2.2433 : 12/31/11 : The Inheritance

Count my inheritance
at year's end
no hint of presence
no message shall send
we're on our own on this side
so goes the battle
So goes the ride
a little silver, no gold
and this love hate I've got on
with lucre's getting old
not like I'm wanting
was expecting much
just another one of
the kinds of straws I clutch
gird up I tell myself
time to begin
this is your inheritance
to stand up again and again
maybe there's a golden treasure
to find in it all yet
keep that one close to my heart
while I cast my net

what

2.2432 : 12/30/11 : Wishes

If I believed in wishes
I would wish to
want to
be cut down
to a simple stalk
no branches
no renown
my complexity
isn't worth
a disc of lead
and all the thinking
rattling around
fills me with
existential dread
throw the coin in
rub the lantern
tear it up and feed it
to the fishes
hey somebody
hey somebody
listen to my wishes

what

2.2431 : 12/29/11 : Click

Fiddle and fool and
click click click
till your elbow or
your shoulder gets sick
concentration shot
creativity
the dirty little secret
is it's all teevee
Oh what will I
What will I do instead?
clean and repair
eat the daily bread
take a grab at the
longer end of the stick
sit and stare and wait
for something inside to click

what

2.2430 : 12/28/11 : Vague Spiritual

I've had enough of the fluff
the vague spiritual bluff
the little here and the little there
the trust in the trust and you'll
if when you where
real advice is hard to come by
you know I'm not just some dumb guy
but I feel pretty foolish lately
page after page of stilted stately
structure God it all sounds the same
only so many rhymes in the game
and if the turn of phrase doesn't sing
it isn't really anything

what

2.2429 : 12/27/11 : The Attitude

The attitude:
is perfect or
perfectly terrible
is it really the end
and the be all
deep down was I
seeking the message of doom
prefer the
comforting numbness
of guaranteed gloom
is there anything to change?
nothing to see here
it's all an accident
that much is clear

what

2.2428 : 12/26/11 : Sea of Stories

I declared that tales would end
no anticipation nothing round the bend
Tried to make it work for a month or so
Man in a ship said it just won't sail you know
How long since I touched my peaceful ocean
How long despite the sense of constant motion
I tell you God it's ten long years
the stuff of stark though still lesser fears
I tried your histories I tried your allegories
There's nothing left for it
but to return to the sea of stories
There's no such thing as bad luck
only suffering and resolve
only walking in the moment
there is nothing you can solve
and the world does not need saving
and it has no destination
and there is no difference between
vacation or incarceration
or anyway that is the line
of the strange bird that quarries
the deep unfathomed ocean caves
far under the sea of stories

what

2.2427 : 12/25/11 : Magical

When did magic
get such a bad name
call me childish
I should be ashamed
the world is not alive
you get hooked by the
crudest jive
already I'm sick
of the topic
So typical
So unphilosophic
a couple steel rings
a cardboard tube
hey what happened to
the handkerchief, rube
all the tricks I
threw out along the way
a magical life
doesn't really sound that way

what

2.2426 : 12/24/11 : Organizer

Now to me to be

the organizer
picking up this thing
you dropped
not quite my size,
there
isn't anything
for that though
nothing for
a lot of things;
So it's said to go

what

2.2425 : 12/23/11 : Chain

String the chain
over the range once more
off the reservation
scrambling on shore
under fire taking
heavy loss
and still storming
you can't deny
by the numbers
still performing

what

2.2424 : 12/22/11 : Patterned

Patterned with the
marks of all the
repetitions
iterations
tired of the
sober discourse
all the philosophic
conversations
Don't know nothing
going nowhere
no percentage
in griping
sniping
scrambling through
the piping
but then
what the hell am I hyping?

what

2.2423 : 12/21/11 : Checkered

Another contribution
to the checkered history
my
hit or miss
my story
I tell you man
Most don't hit the target
Most of us take
what we can get
What the hell
do I need
if not a plan?

what

2.2422 : 12/20/11 : Diptych 2

Sad mother
afflicted son
all so universal
what's the deal with everyone
getting all iconoclastic
as if your joint's an less plastic
today take me on familiar tides
trip as familiar as Disney rides
annunciation
transubstantiation
beatification
and of course mortification
the diptych logic merciless
think I can leave you to infer the rest

what

2.2421 : 12/19/11 : Diptych 1

The tree in bloom
the tree bare
the stone angels
who only stare
the diptych heaven
the right hand hell
more a sketch than a painting
but oh well

what

2.2420 : 12/18/11 : Draw a Line

Draw a line under
a pack of mean days
such a great excuse
it's worth that anyways
it's not a great story
well sure I'm pretty small
laid low by the heavy line
and can't draw up the sum at all

what

2.2419 : 12/17/11 : The Narrative

If not the narrative then what
the repetition and the rut
the inward meditative trance
the fumbling for the being dance
a sickness drops the hammer
hear my little scribblers yammer
lost the story of why for my trying
lost in his storyless dying
so tired and so unstoried
pining to be enriched and gloried
instead the miasmas hit me
you want me back damnit come
and get me

what

2.2418 : 12/16/11 : Exit the Only

Exit the only
solution to the lonely
state of utter sickness with
the state of all this rhetoric
unable to decide a thing
the bottom of
the denominator
just keeps dropping
words won't fix
good will is spent
and the movement
is a revenant
tell me there's no
way to go
tell me as if
I didn't know
retreat within
discrete, within
unspeaking
I'll slam the door
on every cause
without regard
to writ or cause
the end of it
descend and quit
my seeking

what

2.2417 : 12/15/11 : Tolereance

I should have
built up more
tolerance by now
to the poison
to the trauma
to the broken vow
I should have come up
with a strategy
instead of what still
looks a whole lot like
wait and see
nobody is watching
or expecting anymore
appreciate their tolerance
they don't
show me the door
as I try to grasp the nettle
take the bull by its horns
end up lightly gored
and with a hand
full of thorns

what

2.2416 : 12/14/11 : Bitter Again

Bitter they say
makes the placebo efficacious
maybe an apocrypha
the truth is seldom
so audacious
fool my tongue
with the bitter again
Don't know what's coming
don't know when
hardly reason
to continue on
all for the sake
of tradition, long
forgotten in
languages no one
speaks
well no one to speak of
pedantic freaks
no not me
I'm bitter is all
bitter again
back to a
bitter wall

what

2.2415 : 12/13/11 : The Other

Get one thing
forge the other
push me pull you
can't somebody help me
with a whack-a-brother
let it all slide
well no surprise
it ends up against a wall
with panic in its eyes
well what I need
well I won't say just what
and what would make
a difference
well I really got no clue though
but
get on to the other
if it seems a wild shot
in pitch black
Oh let's get on with the other
get on with the other
before inertia hits back

what

2.2414 : 12/12/11 : Forgetfulness and the Consequence

Forgetfulness
and the consequence is
another foray
into straddling the fences
where are we
when we're neither here nor there
When I don't have
the wherewithal
except to sit and stare
got to wash clothes
put away the dishes
tend my lame little projects
like lame little
upstream fishes
lose my continuity
pick it up once more
my mind a million miles off
trying to forget
what I deplore

what

2.2413 : 12/11/11 : Victory

Victory
doesn't feel good
doesn't feel like anything
what did I grasp
not a laurel branch
not a nettle
certainly not a gold ring
blue as the sky
sure I've got reasons
reasons don't make you feel any better
hope for victory
to bring some brighter layer
throw off this sad fetter

what

2.2412 : 12/10/11 : Great Dismal

Ah great dismal
truth of the day
notice me or
kindly go away
oh minor note
of dissonance
small returns
from ventured chance
please take me
anywhere but here
anywhere to wait
for the next thing to appear
take me to Great Dismal
plunge me in the muck
hand me a millstone
I'd scarcely be more stuck

what

2.2411 : 12/09/11 : Emotional Spending

That account
was already mighty thin
keeps getting hit again and again
emotional spending
hows my balance
not so good I fear
a lot of static in my valence
see that shell
looks like I'm good for bonding
while I strive to coordinate
my capital's absconding
damn now the money's
even in my metaphors
considering the real topic
well it's giving me the horrors

what

2.2410 : 12/08/11 : More Fool

More fool
can't seem to change
no allegory
nothing to exchange
terrible rhymes
such dimwit verses
Listen and learn
listen to my curses

what

2.2409 : 12/07/11 : Goodbye Midnight

I only came to
say goodbye midnight
don't want to pass it all by
change a little
not enough
You know them as well as I
it's awful tough
Goodbye midnight
hope to not see you soon
nor the moonlight in the water
nor the sunlight in the moon
a little too sad
to be positive at all
a little too tired
to take a shot at that high wall

what

2.2408 : 12/06/11 : Progress

Today I don't know
what progress means anymore
stare out a window
check and check a locked door
how we persist
and how we go on
and just to quote the Psalmist
O almighty: How Long?
No real goal:
no calling, no station
no great work or even
just a part time avocation
So how can progress start?
I'm mired in the slough
and the allegory's failing
not at all sure I'll get through

what

2.2407 : 12/05/11 : Luke 9 (Seventeen Nights 17/17)

Neither staff nor bag
nor bread nor money
it's a strange journey
but it really isn't funny
and who will feed
the multitude these days
and just what kind of with us
did you really mean by always
I'm no fool
I know my lowly station
never would have made it
to see the
transfiguration
I guess I'm not fit for the kingdom
how hard I'm looking back
wishing one last little glimpse
before I give the plow my back

what

2.2406 : 12/04/11 : Jude (Strange Flesh - Seventeen Nights 16/17)

we're all a little
strange in the flesh these days
a little
hellfire stumping
what a screed
for last days
I do not think
I care for you Jude
your pious attitude
sure that old time religion
certainly is in the book
can't just wave it away
bound to be mistook
Leaving me where?
maybe down among the goats
and all others who refuse
to have strange flesh
crammed down our throats

what

2.2405 : 12/02/11 : Isaiah 6 (Seventeen Nights 15/17)

Not my commission
not my call
what for me
seems like nothing at all
am I so selfish
well I'm what's left
what now holy holy?
with your play so deft
What a job to give out
baffle them with, well then
sounds like one escape clause
chance to say I told you so, when
of course I am bitter
angry sad and tired
reading ancient visions
feeling not a bit inspired

what

2.2404 : 12/02/11 : Psalm 104 (Very Great - Seventeen Nights 14/17)

Very great
oh yes
very great
it's a humbling universe
I can comfortably state
yes it's great
it's vast
one unending
deep repast
but that doesn't
mean it's nice
I'm not so sure
that you are nice
for what I find
upon my plate
still sure
no doubt
you're very great

what

2.2403 : 12/01/11 : Psalm 103 (Who Heals? - Seventeen Nights 13/17)

Who heals?
Is there any real healing?
Just temporary reprieve
a momentary feeling
I succumb to many vices
well no not that one I'll allow
at least today at least for now
again comes the wind
scatters them like dust
withers them like grass blades
eat at them like rust
the healing is not complete
in this world
and knows about
the next
who knows about
tomorrow
who knows what to expect

what