2.2980 : 06/30/13 : River Passage

See my eyes

at river's edge

big surprise

below the ledge

I'm crossing rivers

on the daily

book river passage

board and pay me

I should be tireless

So much I am not

I shouldn't be restless

wanting things

I haven't got

but it's too hard

taking away what is needed

but I'm not going back

here now my tolerance has

been exceeded

101 Curious Professions 25: Ferry Man

what

2.2979 : 06/29/13 : Memory

Is memory a curse?

Am I even asking

as if it were a question?

could memories

reverse

if so might I

offer a suggestion

I have no place

to stand

to suggest

what might fall after

I know the bargain

keep the pain

to keep the laughter

101 Curious Professions 24: Mentalist

what

2.2978 : 06/28/13 : Traveler

Traveler

to seek to sell

to go beyond stars

wouldn't that be swell

the markets down here

no longer exciting

oversaturated

uninviting

who else will have

this unique flavor

choose your dark

or your light savour

choose your salt

and your solution

it's traveling

it's evolution

101 Curious Professions 23: Traveling Salesman

what

2.2977 : 06/27/13 : Redacted

Oh I'm sick of it
let's take stuff out
the
was redacted
I whipped
about
I can't tell you
what I
already
grasp your
and hold your
steady

101 Curious Professions 22: Redactor

what

2.2976 : 06/26/13 : A Scrivener

As I can't seem to believe
in the next-level network shit
Since I can't wrap my words around
to cook up the next global hit
Since even my wife doesn't read it-
no worries I've forgiven her
I swear I'm giving up the quest
and going back to being a scrivener
Yeah though I'd prefer not to
well was that ever relevant
careful in the bedroom honey
Seems we've got this elephant
What do you do with a dream deferred
Charged off and sent to collections
I can tell you all about the rubber stamp
and several duller clerks reflections
I guess I only earned my
room up in the tower
Stipends are in short supply
and you know, full many a flower
be all right with a scrivener's life
learn to adjust my preference
So as to not be clapped in chains
if you can dig my reference

101 Curious Professions 21: Clerk

what

2.2975 : 06/25/13 : Bait

Cast a thousand hooks
it seems my bait was not enticing
is it my fault I got the crumbs
some got the cake and all the icing
What are you fishing for
oh what meat would fill you
these days I'd take anything
would some small token kill you
I used logic I used love
my self reproach fit like a glove
I tried dark wrath, absurdity
could you whisper something new to me
waiting for a mentor
with a lump in my throat
tell me cast out on the
other side of the boat

101 Curious Professions 20: Fisherman

what

2.2974 : 06/24/13 : Map Pins

A working poet
but what's the work to be
redundant don't I know it
can this poor jerk get free
A hundred map pins
Every false start, stall
can't shout above these dins
nothing to shout at all
wait for my summary
you'll wait all night
more flash and flummery
I'll be all right

101 Curious Professions 19: Working Poet

what

2.2973 : 06/23/13 : Courier

I stood and I knocked and I knocked
do you deny it
You said you'd be around forever
and I always said I buy it
Whatever made me an obsessive
a perfectionist a worrier
tell me the message I'm not a prophet
just a courier
I thought I was finest
in a future past that never came
I thought I had a core ethic
elevated me far above the game
but I find I'm no better
than the message I carry
used to be afraid of armageddon
now I'm afraid of January
but I've got no play
but to carry and not complain
the only upside I deliver
but you can't ask me to explain

101 Curious Professions 18: Courier

what

2.2972 : 06/22/13 : Long Haul

I'm not steering this
or sometimes it doesn't feel it
If I could see a fresh idea
I'd for sure steal it
stayed up way too late
waiting for another little squall
just another night
on the long haul
only one question these days
whither work?
my back against the wall
that makes me feel like such a jerk
will the long haul ever end
will it get rougher, and steeper
call me if you need me
I'll be back in the sleeper

101 Curious Professions 17: Long Hauler

what

2.2971 : 06/21/13 : Artist

I need escape right
now
I am too tired of this
to think
too tired
and on the brink
I could be an
escape artist
and ditch all these constraints
a day will bring the real test
will I be among that day's saints?

101 Curious Professions 16: Escape Artist

what

2.2970 : 06/20/13 : Asset

I'm embedded
yeah from birth
displayed as an example
what an asset's worth
but what's the mission?
none will tell
and I know no other member
of my sleeper cell
how will I know
when to activate?
who tells me where
to direct my hate?
don't blow my cover
but I could use a little sign
a pair of cosmic crosshairs
my gyro to align
I can tell I'm important
by the way I feel
everyday I wake
thinking today it gets real
everyday I drift back
back into sleep
I might like to change
professions
but that curve out's steep

101 Curious Professions 15: Sleeper Cell

what

2.2969 : 06/19/13 : Box

Can I just
toss it all over
make boxes
stuff them
with the stuff
someday
show them what shock is
when I pull out
my perfect predictions
from the box
prove the visionary trip
wasn't just talk

101 Curious Professions 14: Boxmaker

what

2.2968 : 06/18/13 : The Bones

Riches aren't destined
why can't I give it up
I am doomed to be a gambler
rattling the bones in a cup
All are doomed gamblers
the outcome guaranteed
we gamble our whole world
and there's none we'll heed
Not wise ones not scientists
Not our elders sure hell not lyricists
Hand the dumb game to politicians
the business suits
theres no puppet master
but the few
spoil the fruits
And I am chasing
twelve the hard way
And thirteen for luck
on this grim bard way

101 Curious Professions 13: A Gambler

what

2.2967 : 06/17/13 : Watching

All deadlines
I won't be making
wasn't quite a plan
and the daydreams I'm shaking
I need to get off
the night watch
and change things up
despite my pronouncement
there remains the cup
this last watching
Same as it ever was
and watch as a watcher does

101 Curious Professions 12: Night Watchman

what

2.2966 : 06/16/13 : Preacher to Worms

Seek my congregation
in the lowly reaches
to testify to what
worm gospel teaches
Preacher to worms
Recognize no higher order
People don't deserve to hear
from my divine recorder
Carry my box out
after the hard rain falls
raise up my arms there on
the sidewalks of the malls
speak of the good kingdom
that lies within
and the heaven that awaits
inside my compost bin

101 Curious Professions 11: Preacher (to Worms)

what

2.2965 : 06/15/13 : Deserve Fine Ends

Deal me a royal flush
out of the devil's picture book
I confess: I wish to be
one of the idle rich
I never could contrive
to be one of those who just took
so it'll have to be raw chance
So cook the spell up Mr. Witch
So sure I will be charitable
remember all my friends
And every Sunday
I'll load up the plate
I'm certain I deserve
my fine means deserve fine ends
I'm certain that
You'll choose this as my fate

101 Curious Professions 10: An Idle Rich

what

2.2964 : 06/14/13 : Archivist

Wanted to be a mover a shaker
it seems maybe I'm not that kind
destined to be the archivist
Sorting out all that is left behind
The papers the photos the records the bills
remember when it was all stuff
these days the ephemeral lives up to its name
but in the mindshare zone it's real enough
nobody's paying, guess it's a vocation
guess it's likely all it will ever aspire too
but I keep it up for one alone out there somewhere
I know you'll find it it one day and it will inspire you

101 Curious Professions 9: Archivist

what

2.2963 : 06/13/13 : Pocket

Pocket cottage cabinetmaker
that's when I knew I was
a mover and a shaker
I've been a beller
and a royal biscuit baker
now I'm cabineting
the cottage in your pocket
with my moneymaker
corner castle keyhole greaser
make sure that everything is
quiet when you do release her
I worked my way up
with sheer skill and charm
well and with a greasy little tool
about as long as your arm
Pocket cottage cabinetmaker
I'll never forget my root
as long as it may slake her
in the back of the cottage
underneath the castle stairs
way up in every parapet
I'll bang them out in pairs

101 Curious Professions 8: Cabinetmaker

what

2.2962 : 06/12/13 : Each Earthly Object is a Pasteboard Mask

My private playthings
this handful of jacks
each earthly object is a
Pasteboard mask
You say it's merely chance and fault
that's brought me to this place
Aw have you never seen the devil
Show his face
I'll be the captain
I'll be the law
this vessel ain't no boat
but let's not hem and haw
I'll put one last dollar down
on making an escape
If it doesn't fly this time
I swear I'm turning in my cape

101 Curious Professions 7: Captain

what

2.2961 : 06/11/13 : Each One Serves

Maybe I'll just be
the dishwasher in that Buddhist hall
someone's got to do it
God knows I got the skills and all
only long forks and platters
each one serves their neighbor
even perfect harmony
requires a little unskilled labor

101 Curious Professions 6: Dishwasher

what

2.2960 : 06/10/13 : Diver

Minneapolis sewage diver
yeah I could be
some kind of poop McGuyver
They say
he wrangles a turd
like nobody's business
So glad we got him
'cause there's no end to this mess
Make it a metaphor
now that's an insult
I only want to start a little cult
of the five or so admirers
of this holy wreck
then again I might be better off
in some dim tank of dreck

101 Curious Professions 5: Minneapolis Sewage Diver

what

2.2959 : 06/09/13 : Paperback Writer

How'm I ever gonna
find the time to write the book
Dear lord I need a chorus
and a real sexy hook
I am a faker a cheater
and a biter
Stupid as it sounds
I'd still like to be a paperback writer
they made me feel so happy
when I was a boy
the little rocket sticker
on the spine they would deploy
back when I thought for me
things could only get brighter
but I need to accept
looks like I'll never be a paperback
writer

101 Curious Professions 4: Paperback Writer

what

2.2958 : 06/08/13 : Pitch

In only ten days now
my pitch will drop
no backing up this time
we never stop
When I become the pitchman
listen then:
For I shall never make or do
again
Come all and listen
Come when I propose
Speak of all the things
Someone should do those
Someone to learn the craft
and plot out every stitch
get on you toilers
I'm onto the next pitch

101 Curious Professions 3: Pitchman

what

2.2957 : 06/07/13 : 100 Days

First calendar
ten by ten
keeper of metric time
how's your when?
I set day one
when you realized
I'm fly
one hundred
by one hundred days
just a standup guy
one shouldn't get
caught up in the numbers
I should relax
and not sweat
getting counted with the bumblers
easy enough
to multiply the remains
seven thousand forty three
enlightened refrains

101 Curious Professions 2: Keeper of Metric Time

what

2.2956 : 06/06/13 : Smoke

behold my library of
fresh cut wood
I've got the lore to burn it
just so, good
condense the smoke in
my collecting bell
it isn't good for you
but what the hell
all art is just
collecting smoke and fog
my wood museum
is a travelogue
here take this vial
agarwood
one hundred years
put that on your barbeque
it brings strong men to tears

101 Curious Professions 1: Smoke Collector

what

2.2955 : 06/05/13 : Alternate

Alternate endings
and histories
gratuitously multiplying
mysteries
the old what if
written extra large
too dismal to contemplate
So sad no one's in charge
take what weird comforts
there in things could be worse
only one road apparent
it's everyone's curse

what

2.2954 : 06/04/13 : Quotidian

this the quotidian
anything new?
no by definition
anything to say?
Not yes not no
as before, to come
as above, below

what

2.2953 : 06/03/13 : Our Ways

Say things are falling all apart
say that things are fine
You've got a right to your opinion
just like I've got mine
but the truth doesn't care
what anyone might think
and when I think about our ways
my heart does tend to sink
I've been thinking too much of bad luck
of sickness and death
forget the living in the moment
and taking in my own breath
the easy fixes
just dim lights on a crooked path
trying to prop up the continuity
and dodge chaotic wrath

what

2.2952 : 06/02/13 : The Principles

Would I do better in
and hour than a minute
is it all first stroke
all in how you
begin it
Could someone please
delineate
the order of the
principles
was it the elements
the revenants
then the invincibles
I used to think
I was pretty damn smart
and I would know
how and where and when
to start
When the game gets
deadly
to whom should I go
well there's a saying
about that I know

what

2.2951 : 06/01/13 : Prediction

So that one prediction
failed again my
predilection
for the pen did not
a getting there
achieve
And snakes are all
eating their tails
I'm all about
beating
dead trails
what recourse
when there's nowhere else to leave

what