in time, cat

what

2.1302 : 11/25/08 : Ping

Ping

anyone home

just one

functionally alone

no message

nothing

just acknowledging

the ping

what

2.1301 : 11/24/08 : No Way Back

3,492 : 21 ?

Just generating filler now

just filling in the lines

uncaring about how it looks

between the clotted tines

unwilling to retrace the steps

but there is no way back

unless I drill down all the way

through that infernal stack

worse than a diary

more fractured than a log

it feels like some bad artery

disgusting with its fatty clog

and how should I reveal

a night like a thousand others

the nights that passed

like silent ships

this night and all

its brothers

what

2.1300 : 11/23/08 : Second Strike

Whiff streaks past

second strike

try to imagine it

up at the mic

the deepest fears

anxieties

various ends of

various sobrieties

not what you’d think

well maybe you

maybe God

maybe me too

waiting for

another pitch

pretty sure this one’s

going to be a bitch

what

2.1299 : 11/22/08 : Vice is Like a Job

Somedays even vice is like a job

and I am one predictable slob

trying to make sense of the senseless

before which I’m defenseless

bad intention carries the night

and I do not intend to fight

but I can’t help it struggle finds me

whatever passes for a muse finds me

and I’m rushing to make it up again

foolish midnight foolish pen

what

2.1298 : 11/21/08 : Music In My Head

As soon as I focus

the music in my head stops

a thousand thoughts crowd in

the volume sharply drops

What an illusion

What a tale of years

hear it in my head

but cannot ever

bring it to your ears

Somebody else did it

better years ago

Someone did it weirder

a bridge beyond what

I could ever know

but it’s done complete

the page is truly turned

and before the hour is cold

I’ll see that

last bridge burned

what

2.1297 : 11/20/08 : Refuse

Refuse to give in

to the impulse

to pull the pin

self destruct is

not an option

what instructs this

All feels redone

all feels rehashed

something flickered

for a minute

then spun out

and crashed

what

2.1296 : 11/19/08 : Just Like That

And just like that

I’m on the cusp

one two three

one step ahead of the rust

doesn’t quite work

but who can stop me

keep it all

short and sweet

let failure hone

and strop me

what

2.1295 : 11/18/08 : Long to Go Still

Long to go still

bitter harvest

bitter pill

made of clichés

and failed imagination

tomorrow to wake

in the same degraded station

So many tricks

learned over years

sew the eyes shut

Stop the ears

but the sound of it

penetrates every barrier

hope the next time

it comes knocking

I’ll be a little warier

what

2.1294 : 11/17/08 : Closing the Gap

3,485 : 14 ?

Not much you can control

the gap that keeps

yawning open takes its toll

Close it up again

Slam it shut again

I know I’ll let it

lapse my friend

Closing the gap

has just become a chore

and I’d talk more about it

but I don’t want to be a bore

it’s silent past midnight

I just want to be done

what I agonized in leisure

about

sort of wish I hadn’t begun

like a rent you might pay

like tribute

at least it’s not paying out

to some grim suit

man I’ve got to get past

all this crap

but for now I’ll just keep

shoveling it

all into the gap

what

2.1293 : 11/16/08 : Steam and Out

Out of steam and

Out of images

out of excuses

but never out of pages

want change so bad

I can taste it

If I won the magic spin

would I waste it

Out of sight and

Out of mind

is it such a tiny prayer

just to become more kind

the foul taste on my tongue

suggests I’ve

screwed up another one

but it’s all done and done

soon to be written off

I’ve had my fun

what

2.1292 : 11/15/08 : Wide Load

Cops in front and cops behind

the magic light flashed

in my mind

something swaddled

rolling up the road

was it a weapon or a crime

I’ll never know

just like the last time

what was concealed

in the wide load

I try to attach some

significance

I try to reach for some

redeeming magnificence

but I know it’s all a waste

I’ll get a moment

a little taste

but the mystery will

roll away

and tomorrow will be

just another day

what

2.1291 : 11/14/08 : Crisis

I told a friend in a

rambling missive

the crisis had flared up again

and so feeling permissive

I went through all the paces

in the old familiar places

a song smeared out

across a week or more

it’s what it has to be

but it leaves me

feeling poor

what

2.1290 : 11/13/08 : Late Night Crazies

I guess it’s all about the

late night crazies again

seems insane to talk about it

what it might end or begin

I couldn’t feel more ridiculous

but the method is meticulous

mark the door marked out

and just rush in

what

2.1289 : 11/12/08 : Promises

Promises promises

what’s one more slip?

So many crazy spills

betwixt the cup and my lip

maybe that dream I had

didn’t mean squat

but the suffering sure showed up

right on the dot

I’m claiming force majeure

for the greater good

maybe I’ll get it next time

like I know I should

have done tonight

well it’s hits and misses

and me and my damn

broken promises

what

2.1288 : 11/11/08 : Twisted Path

The twisted path and

how it got you here

puppet strings pulled by

winds of change and fear

a place that feels too

unsustainable

a chance for something better

still feels attainable

questions that hang

tragic in the air

mutual doubt

a twist path from here to there

feel that we must

begin retracing steps

back to zero or

Wherever disenchantment crept

what

2.1287 : 11/10/08 : Audacity

The act of stunning audacity

stymied by hope

and the dream of

reciprocity

is one hundred a

strong enough force

to hold the citadel:

of course

I’ll leave it to

some morrow

maybe to be subsumed

in a well of sorrow

but I’ll choose

my narrative track

someday I’ll drop this element

onto th’eternal

stack

what

2.1286 : 11/9/08 : Loop (Stuck)

Can’t seem to wrench my mind

out of the loop it’s stuck in

tried to keep it open

somebody shoveled muck in

tried to maintain a filter

but who knows what should be allowed

the winning cast of days

the path the loop plowed

I could look back on it

from many years ahead

afraid of what will come to pass

and who might end up dead

and what could get caught up

in history’s wide scoop

most afraid that ten more years

could find me still stuck in the loop

what

2.1285 : 11/8/08 : Numbers

I’ve played my share

of the magic numbers game

mostly all the dice

rolled out the same

hard to pick out the signal

from all the noise

observation and the chance

at precision it destroys

tough to be sensitive

tough to empathize

tough to see revealed

the grim equations ‘fore your eyes

and if this console blows

it’ll take you out redshirt

but hey put it off as you might

we all end up feeding dirt

what

2.1284 : 11/7/08 : Anomaly

The anomaly: last came first

well actually second

there’s that bubble burst

and the last will be

second to last

in an ultimate sense

that will get swallowed by the past

and I know that I’ll forget

when it’s time for the next

forget to mark the moment

Whatever it expects

but maybe I’ll remember

make it something new

remember at it, all of it

was written down for you

what

2.1283 : 11/6/08 : Ritualistic Conclusion

Attempt to drag the thing

to one last

ritualistic conclusion

all elements in place

in all their usual profusion

full of doubt it’s nothing new

new must be a long way off

I guess I’ll have to make it up

while anyone acquainted must scoff

to hear me talking new and first

to hear me talking tough

to hear me say I’m moving on

because I’ve had enough

what

2.1282 : 11/5/08 : Gimme

Gimme a freebie

toss me a line

I’m trying rather hard

to resist the decline

It may be quite serious

but here’s my retort:

I nailed it twenty years ago

in a book report

what

2.1281 : 11/4/08 : I Voted

I voted

I helped a friend

a neighbor vote

in the biblical sense

don’tcha know

I call it historic

I call it fine

I call it a supreme victory

I call it mine

what

2.1280 : 11/3/08 : History

History will teach me

Where to draw the line

between the advent of hope

after the steep decline

and if you’re doubting

I can relate

but there is time

to raise

this great estate

what

2.1279 : 11/2/08 : The Thorn

Even further behind

than you thought before

what’s better a brick wall

Or a slamming door

it’s getting tedious

I’m getting wroth and grim

Paul said the thorn pierced him three times

but I’m not him

And I should laugh of course

the price of bending rules

If you complained about the like

I’d curse you all as fools

but we all like rules

till they apply to us

and I’m no better than the next

So please excuse me while I cuss

what

2.1278 : 11/1/08 : Memory

I’ve got a mean streak about a mile

wide, inside

that tells me that we only

wreck things for the

drama, comma

but here’s what really keeps

me up at night:

Maybe Fred was right

And what had truly been true once

has died

what