2.3925 : 1/31/16 : Aristocrat

Take my rights

as an aristocrat

of verse

the hand will only

transact

bad and getting worse

no precedent

to this quick collapse

and I can't waste

another battered

synapse

what

2.3924 : 1/30/16 : Shade

A shade of difference

what's it mean

to anyone but me?

at the end of a twelve year

long game of

guess what the surprise is gonna be?

I may be a little

grim faced today

but I'm not afraid

and you're going to

get a hint of the cool change

in my shade

what

all filed: Quotidian

So that was the last song in volume 2.18, Stalk, and on we go into the imaginatively titled Stalk 2.

what

2.3923 : 1/29/16 : The Witness

I will wait on the witness

my time shall come

I guess you heard the stories

back where you came from

nobody ever gave me

So much as a clue

but I guess you gave me him

and God must have given me you

I will be the witness

when the villain's brought to bay

I'll face him in the dock

and oh what I'll say

I pray to measure up

when my day comes

and I have to face my witness

'long side all the other bums

what

2.3922 : 1/28/16 : Poison

I've got codes, categories

but it's all filed:

Quotidian

bad habits and mischance

Call project what I did again

noting but to wait

for poison to run its course

and usually

I've dealt with worse

what

2.3921 : 1/27/16 : Reaction

Obsessed to end the climb

on a streak

plant the rail cold

and just deak, deak

smart trucks got nothing

on this contraption

and here's the main reaction:

heel the whammy pedal

and go

thought it'd be a revolution

don't you know

but it's just another ride

and I've got to go

what

2.3920 : 1/26/16 : On Rails

It's all in rails right?

On a track

front eventually

meets up with back

and even if you

throw in a möbius flip

it gets to be

the samey same trip

say it's a new day

but does it feel true

all shades of indigo

on blackish blue

not relishing the next flip

not the upside down

just laugh and

shake my head

the harmless clown

what

2.3919 : 1/25/16 : Blow Up Peaceful

So what

I won't give up

on the fantasy trip

blow up

peaceful

holy

clean

and still

maintain

my grip

and my 

low profile

and my

joie de vivre

and if you're

going to make

fun of me

over it

I'll leave

what

2.3918 : 1/24/16 : Diptych

No middle panel

'Cause we don't do second acts

Said some dumb dead guy

hey I didn't make no pacts

Diptych's all I need on this one

wait you'll see the second punch

winding up but oh not coming

come a week you'll hear a bunch

what

2.3917 : 1/23/16 : Dipstick

You mean it

pejorative but

I'm a useful

little plunge

tell you how close

to grinding out

Save your white

fingers from the grunge

While you get

fancy with your hip schtick

don't mind me

I'll be the dipstick

what

2.3916 : 1/22/16 : Butter

I'm going to invest the Nut

in butter

and when I'm singing

Star Ways

from the gutter

them as knew me

as King Gijohn

of the Tirish Meer

shall surely heed and hear

bust me right

out of here

and the mortal rail

will glide like

butter

and then I kick the

trip and flip

the shutter

what

2.3915 : 1/21/16 : Long Tables

Dream long tables

open plan

making money

I guess that's the secret man

back shop chatter

for getting names

my cover's more blown

than Valerie Plame's

Get more secret

a month, eight days

get more cryptic

fine combination

God bless the pendulum

and reiteration

what

2.3914 : 1/20/16 : Tip

Consider this early

entry a tip

You gotta give your artifact

the soak and strip

and relinquish all

history of reverence

and rote

because the last call out

is like to stick in your throat

what

2.3913 : 1/19/16 : The Material

Stretch a hands-breadth of

the material

over the yardarm

Start with a damn low bar

try to do less harm

how on earth did you

get to this wretched state again

Alas the material

led me into sin

but I'm getting up

and I'm dusting off

and missteps or not

somehow I'll shake this cough

And bow once

to the minister ethereal

and dive bold into

this new material

what

2.3912 : 1/18/16 : Yoke

Yoke's killing me

right in the neck

stiff and hunching

and sore as heck

here's the punchline though

the funny joke

I don't know if it's the hard

or the easy yoke

millions pick their numbers

their spirit ploy

one hits they're sure

the Lord said oh, you boy

So maybe my talent is shoveling shit

So maybe your face looks

like it wants to get hit

what

2.3911 : 1/17/16 : Stutter

Stutter for sure but

I'm hardly stopping

man told me to jump

but I'm barely hopping

been a solid innings

since I blanked three days

sludge right up

through a self-reference haze

and pray for relief

despite my sins

and pray for peace

in the midst of these dins

what

2.3910 : 1/16/16 : Hyperpause

Carve the perimeter

the hyperpause

try not to fall in

there's no escape clause

this time

on this one

grind that edge finely

you may still see sun

one day coming

around the bend

of this hyperpause humming

what

2.3909 : 1/15/16 : SLAB

Silent as a crypt

dull as a slab in here

hell if I'm to

Open up and crab in here

better keep counsel

and not object

more you best

not expect

lob another bone

down the long lane

clam up

and don't explain

what

2.3908 : 1/14/16 : Hype Spiel

Lost the thread of the hype spiel

It was too bad: it had a nice feel

Now I'm just frank on a pissed-off tip

but I'm sick and tired so I won't

Let it rip

Missed the connection - had to double up

More chance to get angry with the Trouble Cup

It's an old story now

about someone long gone

someone who had his own song

what

2.3907 : 1/13/16 : Fool Tax

And that's the last time I pay

the fool tax I said

But you know I probably

hit it later

I know I've got a lot

to be glad about

but then I never

was a patient waiter

I give twenty times that

when they pass the plate

Some say it's the fool tax double

But it's somewhere to go

Something to do

and I guess it

Keeps me out of trouble

what

2.3906 : 1/12/16 : Blue Flow

I ain't got the mystery of

the blue flow down

you know I heard those

girl angels flew this town

and our walls our walls our walls

are in our minds

this ain't me trying to be kind

I give a dollar

give a sawbuck five

to hear a solid theory

that it matters we're alive

aw it's just this sickness

these crow city blues

and they'd line up

for a mile vacation in my shoes

what

2.3905 : 1/11/16 : WARE

Only way out

is up

like I ever had

a choice

the cup

it's just the play

now so

You may say

You couldn't guess

my no

my yes

perfection hidden

in uncertainty

have you had

enough this gas

inanity

could holler

Shut up instead

You'll find me 'ware

When you come cut up

my thread

what

2.3904 : 1/10/16 : Thus and Far

I should think

thankful about all I

know so far

that it starts by a river and

will carry thus

and far

long from now

near as right here

the action is a little town

something like a

miracle appear

sure don't know all of it

sure don't know the half

but deep down feel like

I might hook it all

with a paragraph

what

2.3903 : 1/9/16 : The Shell

Corporeal betrayal

typical, ubiquitous these days

never meant to make art

Everybody laugh that he even says

well I am going to crash this car

because the road goes just one place

and I don't want to be there again

and I want this glimmer off my face

and I want to go down silent

and sleep until I'm well

until this mood is lifted

and I'm strong enough to hoist the shell

what

2.3902 : 1/8/16 : Scrip

The scrip is surely worthless

pinned on the board

and only a mark

for stupidity scored

and I cannot shake

this racking cough

and I can't shake

these bitter feelings off

what

2.3901 : 1/7/16 : Nub

The point of balance

is wearing on this

poor nub

Oh for a lamp

of oil

to give a desperate rub

guessing You're not

through with me

in this travail yet

You want to talk

troubles man

I've got a quartet

what

2.3900 : 1/6/16 : Kapow

No epiphany

no winning

the lottery

think I'd be

resigned by now

don't know

what I thought I'd think

or how I thought

I'd dodge the big

kapow

what

2.3899: 1/5/16 : Insurrection

My insurrection plan is killing it

I'm occupying everywhere

and no one notices a bit

Armed with razor wit and pen

did you hear it's mightier than swords

I disdain the company

of technocrats and Lords

It isn't easy keeping up the stealth

turning down the easy fame

the easy pickings wealth

but oh the treasure I seek

Is a pearl far beyond price

since I found it's so much better

being not so smart but oh so nice

what

2.3898: 1/4/16 : Snuck

The devil snuck a little

dark, dark, dark

it's hard to see

there's not a spark

at all

is that a feeling

or a hard fall

just like the old

dominion

those who like to feel the

test, test, test

you always think

it's all for the best

but it's a prototype

at best oh though

it's just my opinion

what

2.3897: 1/3/16 : Wipe and Wrap

Give this old slate a last wipe

and wrap up another transition

not feeling up to

assessing the position

pray for the increment

to still be in effect

a little net better

realistic slack to perfect

just an idea right

still confused to what's not

and call that sufficiently

close dart to the imagined spot

what

2.3896: 1/2/16 : Spot

No plan plan

didn't work out so hot

predictable was predictable

cool I was not

and sick of coming up

with newish thought

and searching searching

for anything

to hit that spot

what

2.3895: 1/1/16 : One Time

Love last forever

amen

seen it once

sure to see it again

but for each one

unique

yours alone

one time waiting

one time the telephone

one time wondering

one time certainty

Blessing on this one time

nothing at all to do with me

probably never heard

but just in case

my blessing

and a lifetime of grace

what