2.5104 : 4/24/19 : Shame

Tales of shame

half baked fame

this dumbass detour

I need the rest cure

feel my damn age

look like a torn page

doesn't feel like shame

Still can't get in the game

what

2.4447 : 7/6/17 : The Cure for Everything

The cure for everything

water and salt

sweat out every particle

of shame or fault

and tears that come and go

like the thunderstorms of summer

sometimes the honored guest

sometimes a lazy slummer

But mostly today

I salute the rear door

that opens to the other half

of the world from the near door

that other doorway that opened

to the new path looping round

to that other end of that one road

that runs the whole world

and oh that familiar sound

knew it in San Diego

The Gulf of Mexico

Midway the great Pacific

and how its tune did go

It sang the same

and the story it'd speak

lit up my battery in Chesapeake

"The cure for everything is saltwater - sweat, tears, and the sea" - sign in The Deadrise restaurant, Hampton VA

what

2.4321 : 3/2/17 : Worlds and How Many More?

How many worlds

and how many more?

and each more dull

than the one before

too many make-

believes

on too impressionable

young age

and the shameful

palimpsest

today's

ragged page

let me fit one more

world just one

I ask

to fit this thing

I say I seek

a worthy task

what

2.4248 : 12/19/16 : Presumed Retreat

I've got the fragility

fit only for contempt

never dare dodge

or claim a gram of flesh exempt

bear my symbolic stature

heaped with blame

mocked for the presumed retreat

but actually immune from shame

maybe even resemble it

too closely for comfort

want to sew a silk lining

on my obligatory hairshirt

no idea if I'm supposed to

read the book or not

Suppose in my presumed retreat

no matter what:

I'm a craven snot

what

2.3940 : 2/15/16 : Hump

Want to change the frame

but more the shame

heaven knows how I'm

getting over the hump this time

Surely the same refrain

sic transit pain to pain

only to say it

but this output's prime

Have to commit

to another round of it

there's no alternative

we all gotta hump our own hill

Give up blaming fate

get started at a cut rate

And yes I know I brought

it on myself but still

what

2.3760 : 8/19/15 : Fool's Game (Endless Axis 493/500)

Did the brigade get broken

well the scoffers well may reckon

All the hateful raters

Would I might call down heck on

The account is slender and

I admit I'm low on ideas

Nobody hid their smirks last time

I ventured that the truth might free us

In a hundred years

Isn't it a shame

none of us left to behold

accountable to this fools' game

In a hundred ears

rhetoric and sleight

we'll be history and the

game will be somebody else's fight

I've still got the secret roster

I still have the ritual rules

don't throw your pips

and medals out too soon

I might yet call upon you fools

what

2.3671 : 5/22/15 : Turned Out (Endless Axis 404/500)

Every expectation

turned out like a pocket

no matter how mean

got to grasp got to

rock it

I hate to think it

but push on the same

turned out

fight ready

still seems a shame

like there should be

some ready berth

someplace carved

my shape on this earth

no matter how I shift

my patterns through

it keep coming up

the same skew

what

2.3395 : 8/19/14 : I Can Work With This (Endless Axis 128/500)

I can work with this

because I'm so gosh darn resourceful

always positive

never ashamed or remorseful

surrounded by bright sides

and surprise rainbows

bursting with joy

and my ecstatic brain glows

my what a pile

sure a shower of bliss

why don't apologize

I can surely work with this

what

2.3340 : 6/25/14 : Wow (Endless Axis 73/500)

Guess I gotta go

Wow 'em again

holy K kapow 'em

again

I don't even really

need the thing

just demonstrating

I've still got a

hand in

I like a little song

a little dance

a little flirt

sniff of romance

oh I'm going to

leave hearts broken

a shame but hey

my greatness

has spoken

what

2.2853 : 02/23/13 : Right Back To

This sick world
and no high ground for my claiming
and no end to it in sight
and my sighing, and my shaming
I could walk away
but what shall I walk toward
God help me
right back to the drawing board

what

2.2715 : 10/08/12 : Extremity

These everyday extremities
embarrassing to protest
I'm so nobody special
I'm so just like the rest
but though it is a poor excuse
I'll take it and I'll bolt
another day like always
stage another dull revolt

what

2.2709 : 10/02/12 : Magic Box

Excuse my quiet voice I'm embarrassed
excuse me staring at my feet
I struggled through a tangled mess to get here
and seeing you my shame is made complete
just let it tumble out I want the magic box again
my efforts to run solo are all mired in molasses
I need a straight up miracle the real childish stuff
that never would get whispered of among the better classes
Excuse my crudeness I'm dull slob
My lack of grace but time is getting dire
My mundane box is only full of scraps of paper
and every slip is begging for the fire
and you of anyone should know how badly I need it
of anyone should know just how the seed was sown
Do I have to mention just exactly whose responsibility
put it in me and how it's grown and grown and grown

what

2.2641 : 7/26/12 : Square

Trying to square the
circle again
have to learn to roll
with it again
see no straight way
seems a shame
and I don't remember
why I came

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

2.2285 : 08/05/11 : With the Help of Worm

With the help of worm
I returned to the fray
and knowing our term
expired in just one day
I endeavored to elucidate
the error of my estate
and if you think I changed the rules
shame on you twice and more the fools
try hard to believe one moment's choice
don't mean a thing
try to act as if my voice
in every hallowed hall shall ring
everyone is fighting out there
drunk and mad as hell
without a nice worm to compare
So really how are they to tell?

what

2.2265 : 07/16/11 : Problems

Forced to face with
bigger problems than mine
forced perspective
I politely decline
but You don't care
I must see what I see
It's depressing what you show to me
We all have problems
some big and some small
the time is short always
the orders are tall
I should learn from it
if I don't shame on me
just don't make me an example
please oh great referee

what

2.2251 : 07/03/11 : Dreamside

What am I supposed to make of this
the filmography of a guy who does not exist
a portal to a room that could not be
and the way it's far too small for me
the pages of the comic that is unwritten
and that's a damn shame I was smitten
and the camera that exists, but I'd never sell
nothing about it adds up so well
we've got an explanation it's all random noise
brain gunk playing with memetic toys
not very exciting not very fun
not making me feel like a special one
but then again I had another with eyes wide
and now it twists disappointingly inside
but these crazy dreamside fragments
are all I ever had

what

2.2196 : 05/08/11 : Vegan Tattoo

Your charred bone blacks
your tallow glycerin
sorry to inform you
of the fix your ink is in
there's always somebody
holier than thou
repent your vegan tattoo
upon your shameful brow

what

2.2163 : 04/05/11 : Third Attempt

The third attempt:
interrupted
seems the sector
was corrupted
knew in time
it'd come to shame me
left my mark there
so they could name me

what

2.2100 : 02/01/11 : Heaven

Dance you to heaven like Fred Astaire
in the light of new fame an unholy glare
oh are you back on that tip again
I've done it all so no need to peck some other hen
I'm satisfied just to avoid what must not be named
which is not to say I've been regretful or ashamed
but I'm ready for a change up yeah ready times seven
So back that rack up baby I'm plug you into heaven
Lacking skills and proper instruments
lacking a composer there's a challenge it presents
that I answer by cranking my one knob up to eleven
an old joke but still it hides a glimpse of heaven

what