2.3011 : 07/31/13 : Flavor

Dream of simple

milling flavor

wax and extract

touch and savor

But like always

don't know where to start

caught in transition

fail both science and art

101 Curious Professions 56: Spice Grinder

what

2.3010 : 07/30/13 : Quirk

So get back on the horse

sure but which one baby

I know what you all think

yeah well me too maybe

Got nothing against riding

I say nothing against work

So I tell myself but oh

well there is this little quirk

but I've got five sure pieces

that I know don't fit

and I see just right now

I've got no more time to sit

and try to pick the horses

from this little card

I've got to take what I've got

and ride that old screw hard

101 Curious Professions 55: Cowboy

what

2.3009 : 07/29/13 : Ask Me

Ask me anything

or better yet don't

I always think maybe you'll

notice this time:

generally you don't

I never used to think of such things

thought it would be automatic:

it wasn't

these days tell myself

nothing will happen

still disappointed when it doesn't

Well you couldn't

call it persistence

if you gave it up after 99 fails

maybe someone will want to

ask me something someday

maybe some will hear

these tales

101 Curious Professions 54: Information

what

2.3008 : 07/28/13 : Wretched Discourse

We should pay

top coin for silence

depress this

wretched discourse

the pitiable conflict

the downward trend

of course

What a show

what slings and whatsits

what pantomime

Silence should be worth

a fortune

and a bounty out

on rhyme

101 Curious Professions 53: (?)

what

2.3007 : 07/27/13 : The Only Worthwhile Goal Left

What things are unchanging

and what are just constructs

what's the tangent vector

of a postmodern line of ducts

allow me to reinterpret myself

as I rap this small grist

the only worthwhile goal left is to

become a post capitalist

101 Curious Professions 52: Post Capitalist

what

2.3006 : 07/26/13 : Super Heroics

God of Thunder

sure I once dreamed

super heroics

Young men worship

fighters

stoics

all that now

is closed to me

no magic hammer

destiny

and were my aspirations

more highly conceived

and was I deluded

and was I deceived

101 Curious Professions 51: Thor?

what

2.3005 : 07/25/13 : Jack of All Trades

I'll be your jack of all trades

sure I could do that

I'd rather be my own but

I guess I blew that

Well did they like what they saw

not my finest hour

Well hey I don't really want it

my these grapes are sour

always wanted to be the type

who mastered a single art

back to the jack of all trades

is that my destined part

there is no destiny

only circumstance and choice

may get me 8 to 5

you never get my real voice

101 Curious Professions 50: Jack of All Trades

what

2.3004 : 07/24/13 : Patient (2)

Proposing

to do the same thing again

doors closing

and me without my pad and pen

don't think of it

that way

not going

back to the asylum

but if I'm not a patient

what is my order

kingdom, phylum

and if they hand

me the keys

tell me to run it all

well they wouldn't

would they?

surely it couldn't

be the call

101 Curious Professions 49: Patient (2)

what

2.3003 : 07/23/13 : Patient

Too busy being patient

to wait up for you

and though I'm no one's patient

am sick, it's true

in deference to sickness

and fatigue's soft crush

I will opt out of further discourse

'fore my mind converts to slush

101 Curious Professions 48: Patient

what

2.3002 : 07/22/13 : Dirty

Dirty smuggler

yeah I pushed those

spices through

You know I made that run

faster than

anyone but you

but what this world

needs smuggled in

cannot be carried

in any ship

and no one

can believe the need

until they really

take the trip

101 Curious Professions 47: Smuggler

what

2.3001 : 07/21/13 : The Amazing

Take care

because the amazing

probably won't happen

so you better make the most

of whatever comes

Rough day

the afflictions

really snapping

trying to keep up appearances

in our privileged urban slums

If everyone took care

of their little patch

maybe it would be smoother

maybe things would start to flow

who will care

for all our fragile

exposition

if things go

they way they sure as hell

seem like to go

101 Curious Professions 46: Caretaker

what

2.3000 : 07/20/13 : Save the World

You say that I can't save the world

because I'm not special

and I'm not that smart

You say it's just a complex

I've got that makes

me even want to start

Sometimes I think it

doesn't really need it

but there's so much bad everywhere

sometimes I just don't know

why I even try to care

I pick away at my

own little corner

and I hope somebody's got perspective

And I admit inside I still

think that I could give it a go

but I know that I'm not really objective

101 Curious Professions 45: Messiah

what

2.2999 : 07/19/13 : No Cows

I am a poor cow herder

couldn't find a single cow

it was all strictly virtual

made it seem worse somehow

as you have done with unreal things

so shall you with the actual

a scary theory but

I've got no cows and that's factual

101 Curious Professions 44: Cow Herder

what

2.2998 : 07/18/13 : Fad

I think we need

and old-school fad

not a gadget

or an app-

egad

some enigmatic

trinket

Some lucky charm

silly

simple

no chance of harm

if I could fix

the gears of chance

that's the lottery

I'd romance

bring us together

make us feel nice

how it sits in our

hand

just like Roman

dice

101 Curious Professions 43: Purveyor of Fad

what

2.2997 : 07/17/13 : Wage Slave

Is there any cure

for disappointment

Is there any cure for regret

I quoted freedom

as the price of it

Swore I needed

every minute

I would get

is it so bad to wish for

someone else

to come in with the save

though I may be

storing disappointment up

I must believe

there's some workaround

for the wage slave

I'm not so proud

I've always been willing

I just can't afford

any more

of what it was always killing

101 Curious Professions 42: Wage Slave

what

2.2996 : 07/16/13 : Secret

Many want the paycheck

but not the work

many want distraction

the slack the shirk

All want to be special

the sparkle, splendor

no one wants to guard

your secret agenda

Let you in on a secret

want doesn't matter

I don't expect anything

served on a platter

least of all my head

but I can front a warm body

and I'll skip all of the rest

of the la-di-la-di

101 Curious Professions 41: Secretary

what

2.2995 : 07/15/13 : Comedian

Holy hell

I'm dying up here

I'm in a cold dead set

and one thing's clear

I'm no comedian

and this isn't funny

I should have stayed at home

dialed for money

Didn't put the work in

on my routine

get out the hook

I'm done with this scene

101 Curious Professions 40: Comedian

what

2.2994 : 07/14/13 : Of Fact

If I could live up to the name

I'd be worth a cool million

am I still hooked on that game?

Sure while my ink's all vermillion

but while I try to squeeze through

with my essence intact

I can see myself I'll tell you

as a finder of facts

I think I'm good at this

sure I may be deluded

Could it by my elusive bliss

So many years I fretted and brooded

probably I'll never hear back

probably the answer will come in much lower

but I'll still chase my fascinating fact

and try to take this next track

a little slower

101 Curious Professions 39: Fact Finder

what

2.2993 : 07/13/13 : So Smart

Should have

I'm not joking

Should have

been a plumber

I thought I was so smart yes

my way for sure

was dumber

I wish I had the lingo

I wish I had the tools

to everyday

be useful

and how I'd charge you fools

the problems

in the plumbing

this world is backing up

And I just shrug my shoulders

But I'd say giddyup

If I just knew the fixes

If I just packed the parts

I'm trying to find

my version

thought it goes

in fits and starts

101 Curious Professions 38: Plumber

what

2.2992 : 07/12/13 : Brick

A hundred things

flying around in my head

I get made once

how many times

must I sleep in this bed

seven thousand more

and then some

I'll ask for forgiveness

for everyone

What are we doing?

Stacking brick on brick

What are you building?

an illusion, trick

as long as there's structure

content can go whistle

as I'm gilding this lily

as I'm grasping this thistle

101 Curious Professions 37: Bricklayer

what

2.2991 : 07/11/13 : A Viking

I could have a

little bit in me

by way of the Swede

who knows

it could be

what's left to explore

what's left to conquer

I'm not the type

bit of a wonk here

no ship for a Viking

no passage no tribe

a dumb modern fable

too dull to describe

101 Curious Professions 36: Viking

what

2.2990 : 07/10/13 : 555

I'm partial to sixes, nines, and twelves

I used to say the answers

Could be on the shelves

I know a thing or two about nineteen

there was as song

oh - it was just like a bright silver screen

between five and thirty four

If someone asks me what

the number's for

I'll say I can't say

but I've got your lucky one

drop a little silver

and I'll net you a plucky one

thirteen seven

got no superstition

but a pretty little spiel

about superposition

quantum uncertainty

and similar hooey

still at five five five

it all goes kablooey

at five five five

all these fates

will line up

and deposit a new

taste

in my dusty cup

101 Curious Professions 35: Numerologist

what

2.2989 : 07/9/13 : Hooray

Hooray for you

oh human race

I know you'll manage

not to quite blow up

the whole place

and not quite to starve out

or fry

and skirt the

narrow line

'round making

killer AI

Hooray for all you

the status quo

won't quite sink you

all the way

and don't you know

though you'll never make it

Past planet four

though you won't come close

to learning life

without war

Somehow you'll keep on

stumbling through

Oh boy here comes

my hat off to you

101 Curious Professions 34: Cheerleader

what

2.2988 : 07/8/13 : Whether

Whether or not I look up

something will come down

So I better chase the hook up

Failing faith in the

former master plan

I guess I've got to become

my own weather man

Whether the weather gets crazy

like they say it might

I have to earn my daily bread

and sometimes stand and fight

injustice all around

till at the end of my tether

I'll rave out of doors

and to hell with the weather

to hell with the weather

come out and face me

I know you've made it

clear as a bell you can replace me

but I'm still standing

whether it lasts well you now

that it cannot last forever

but while it does I'm going to blow

101 Curious Professions 33: Weather Man

what

2.2987 : 07/7/13 : Perfect Game

Making games of everything

might be the better way

we've made a fight of everything

Wouldn't you prefer to play

Let's sit around make up the rules

the pieces and the board

we might just come up with a game

that couldn't be ignored

if we made a game of

taking care of one another

play pretend that anyone's

a sister or a brother

I'm such a stupid optimist

I know but just the same

It's worth a minute of your time

to dream about that perfect game

101 Curious Professions 32: Game Designer

what

2.2986 : 07/6/13 : Songwriter

Is it too obvious

be a songwriter

make it all vivid

make it all brighter

discover the secret

of the hooky pop

I'd give anything

man I'd never stop

101 Curious Professions 31: Songwriter

what

2.2985 : 07/5/13 : Greed is With Us

If you're such an artist

why ain't you poor

If I'm a greedy heathen

why don't I want more

really what use is art

anymore these days

they tuned us up so

greed is with us always

I'm turn my back on the world

I'm shut all doors

no words not a whisper

what a vacuum abhors

is the press of being

is the press of outer noise

the asylum is all around

and what the shout of art destroys

101 Curious Professions 30: Artiste

what

2.2984 : 07/4/13 : Not Crazy

We're not crazy

because we keep doing the same things

We're just

out of Ideas

and persistent

after all the

presidents prime ministers and kings

at least we tried

to be consistent

What can we do

we're put in charge of the asylum

just to do our best to

keep the peace

What are these chunks

and where on earth do we dare pile them

dear God what I wouldn't give

just for release

101 Curious Professions 29: In charge of the Asylum

what

valences and peaks

"A Scientist" (with its dubious repetition in the penultimate verse... a flub suggesting to me I had a rhyme in mind then got the line I was on mixed up and inadvertently failed to complete the couplet... what the theoretical real line may have been the world will never know...) finds us at the end of volume 2.15 of the Songs of Days, Black Book a.k.a. "Wait for the call". Independence Day 7 years ago kicked off volume 2.16, Wisdom aka "Plan Ahead".

what

2.2983 : 07/3/13 : A Scientist

I cast the stalks down

just to laugh at the result

recalling times when

my poor methods were occult

past superstition

the travails of blame and fault

I'll tear down this riddle

why my spirits and my salt

tease out its components

find its valences and peaks

reel it out and graph it

in its valences and peaks

in those long years passing

though I struggled to resist

in my inmost heart

I must remain a scientist

101 Curious Professions 28: Scientist

what

2.2982 : 07/2/13 : Beam

The center is heavy

the fulcrum's fit to snap

I need your easy yoke

but all I feel's the strap

oh to get enlightenment

shot in like on a beam

to see each particular thing

just as it might seem

I need a resting place

I've balanced on this beam too long

and cannot shake the trembling

feeling every movement's wrong

I'll find a firm foot

and though my window is scant

I'll take a perfect turn on it

the sticking place you'll see me plant

101 Curious Professions 27: Acrobat

what

2.2981 : 07/1/13 : Cosmic

Could I coach the cosmic all stars

of the mental minor leagues

Let me enjoy one last moment

of mystery and intrigue

Oh no my own career down here

falls too short in distinction

If I could boil down an essence

Some kind of intinction

Some kind of distilled wit

Of wisdom for my kids

to draw out their own cosmic play

the numerals for their grids

101 Curious Professions 26: Minor League Coach

what