Saturday, January 31, 2015

2.1369 : 1/31/09 : Crown

Stumble across the traces of
someone else’s good intentions
think I’ll skip a week if you don’t mind
apply for more extensions
I kept on expecting for
the hammer to come down
well when it was I guess I’ll
be the one to wear the dunce’s crown
I should learn to write a chorus
brush up on my stale guitar
never enough time or money
that cliché won’t get me far
but if I had to guess
I’d bet on this one not ending as much
with four fifths of the journey left to slog

I hope I haven’t lost my touch

what

Friday, January 30, 2015

2.1368 : 1/30/09 : Just What I Want

Why do I lie to myself
when it just doesn’t matter
When there is no hope at all
no illusions to shatter
Listen to this if you doubt:
There’s not even absence of hope
it doesn’t come in this equation
it’s wholly outside this thing’s scope
maybe you’re not pretending
it’s simple as pie
So easy, ignore me
I’m that kind of guy
and it’s just what I want
Fly low without lights
not a blip on your radar
still free in my long nights


what

Thursday, January 29, 2015

2.1367 : 1/29/09 : Sadness and Pride

Three quarter sweep
the last hour keeps
me glued to the screen
try to figure what you mean
I’ve let too much slide
pushed by sadness and pride
Should let the small stuff go
I still sweat it though
another day I didn’t
start that little thing
another day rushing
to write a song I well
may never sing
And I don’t even value my pride anymore
and the sadness looks so very much like a door
and I prattle along
and I call it a song
and the last quarter sweeps
for the rest
its own council keeps

what

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

2.1366 : 1/28/09 : Skewed

The image perverse
skewed through art
the end of an era
that got taken apart
whatever you may call it
transcendent, obscene
its time is all expired
and I wipe the slate clean

what

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

2.1365 : 1/27/09 : Pretty Weird Stuff

You’ll hear some
pretty weird stuff
before we’re through
don’t flinch
don’t worry I’ll
make it up to you
Isn’t it pretty
to think it woulda worked out if
hey it’s just a joke, pretty
so don’t get so stiff


what

Monday, January 26, 2015

2.1364 : 1/26/09 : Legend

3,555 : 20 ?



If I really meant it
I’d turn off the TV
throw the cat off the couch
abandon my family
Go out on the road
night without end
If I really meant
to be a legend
Even if I believed
I wouldn’t give up a thing
there isn’t anywhere
that I can’t sing
I don’t need to be crazy
I don’t need to be known
I don’t need to know the disposition
of a single seed I’ve sown
they say legend in his own mind
what’s wrong with that
soon enough all lie alike
wear poor Yorick’s hat
the devil cannot tempt me
to that cross in the road
and I’m not afraid at all
to watch this dream explode

what

Sunday, January 25, 2015

2.1363 : 1/25/09 : Razor

Almost as bad as ever
I said so many times
never again,
my love,
never again my love
and who am I fooling
oh what am I doing
I could stop stop stop
right there
I’ve got no explanation
beyond this demonstration
let me hone this razor on the strop
because I care
and we can divide
anything
except what really matters
and if I seem to be holding
You too tightly in these arms
I’m just afraid of
what happens if it shatters

what

nobody said it would be easy

So concludes a song a day volume 2.8: Record (II). And since I'm running behind on the posting we'll just proceed immediately to volume 2.9: Unabridged.

what

2.1362 : 1/24/09 : Suffering

If this is what it takes
I guess that I am
successful
like it or not the job is done
nobody said it would be easy
or enriching
or enlightening
or fast or sweet or fun
and in the scope of human
suffering
I pack a sorry little travail
I guess I haven’t got a prayer
the race won’t
devastate me
but oh well
I am still on your trail 

what

2.1361 : 1/23/09 : No Dice

I had a notion to do
something different
but oh sorry baby
no dice
sad enough it appears
I can get in up to my ears
even without heartache
even without vice
And if the pearl of great price
doesn’t seem to be
on the market
and if in addition I’m poor
well I have to ask sir
with just a little bitter
in my voice
just what the hell
all that run around
was for

what

Thursday, January 22, 2015

2.1360 : 1/22/09 : Dumb

Like a dumb man
like the dumb man I am
waste what I don’t have
get stuck in a jam
but I know the way out
hold your nose and dive
so sorry shit ain’t butter
but you’ll be alive


what

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

2.1359 : 1/21/09 : No Bridge

I can’t escape
across the river
because there is no bridge
worst scenario is me
run down by hounds
along the ridge
I think I’ll slip the noose
just one more time
expect me on your doorstep
set to deliver the prime

what

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

2.1358 : 1/20/09 : Hot Iron Ball

Is everybody carrying
this hot iron ball
the human condition
but is that all?
I’ll run a long time
with it stuck in my throat
trying to ignore you sitting
next to me in this boat


what

Monday, January 19, 2015

2.1357 : 1/19/09 : Loose Change

3,548 : 13 ?



I’d rather sort through the
loose change than try to
hump that mountaintop again
whatever you saw up there
wasn’t there for me
and I am tired
I’d rather sift through
year-old paperwork
with porn on the tube
what a jerk
than try to reach some conclusion
than try to get inspired
and what I’d
really rather do
I think I’ll keep a
secret from you
keep it all business
I’ll be so obscure
in a year or two I’m sure
Even I’ll have forgotten
what I hid in code
and I’m looking forward
eagerly
to losing that load

what

Sunday, January 18, 2015

2.1356 : 1/18/09 : Heart Strings

And so on
and so forth
I make up
I go forth
I don’t think
I want to sing
that angry song
I was thinking
somebody’s pulling
on the strings on my heart
somebody’s
calling me out
for prior art
but I never claimed
to be original
just persistent
and
occasionally hopeful


what

Saturday, January 17, 2015

2.1355 : 1/17/09 : Wise Up

I better get my wise up
take a minute to size up
just how to get through this jam
end up less stuck than I am

what

Friday, January 16, 2015

2.1354 : 1/16/09 : Moment Never Comes

Maybe you all made a terrible mistake
couldn’t wait
impatient said I’ll
take that one
now spill out the remainder
waiting for the
moment
the moment never comes
maybe I’m no better
maybe I’m worse
than fake free verse
maybe I belong
in the swill here
with all you bums


what

Thursday, January 15, 2015

2.1353 : 1/15/09 : Mere Anarchy

It seems like just a free-for-all
as the pages close in
on the end of some chapter
as we all pull the pin
on our fire extinguishers
afraid it’s way too late
Oh we wanted to keep dancing
On the thin edge of fate
While it keeps burning
destructive but bright
and I just couldn’t help myself
from shrieking out more light
I know I’ll write a book about it
tell everyone how they’re doing it wrong
I’m sure you’ll all wake up at last
I’m sure you’ll follow right along


what

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

2.1352 : 1/14/09 : Off the Hook

Feeling off the hook and so
it seems I am a fish who
has escaped the momentary fate
of becoming a dish
Oh if I swam a little faster
If I dove a little deeper
Might my pearl of very great price
be the season’s big hit sleeper
If your mother is a fish
If the Catcher’s in the rye
well I am no Southern enigma
no New England recluse guy
Still I should surely try
to swim upstream
while I seem to be free
because so help me I can
see the son
is still fishing for me


what

Monday, January 12, 2015

2.1351 : 1/13/09 : Return Flight

Book my return flight
on the royal road
hope I’m still one step ahead
of dreams that may implode
subjected to the pressures
of depression
states of war
and let this prayer of
thanksgiving
test just what it might
be good for

what

2.1350 : 1/12/09 : No Turn Unstoned

There was a time
we would enter
no turn unstoned
the dullness of the
edge on that rough
rock we honed
but things are
different now in
so many ways
and still and still
I write and write
this book of days
And I’ll take this
turn unclouded
and unmarked
with the slightest nod
to the old days
back to which it harked


what

Sunday, January 11, 2015

2.1349 : 1/11/09 : Righteous

Every righteous moment
as defined by what?
I wonder
If you thought how we
would judge it
as all worlds are torn asunder
an excuse for moving so slow
If the moment comes
then I’ll go
I am upright, stern
and pious
say it briefly
firmly
righteous

what

Saturday, January 10, 2015

2.1348 : 1/10/09 : Synecdoche

Synecdoche the class the key
you think that words mean
anything to me
these days a way or ways
to entertain
distract the brain
or anything that
pushes pain
back to the background
back underground
back to your notes
speeches cast votes
manifestos
for the party
for the set
synecdoche

what

Friday, January 09, 2015

2.1347 : 1/9/09 : Slightly

things get ever so
slightly better
but there’s dark clouds
all over out there
maybe I’ll find time
to send a letter
but tonight I
just can’t care


what

Thursday, January 08, 2015

2.1346 : 1/8/09 : Grace

A little grace granted
in consideration
of duress and disorder
in the face of fascination
What is not to be
what must not be fed
and though I live to walk the line
with that I’m going to bed

what

Wednesday, January 07, 2015

2.1345 : 1/7/09 : Transition

I really need to craft that
super transition
audio nightmare
superposition
to draw the firm line
between dark and light
and rise above my plight
to make it come out right
and maybe finally start
going to sleep at night
I guess I’m worried that
it just won’t work
and if I try to sell it like
snake oil I’ll be twice the jerk
what a joke
just pretend I don’t need it
or stay up
night after night
to feed it

what

2.1344 : 1/6/09 : The One

I know I’m not the one
despite the conversations
in my head
that you hint dimly at
and speculate about
in poems I read
I should pull my head out
of this absurd
funhouse mirror distraction
I don’t have the time
and there’s nothing to book
On that action
Even if I were the one
which I know I’m not
I know I’m not
It wouldn’t mean a thing
or stack up to the real
I’ve got
but I let it
tease my mind
a little new a little twist
When I’m not there
anymore
I’m sure I won’t
really be missed


what

Monday, January 05, 2015

2.1343 : 1/5/09 : Falling Behind

3,534 : 62 ?



Falling behind on sleep
on pages
Oh I’ll never catch up
on all the books
and all the ages
past, God knows
what I’m doomed to repeat
I can’t catch up
on all the history
I’m dragging my feet
trying to put off the ascent
to a realm that never satisfies
early or late
it’s all the same
behind closed eyes

what

2.1342 : 1/4/09 : Thinking Ahead

Thinking ahead
planning on living in
the moment later
say you don’t think
I’m doing it right, oh
why you got to have to
go and be a hater
being mindful or
drifting into space
Say it makes a difference
always end up in the same place
I want something strange
and different to happen instead
don’t know how to bring it about
don’t know how to think ahead
In observation
the man said
chance favors the prepared mind
but my third eye’s all clouded
I’m prognosticating blind

what

2.1341 : 1/3/09 : Put Off

Put off put off
everything gets put off
moment to moment
connecting dots
of time less time
no starting no endpoint
mere succession
for both haves and have nots
So
why do I worry
why do I struggle
why do I try to walk
in a straight line
what’s up with your
minding your own business
problem
I am surely

minding mine

what

2.1340 : 1/2/09 : Spirit

The spirit is willing
but the flesh wants a nap
what the hell anyway
it’s all ending up on the scrap
heap of history
turns to archaeology
turns to geology
by and by
and I want to cry
if nothing I say
makes it through


what

2.1339 : 1/1/09 : As Fast As Light

As fast as light
rush past the stumbling
vertigo of time
you’ve been tumbling
though it wasn’t so bad
you lived
and for a few long past
regrets, forgive
forgive me for all my sins
O lord
And teach me to be new
Apart from promises
and calendars
wake up my heart and
draw me through


what

2.1338 : 12/31/08 : Fin

Amid all the observation
we neglected to attend
that the siècle would really fin
the millennium would end
and the bastards kicked us
right into the center of the fray
with steep descents and sudden fire
one gorgeous autumn day
now the decade, closing fast
and me soon to be forty
and for all the clichés it’s bad for real
and despite our bold political sortie
I’ve got the fear of the
turn of the century
I’ve got the millennial blues
I’ve got a bad feeling
I don’t know who you are
but I’m destined to walk
a mile in your shoes


what

2.1337 : 12/30/08 : Sharky’s Machine

Any more distractions and I’ll
lose the thread completely
who’d believe I’d take this tangle
and unravel it so neatly
but that’s just what I am fixing
to get rolling once the wheels are
on this machine oh Sharky
I know just what her appeals are
but that’s not even about
the wheel that’s driving this affair
but when I know the heading and
just who or what occupies the the chair
I’m pointing with my toes at the dateline
cross over into some other
lovely little secret plan
just between
me, the machine
and my brother


what