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

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

2.2950 : 05/31/13 : Lightning

Short of putting lightning in a bottle
we devised a vehicle
without a throttle
everything must roar
wide open
How you doing man?
You know I'm coping
funnel effort from the many
are there still moves for us?
no not any
so it seems when
I am pessimistic
most days
these days
probably solipsistic
probably all
focused on my own thing
desperate
clueless
trying to capture lightning

what

2.2949 : 05/30/13 : Three Topics

My brain is filled with three topics
oh and I'm sick of everyone
And I won't speak of any of them
Not interesting also not fun
the spirit is willing
the flesh is also willing
So what's the damn hang up?
Forget every perfect reason why not
and just get that thing up
I'll raise one more little flag of defiance
then go quietly to whatever doom
gets set out for me
it's not fate but it feels fatal
but it's better than staying
another minute in this room

what

2.2948 : 05/29/13 : Not Fate

Don't know what I'm tempting
but it's not fate
don't know what I'm chasing
but it's not bait
I need to lay my
poor head down so
that looks an exit
and I think I'll go

what

2.2947 : 05/28/13 : Cake

Three bugs
and a great big cake
they put pontoons on it
and sailed it on a lake
they rowed it to an island
with coffee spoons
and all the way they played
picnic tunes
the littlest bug whistled
doodley doo
the biggest bug hummed
tweedley dee
and the third bug sang
a special song
and the song she sang
was happy birthday to me

what

2.2946 : 05/27/13 : Killing Dreams

Teach me a secret method
for killing dreams
it better be effective
I've reams and reams
I'm tired of feeling hopeful
getting worked up
we're all getting exploited
getting jerked up
every year more losers
welcome to the club
they threw the baby out
banged a hole in the tub
no it's no place for dreaming
only time to work and shop
Swear one day I'll go out screaming
one day I'll blow my top

what

2.2945 : 05/26/13 : Tangier

Never been to Tangier
never been anywhere
and the road that
starts me down
don't want to see what that lays bare
tired of
no don't go there
don't dwell on it
don't go anywhere

what

2.2944 : 05/25/13 : What

This pain
familiar
what's to be said
and I don't want
to document
what goes by in my head
any longer
no closer
no stronger
and as sick
gut
and it's all
what

what

2.2943 : 05/24/13 : Frown

One cup of coffee
one piece of pie
but I have no pie
and so I will cry
why not stay silly
why not be a clown
what use to be anxious
what use to frown
what use to worry
what use to fret
how do I profit
what do I get
So I will be jolly
smile like a fool
something must turn up
because I am so cool

what

2.2942 : 05/23/13 : Extend

Allow me to extend
a raucous middle finger
to my every aspiration
and persistence
I'm stomping down
in my overflowing mental trash can
the last shreds
of optimism
in existence
beyond the servile
beyond the mundane
beyond interment in the box
I was never free
always a slave in my mind
Call it all my fault
and make with the rocks

what

2.2941 : 05/22/13 : Comparing

Comparing yourself to anyone
won't get you anywhere
I don't know when
but I'll see you when I get there
a thousand mistakes
to not make again
but I've still got momentum
and I've still got spin
don't like the way I tell that story
going to throw it out
don't like the things it
turned out to be about
give me five days
I'll tell it twice
the first will make you cry
but it will all end nice

what

2.2940 : 05/21/13 : B.C.L.

We're all born into this world
with a fucking deficit
And the past's a cancelled check
So let's get on with it
I've an ironclad excuse
for every era that I wasted
Let us cut through the slack
and jack the alibi I pasted
I was bullied I was lovesick
I was heartbroken and stoned
then I had too much responsibility
and on that rock I honed
a claim that seemed ridiculous
and all the more surprise
I will transform into a black-
chromed lotus right before your eyes

what

2.2939 : 05/20/13 : Fear the New Attitude

Smile so sweet that
it puts you to sleep
So you needn't see the faith
it takes me to leap
to say I'm okay
with caveats I don't include
so you don't see you might well
fear the new attitude
if you refuse to be afraid
if you refuse to lie
if you really lived
like you were assured to die
I can't imagine what you'd look like
you're a superhero
It's of no account I'm late
and now I must start from zero

what

2.2938 : 05/19/13 : New Attitude

I saw leaves shifted in thousands
by a wind that had no name
half a dozen years gone
and I wondered how it all came out the same
and like a lightning flash
I like saw the answer dude
And summed it neatly up
It just required a new attitude
I'm sick of getting wroth
I'm sick of finding fault
I'm sick of seeking wounds
and rubbing in the salt
And while so many things
are easier said than done
I enlist the advocate
of man the holy one
inspire an attitude that
makes everyone smile
another spook in the long
running joke of the pentagon files

what

2.2937 : 05/18/13 : Tiny Castle

Tiny castle
tiny moat
tiny people cross it
in a tiny boat
A tiny story waits
behind the tiny tiny gates
tiny princess
tiny king
tiny dragon guards
the tiny magic ring
give it up for these
tiny adventures
and pray for the end of
my hated indentures

what

2.2936 : 05/17/13 : Ding-A-Ling

The Dude gave me a ding-a-ling
he said you've got to
ring that thing
said I don't like the looks of bells
reminder of poetic hells
must get expansive
must ornate
must rococo
and diverticulate
If I jumped up and shouted
spat this taste out
rooted routed
would the ringing reach your ears
Is it as bad as
it appears?
I ring the ding
trilling entranced
and all the while
the cliff advanced

what

2.2935 : 05/16/13 : Again

This again
and that again
and boiling in
my hat again
I will not stand
a minute longer
only hope
I'll soon be stronger

what

2.2934 : 05/15/13 : Faking

Today I get angry and stop taking it
No more making nice no no more faking it
So sorry always going on on what's inside
but it's not by my fault alone I take this ride
where the hell's my teacher I've been ready long
where is the big bell here's your big ding dong
I'm angry I am going to stay this way
It's already burning so we might as well play

what

2.2933 : 05/14/13 : Fatal

I see every fatal flaw
but there's no backup plan
Guess we all have to roll with
getting punched however we can
Some blows they land so hard
to knock us out of reason
and if I'm restless if I'm wroth
just blame it on the season

what

2.2932 : 05/13/13 : Defeat

You know what would be great
to admit defeat
negotiate the terms of surrender
Maybe retire from the public life
maybe go on a royal bender
I guess just saying shows I don't accept
despite a sameness a dragging grind
I had a better thought and maybe it'll come back
If I could just empty my mind

what

2.2931 : 05/12/13 : Graveyard

Now the old graveyard
I used to roam alone at night
has my dad as a tenant
it all fits a little too tight
In a place I swear I'd never live again
but I wish I could be there now
Swinging a graveyard shift
just for one night somehow
that home is good and gone
the walks the stars the times
the loves the hates the losses
the silly kidstuff crimes
manage a visit sometime
but it won't be the same
and he won't be there
nowhere on earth but in my name

what

2.2930 : 05/11/13 : Yell

Maybe I should
do it every night
get up on the hill
and yell
one of these times
I'll turn out right
and all will be well
and all will
be well
I'm gonna start
tomorrow
for real for real
and true
Say shh
I'm never telling
anyone
but you

what

2.2929 : 05/10/13 : Fright

The future holds a fright
it's got a grip on me
and all my old allies
are gonna flip on me
can't keep my eyes open
I'm asleep on my feet
And the real fright to me
is that you'll hit repeat

what

2.2928 : 05/09/13 : Lag

My enlightenment's complete
but my entitlement will lag
I swear the vinegar is sweet
but in my heart I feel the drag
what sort of tale could be told
a thousand times and still be fresh
we'll share a laugh at that
as we take to the floor to thresh

what

2.2927 : 05/08/13 : Home

My sacred task
was to make the home
can't guess my next calling
no clues in any tome
need so bad to get positive
need so bad to believe
as I keel over the edge
as I howl and heave

what

2.2926 : 05/07/13 : Life of Adventure

low on excitement
high on stress
expecting the worst
I've been worse I guess

don't know what to say
but the same retort
so I'll turn in my
minority report

life of adventure
is there any hope
I guess I better
limber up my periscope

what

2.2925 : 05/06/13 : Too Soon

Far too soon to
think about
life going on
but it does whether you
want it to or not
well? Do you
want it to or not
when did what I want
start to have a
damn thing to do with it
not giving up
So I guess I'm here
until I'm through with it
And I'm sorry so sorry
because everything should stop
and I wish it would stop
and wishing doesn't help
nothing helps with this deep drop

what

2.2924 : 05/05/13 : Valve

Too hard to think about
the waking dread
too bad there's no escape valve
in my head
what a circus
what a nightmare
what a trial
I hope it gets better
somewhere out past
the miracle mile

what

2.2923 : 05/04/13 : Goodness' Sake

Why do we persist?
for goodness' sake
although we're sorely tested
harrowed with a cruel rake
when there are no words
but only grieving
for goodness' sake even then
we put off leaving

what

2.2922 : 05/03/13 : Presence in the Cloud

What are we to make
of clouds by day
and fire by night
call that leadership
oh pillar so bright
turned to a pillar of salt
a fate for any who look back
guess where I could find fault
The presence in the cloud so black
twenty in and twenty out
we all search for our promised land
inside the cloud wandering about
in doubt we are in any hand

what

2.2921 : 05/02/13 : What's Good

What's good
sometimes I know when I see it
sometimes I get so jealous
I know I want to be it
Guess it needn't be
long or heavy
and make enough of it
to smash right through
the levee

what

2.2920 : 05/01/13 : Improvise

What's the word
When it's really not there
and you stop expecting change
I never
thought I was best
but I thought I had a little more range
I guess I know
it was predictable
did I think I would improvise
another corner
expecting a door
instead I meet my own eyes
for so long
it's all been improvised
so maybe I just ran out of tricks
but I'm still alive
and look to stay that way
so today I'll kick again against the pricks

what

2.2919 : 04/30/13 : Story (II)

That story is old so I'm killing it
still the page is blank so I'm filling it
When I find the new story I'll be telling it
When I'm not building I'm selling it
I have to share it because it's so fine
I have to claim it because it is mine
I never said it would be accessible
You'll hear it brother if you can spare me a decibel
and when the beat gets hot I'll be pumping it
I'll build my rolling stock while you're dumping it
and at the option call I'll be slaying you
you'll only have ears for what I'm playing you

what

2.2918 : 04/29/13 : Story

It didn't happen
again: why?
did the day
just have no story
and where shall we pack
away all these dull days
how will I go back
to the quarry
and what's the use
of all these blocks I mined
what is it stacking up to?
three days more I say
three days
you'll turn to see
who it was
you're blindly backing up to

what

2.2917 : 04/28/13 : Trash

This trash hand
and me no bluffer
somedays it seems
we're just made to suffer
So take the escape
that comes to light
I haven't given up
but badly need a rest from the fight

what

2.2916 : 04/27/13 : A Pair

Here's a pair
that isn't charming
adversity on how it's harming
my what do you call it
my joie de vivre
And I'd hate to talk about it
So instead I'll leave

what

2.2915 : 04/26/13 : Spider

The cards are different every time
but the hand plays out the same
so should I give up
would that be a defeat to claim
crawls like a spider
rank and file
and there's so much sleep
before I make another mile
Losing's not unthinkable
we're nowhere near the worst case
Failure is always an option
Hello floor remember my face?
crawls like a spider
rank and file
and there's so much sleep
before I make another mile
crawls like a spider
rank and file
and there's so much sleep
before I make another mile
I can pull out of it
and fall back in as well
it's not much of a picture
today it's what I had to tell
crawls like a spider
rank and file
and there's so much sleep
before I make another mile

what

2.2914 : 04/25/13 : The Crowd

I call upon the crowd
to save me from the
shape I'm in
the long tail promises
but our end of
the wedge is thin
I dreamed of bootstraps
yes a
gospel of a better way
It ignores me
like anything
but I'll call on it
every day

what

2.2913 : 04/24/13 : Buried

Has it been buried
in the ground all this time
will I face judgement
stand in the dock for thought crime
I don't know just how
to put a finger on that pulse
and I'm trying to match it up
everyday but it's so easy to ring false

what

2.2912 : 04/23/13 : Hits

What I wouldn't give
to bang out hits
is it just wanting a million
built of different bits
no I'd like to know the feel
at the tip of my pen
to know I struck the lode
that tight hook again
no good with choruses
far too mental
hard to argue
tune and beat are incidental
but I'm no poet
no starmaking machine
and hit or miss I'll do it
and I'll do it clean

what

2.2911 : 04/22/13 : Day On Earth

Just another day on earth
dark and light
death and birth
say mea culpa
but we don't change anything
another day
and what does it bring
hard to believe
but it's all getting hotter
who'll do the time
for the crime on the blotter
I lose sleep over it
for what it's worth
our carelessness and waste of
each day on earth

what

2.2910 : 04/21/13 : Companion

New companion
too interesting to ignore
soon the same will crash the party
being such a bore
but long as the novelty is sound
why not just enjoy it
world has precious little
equal to such
love when you deploy it

what

2.2909 : 04/20/13 : The Hard Way

I enjoyed the fantasy
for a couple of days
Ignoring how it fell apart
In all the same old ways
It's funny how I never
tell the story right
It was dumb but sometimes
it kept me up all night
but I'm sure my numbers
won't come up
I'll wake up to what's left
of the same old cup
From the festival of fools
to the first of May
looks like I'm going to have
to do it the hard way
Oh sure I'll check my math
get all disappointed
feel dumb about the whole thing
get my nose all disjointed
truth be told it's a
pretty sorry plight
and I see I'm going to
get run through it this very night

what

2.2908 : 04/19/13 : Produce

No motivation to produce
denied inspiration, juice
put upon and so repetitive
In this cutthroat world
the product's not competitive
wish to breach the miasma like a whale
oh it would be a heavenly tale
but lacking lacking the true quill
you may not get it now
but someday you will

what

2.2907 : 04/18/13 : Speak to the King

Because of the injustice
that drags on endless
because we can't solve anything
our team will cross
the mountains of madness
this year
we will speak to the King
last year we said
we'd go as soon as the ice broke
we swore we'd get there
by next May
how many times
will we regret we spoke
still we will
speak to the King today

what

2.2906 : 04/17/13 : Unreal

Advice to the young man
who felt all unreal
sometimes it's all in what you know
and none in what you feel
I felt the suffering of not
heeding my own advice
but heard big change was on the way
and you didn't have to tell me twice

what

2.2905 : 04/16/13 : F.A.B.

As if it isn't bad enough
like everybody isn't going to die
As if it isn't hard enough
Like there aren't enough reasons to ask why
If we can't all agree on this
We might all be too dumb to breathe
I can't stand how it all goes on
and I don't know how to fix it either
but I won't back off it one inch
when I say Fuck All Bombs, Fuck All Bombs
the basic answer is a cinch
it's to Fuck All Bombs, Fuck All Bombs
I wouldn't call it my idea
to Fuck All Bombs, Fuck All Bombs
but here's the truth and it may free ya
Fuck All Bombs
we've got to Fuck All Bombs

what

2.2904 : 04/15/13 : How Can I Forget

How can I forget
about Caesar, lucre
How can I forget
about the grind
not the nice grind
the slow malign grind
It's not all in my mind
Why do we insist
On such a hard world
Why do we prop it up all day
Every work day
You may not play day
Why do we believe so much
We have to pay

what

2.2903 : 04/14/13 : This Wet World

This world of constant
falling
the way we can't
get down with love is galling
this wet world
the rain is continuous
I like to see you there
shining prone and sinuous
It would be better
if we all got down
asked for everything we wanted
went to town
it never happens
and the reason's fear
and your head's down
but it's getting
wet and hot in here

what

2.2902 : 04/13/13 : Mere Competence

How in the world
did I turn out to be so bad at this
you know I think
the worst idea I ever had was this
if I just knew how to quit
I deem that'd be the end of it
I read about how
ten thousand hours
makes the difference
and wonder if that
stood between me
and mere competence
won't answer
that tonight
and though you tempt
I will not bite

what

2.2901 : 04/12/13 : Failed

I need a bell bad
because words failed me
or maybe the scenarios
that derailed me
can't go on like this
won't make the nut
I've got no word
for what is turning in my gut
and I've been here before
No doubt of that
felt this rude jealousy
and smelled this rat
what next though
need a real new
all that's failed me
need the real true

what

2.2900 : 04/11/13 : Order

I go about things
in the wrong order
just to prove a point
That ends up leading
down too familiar highways
the devil fails to appear
For a deal at the familiar joint
Where present gets ground into past
Where random meets intent
within this slow unyielding season
with every changing of the parament
and I'm latched onto confusion
like a hoarder
cowering in the shadow
of order

what