2.2158 : 03/31/11 : Never Comes

Oh and the moment that never comes
trying to correct and complete the sums
only one topic that invites
the telling and retelling bites
and it's all part and parcel of the cost
wherein all hope of overcoming entropy is lost
and can you blame anyone who hoards a pile
however ill-gotten, however vile
but this beam in my eye is giving me grief
and I'm scared of what might come in the night
like a thief

what

2.2157 : 03/30/11 : In That Garden

In that garden just like all the years ago
wondering who searched in the night and did they know
Who they had found and did they listen
What would I say to them what might I insist then
that is not the spirit of the garden of old
surely not the lesson or the tale to be told
the tale I'm in is nothing to write though
That should have been over and done with so long ago
And so much more just to be past that
Over the unpoetic lyric of my last bat
and seeing how I'm so distracted begging your pardon
go about it anyway, try to find another garden

what

2.2156 : 03/29/11 : Reaction

Who knows how long it's gonna last
the chain reaction
the puling of the part that wants to fail
only one real satisfaction
rockers turned star chefs
every world is closed and cold
the reaction just keeps churning
and this shit is getting very old

what

2.2155 : 03/28/11 : Mask

This dark mass
won't get you through the gauntlet
sing it from the tower
sing it in a quartet
It gives a little peace
but the price is steep
leave me wringing my hands
like Uriah Heep
Something will come up
do I believe it
Slip on a mask
pretend I think I'm about to receive it
if this is as
good as it gets
I'll keep the mask in place for now
and stop accepting bets

what

2.2154 : 03/27/11 : Vines

Draped in leaves
hung with vines
massed with grapes
a hundred bunches
daydreaming
the vast inclines
maybe tomorrow
one of my hunches
I remember
small, a boy
my mother's arms
we read these pages
don't recall
this show, that toy
funny what
survives our ages
stupidly I say
what I said I wouldn't, one more night
and try to navigate the vines
the tangle seems impossible
pretend to get away with something
knowing I didn't get it right
knowing it is all on me
knowing I'm responsible

what

2.2153 : 03/26/11 : Pay the Piper

I said you got to pay the piper
before you get down
afterwards you'll forget
and you can't afford that frown
I said it's so easy
do it every day
Still got the moves
and a thing or two to say
Pay the piper
I pay in song
Every one lasts about the same
same as the day is long
Some days it seems so cheap
Sometimes it's dear
Or so it seems to me
just listening here

what

2.2152 : 03/25/11 : Short & Sweet

Everything so short and sweet
a melody a steady beat
the missing piece I long for
come tomorrow I'll come out strong for

what

2.2151 : 03/24/11 : Force

Lacking finesse, I must apply force
And the product is a mess of course
whither inspiration whither esprit
on our way to becoming a parody
a bigger hammer and a longer lever
once upon a time long gone thought I was clever
once upon a time wanted to have that conversation
always ready to defend my station
the three ways to truth all leave me cold
I think you left something out if I may be so bold
and this stream just won't slow down
and yet I have to change my course
and the only tool I've got left in my toolbox is force

what

2.2150 : 03/23/11 : Stakes

Are the stakes so high
high as can be
what's the alternative
who could explain to me
did I get too intellectual
cut off the common source
could be I'm just kind of
dumb and lazy of course
not destined for greatness
none will remember
and still I slog along
try and try to fan that ember
while the enemy's coal bed is lurid
and they're limbering their rakes
I am squatting in the corner
contemplating all the stakes

what

2.2149 : 03/22/11 : Worms

The worms are turning
and just won't quit
turning inward
widening the split
it's getting ugly
and I'm not amused
any bid to draw me further out
must be refused

what

2.2148 : 03/21/11 : Here Then There

Better here than there
but here's still way too close to nowhere
better one step than none
Still it's barely begun
and I know I should be clear
but I'm just not feeling it dear
and I'm not feeling this at all
not the reason not the call
waiting for some damn thing to appear
waiting, waiting, there, then here

what

2.2147 : 03/20/11 : Quiet

Give me the soft breath
to quiet my mind
to turn the thing over
one more time
and find one new idea
on the other side
there to be quite quiet
there to abide

what

2.2146 : 03/19/11 : Hello, Midnight

Hello, midnight of
long acquaintance
didn't expect you so soon
making waves
in my present tense
I guess I better have it out with you
here while I've got the chance
yes I confess
one more time
this old dance
and a thousand and one
midnights hence
I may interrogate you again
old acquaintance
I expect you to be ready
to answer for your
treatment of me
I'll do my half
you do yours clock
I'll set the alarms
you do the tick tock
don't get uptight:
I don't expect so soon
to be completely free

what

2.2145 : 03/18/11 : First and Foremost

First and foremost
could I have everything backwards?
am I hoping what I should be
remembering
am I remembering
what will happen afterwards
is there a signal
or a code to break
to unravel it all
back to my first mistake
and set it back right
unify all paths
all decision points
all aftermaths
the sign above the gate
said what is truth?
don't give me a stroke of your chin
a verily, forsooth
I am thick in this
and it is all too real
first and foremost then:
open your eyes: how do you feel?

what

2.2144 : 03/17/11 : Bitter

I've got a full measure
of bitter
that it's better
that I don't unload
afraid I'll mess things up again
go back on up that
same old road
just place the hot glass
on the flesh
and draw the poison out
So I can take a nice long look
learn just what bitter's all about

what

2.2143 : 03/16/11 : If Not This

I've gotta be satisfied with nothing if not this
freely admitting it's a piece of piss
But the day is and here I am
After the example of a low ham
if not this then what?
The question leaves me just sputtering:
"But, but,"
And that's no answer so I best prepare
because they're asking tough questions
over there
But I will let it slide
to its own level
I spent too much time
searching for the perfect bevel
and if it seems academic
the problem is noted:
regret it's endemic

what

2.2142 : 03/15/11 : Old Story

Trying to tell an old story
in a thousand different ways
and still so many times to go
and still no idea of what pays
wanting to not tell a lie
wanting not to bore
still not even the faintest
of what might yet lay in store
beats and subways, pyramids
pretty to think it could be true
knowing I can not
tell your story for you
reach out for the passing peace
hope for only that
and keep your finger at your lips
if by chance you should smell a rat

what

2.2141 : 03/14/11 : Got Nothing

In the state of got nothing
the been here before
the don't let your ass
get a smack from the door
want to try so hard
but the meter's on E
hello again hello again
it's only me

what

2.2140 : 03/13/11 : Mean Grind

Oh but to get the ring
comes with a mean grind
whoever you may be
I guarantee you'll mind
when you get in the thick
and see how far you've got to go
a punishment for past life choices
some old penman told me so
and scarcely do I take a peak
no sooner than I've cracked the seal
it's plain enough to see
that this mean grind is real
some claim to like it
calling it job security
I'm no great adventurer
but that just doesn't work for me
I want the prize
and the grind's just an impediment
I want a true gold vein
but here I am
just sifting sediment

what

2.2139 : 03/12/11 : Magic Ring

Grasped in you hand
you've found the magic ring
cue the eerie music swell
now the spectral chorus sing
subtle as things start to change
all around
perhaps within
the story you ever hoped past hope
would befall you may now begin
the stalwart friends
the fearsome foes
the dark of the new moon
the ring glows
coveted
sought by all
to you alone shall
the epic fall
oh magic ring oh magic ring
upon my finger see it blaze
now that's the kind of tale I'd tell
forgetting all these grey lost days

what

2.2138 : 03/11/11 : Luckless

I should have stayed poised
on my tip toes
on the tipsy edge
I chose to take another
luckless leap
into the prickly hedge
the outcome was predictiable
a heap of unrestricted bull
me left scratched up
on the far side
I took myself for such a ride

what

2.2137 : 03/10/11 : Poising

Brinks and poising
too many moments alike
too many evenings described
in cryptic yarns
and hopeful noises
I have to pick through one by one
every ending that had scarcely begun
another night left alone
no fear of the bell
or the telephone
I know what I promised
but just give me one more day
I hear myself, poising, say

what

2.2136 : 03/9/11 : Fat Tuesday

Is it the third lean year
or the tenth or seventeenth
pretending to feel the wind of change
in the grip of my bared teeth
wanting and hoping
but not really believing
I learned want and hope
are far gone from receiving
my dullish Fat Tuesday
was done before starting
got one hour that stretched
everything was departing
good enough good as any
not a thing I could change
in the lean years it was all
the fat I could arrange

what

2.2135 : 03/8/11 : Clean Start

Feeling much too old to make a clean start
too much pain on the frame, no faith in the heart
everything just feels inevitable
thousands of disappointments have trained me well
and I should cheer the hell up, really I've got it soft
so I'm hip deep in red ink, so I got no dreams to keep aloft
so the world is steeped in war and hatred terrorists and bombs
so I don't know from where this self-destructive impulse comes
So I can't see civilization going anywhere but down
no clean start for anybody country, city, town
we'll remain surrounded by the artifacts of our mistakes
it seemed like we might aim higher, but oh well them's the breaks
sorry for this stale performance sorry for the rant
sorry for the yes we can turns out I guess we can't
can't stop fighting can't stop wasting why even pretend
hope I'm not around for it sometimes, I prophesy a messy end

what

2.2134 : 03/7/11 : Proscribed

My boundaries have become proscribed
as a nutshell
though you told me only my mind
made it hell
Also it's hardly hell
I just exaggerate
so much further down to go
even if this is far from great
and this is far from great
but it's a play I guess
a part a role to fill
to pull me back when I digress
My paths are all proscribed
truly it is always thus
the world ends at gravity's reach
no use us waiting on a cosmic bus

what

2.2133 : 03/6/11 : Days

Days pass by thousands
they topple in great ranks
knocked down like ninepins
faced off with tanks
turn another, turn another
turn another page
by the time 8 thousand more pass
I'll be near old age
astonishing to think of
yet too it seems far to close
admit the thought is morbid
admit I grow morose
trying just to hold on
and make the moment pay
knowing nothing in the world
can happen ever but today

what

2.2132 : 03/5/11 : Baroque

can I beg and ask you
make my drama more baroque
opulent and complicated
So the king of corn town spoke
after the bomb
oh yeah we went there
Yeah we blew it all to hell
anyone it left alive
had some baroque damn story to tell
Yikes no not that much you stammer
I just want some guilt and glitz
trust me son the curse of
interesting times is they're the pits

what

2.2131 : 03/4/11 : Too Much

Too much to ask
to also seek
beauty in words
tonight
words are more than
one half of my problem
give me two real problems
words won't solve them
and we're a world away
from
whatever we tried to say
way back when
So do you mind if I just
Shut my mouth, tonight
don't pretend

what

2.2130 : 03/3/11 : Haste

Is anybody else out there
obsessed with peace
the way
the way things go
requires such waste
while this itchy feeling
that we're running out our lease
seems to spur us on
to nothing but
blind haste

what

2.2129 : 03/2/11 : Dead Lion

That dead lion's not
looking so bad now, innit
hard to take that weedy road
so hard to begin it
the lion you left good and dead
back at the crossing in the road
and you the dog that walked away
will have to hoist up your own load
give me a way to look at it
that fits the facts and still makes sense
give me a reason to believe
who else can get me off the fence
it's an adventure sure
it's such a carnival parade
but that dead lion lying there
has started making me afraid
what if nothing's coming back
what if every moment's lost
what if there is no sense at all
no pay off and only cost
dear lion I sure did take note
of how you made me feel
but I am not getting any more days
so these days I need to bring what's real

what

2.2128 : 03/1/11 : Right

Didn't get it right
and the outcome's not pretty
another bellyache
another dumb ditty
wish I had a potion
or an amulet
or some kind of box
where I could hit reset

what