2.1336 : 12/29/08 : Resolution

3,526 : 54 ?

I know better than to call it

a resolution

it’s a cliché good intentions

are no solution

and I know that nothing’s

really going anywhere

just what did you mean by

teach us to care and not to care

still maybe I can

keep the ball in the air a little while

if not an answer

maybe comfort and spirit with a smile

Resolve to resolve to

do something differently

If I can’t supply solutions

I can at least come up with some sympathy

what

2.1335 : 12/28/08 : Lord of Song

Why have you forsaken me

oh Lord of Song?

And if it comes to this

Why did you let me go so long?

If another thousand days go

and I’m still no farther

Will I do it all again again

Dear Lord why do I bother

In another thousand days

they’ll be ramping the B.S. up again

the fixers and kingmakers

and their unoriginal sin

Oh great Lord of Song

despite my sacrifices

will you leave me behind again

all tangled in my own devices?

what

2.1334 : 12/27/08 : Jugs

If the jugs of water

were converted to wine

before you; you would find

another reason to call my big divine

agenda something of

a backwards throwback retrograde

something decent people long

ago dispensed with amongst trade

and rapidly diffusing cultures

into one eclectic slop

and I am not a king or minion

I am not a crook or cop

I’ve stacked my jugs up

only water in them oh if

They turned to wine I’d be in

trouble couldn’t afford the tariff

There’s nothing but now and stories

nothing then nothing to come

don’t think it’s just a way of speaking

there’s madness in my idiom

what

2.1333 : 12/26/08 : Paces

Measure a thousand paces

measure a thousand more

I still haven’t seen a thing

that looks a bit like a damn door

and the schemes all sound the same

and any differences sound forced

and I plod through my old paces

worried I’ll end up divorced

from all the things that I thought mattered

twenty years ago and more

when twenty years seemed an illusion

and every turn held twenty doors

So if it seems to you my pacing

and my timing are awry

please excuse me while I turn away

protesting something’s in my eye

the Powers I believed in

have abandoned me it seems

and I’m left with nothing but a

vague impression from my dreams

of some dim outline of solution

something with a book and key

nothing you could really go on

waking up so much still me

what

2.1332 : 12/25/08 : Earthtone Pastels

I’d love to stop dreaming

dreams they die too hard

and they pile up every morning

spilling out into the yard

and I thought you were a genius

and I thought I’d make the grade

and I thought for all those hours

we would somehow then get paid

so it fell apart to nothing

with a whimper true to tell

and the tapes are slowly fading

even friendship went to hell

I still listen to the music

like the old earthtone pastels

once I heard the holy future

now I hear the warning bells

what

2.1331 : 12/24/08 : Atrocity

The various limbs

and systems torn out

So many clichés

atrocity never gets worn out

decapitation, exsanguination

fast cancers radiation

Order takes a bleak vacation

they are buying and selling

death even as we speak

not to mention those who love it

need its dark caress to speak

just for grim pragmatic power

push the shit around the board

get the right to redraw the map

get my filthy hands on the hoard

what

2.1329 : 12/22/08 : Nail in the Coffin

What’s the deal with

nails in coffins

like it’s not over

long before that

If you want to see a thing

Come to a bad end

well put a nail right

through my hat

what

2.1328 : 12/21/08 : Shred

I’d never practice my guitar

So I can’t shred

hell I can’t even pretend

so I spout words instead

yeah so it won’t get me the girl

hey but I got mine

another answer down the tubes

to what the hell is my line 

what

2.1327 : 12/20/08 : Flog

I churn through days and pages

like a car on winter roads

point and hope that something sticks

pray that nothing else explodes

if there’s no material to speak of

that hasn’t been done to death

put it on the threshing floor

flog it until its last breath

ride that hobby horse like thunder

smack that paddle ball like hate

It seems like reinventing the wheel

is my sad and lowly fate

what

2.1326 : 12/19/08 : And Scene

It’s easy to say

you just

want to get out

clean

well you won’t

and you can’t

so suck it up

dumbass

and, scene

what

2.1325 : 12/18/08 : Transition

Not time to plan

a three hour vacation

not in any

hideaway

not in my

imagination

there’s already a

million changes

that I can’t recall

So I don’t know why

I care about

the transition thing

at all

what

2.1324 : 12/17/08 : Original

I doubt I’ll ever think a thought

that’s not been thought before

at this point the version’s

probably at about two point four

not to speak of all the

prehistoric never written up

who knows what barely

articulated

philosophies they thought up

I could say nothing

if nothing I say is original

I doubt I can live up

as much as I give up

but I’ll try to keep it short pal

what

2.1323 : 12/16/08 : Notebook & Pen

Everybody’s got a crush on

everybody else

Everybody’s posting lies

and playing with themselves

And oh boy,

it’s just like high school again

and me with my little

notebook and pen

everybody’s flirting

and passing notes

pretending they don’t care

how anybody votes

and I write it all down now

just like then

keep it secret with my

little notebook and pen

You have to make so much up

as you go along

sooner or later

Something real bad goes wrong

And I just close my eyes

and count to ten

and pick up my pen and

my notebook, again

what

2.1322 : 12/15/08 : Estimate

at a rough estimate

I’m getting nowhere fast

I’m behind by any metric

and wow it’s a blast

I think I could just lighten up

and take it as it comes

and any other platitude

you throw me in my doldrums

sure I’ll start pumping iron

learn to speak French

I’ll shovel some more at you

if you can stand the stench

I estimate I’ll keep it up

at least a few more years

until I get some kind of call up

or the teacher appears

what

2.1321 : 12/14/08 : Domino

So tired of how

the natural fall

of things

doesn’t seem to go my way

the domino

you know

or how the

pendulum swings

predictable, pedestrian

every day

it’s easy to blame

entropy

well who knows

the math is

impossible

and who can say

what’s

really improvement

when time’s river

is uncrossable

what

2.1320 : 12/13/08 : Spoon

Once upon a time some guy

invented the spoon

now everybody takes it for granted

why bother discovering

a one man way to the moon

or conquer free energy single handed

who knows it was actually

probably a woman

and I am a sexist jerk

hell I didn’t mean it like that

and I’m only human

and really I’m just trying

to get out of work

what

2.1319 : 12/12/08 : Essay

Thinking about the essay

about the song about the essay

about how the point

can get away

from you lost in

the self-reference

knowing I’ve been down

this road before

and another year’s sure

to bring more

and I’ll hack it all out

day to day

and talk about it all

in some essay

what

2.1318 : 12/11/08 : Take That

Take that unexpected setback

Shout this is Songtown

and kick you in the cataract

lead my army

in another crazy charge

take that King Mammon

I’m living large

oh great I’ve hatched

another crazy plan

for about fifteen minutes

I’ll feel like the man

but I bet I’ll never be famous

not even that long

even so I hedged by bets

Well hey take that

you stupid song

what

2.1317 : 12/10/08 : Week Out

Another week out

and maybe I should seek out

a more robust

motivation

effort on effort hey

keeping up’s not my forte

I badly need

some innovation

One time I had a plan

There was a goal a band

now maybe I’m just filling space

there are worse things I guess

least it’s a compact mess

and the toll doesn’t show on my face

what

2.1316 : 12/9/08 : Czechoslovakian Thugocracy

3,506 : 35 ?

If you give me

three quarters of a million dollars

I will live in Prague

and take thirteen years

to finish my album

which I’ll mail to you

and for the money

I guess the description

may look vague

Well it’s a vale of tears

and my rule of thumb

is to work it till it’s blue

what

2.1315 : 12/8/08 : One-Eyed Man

Now I’m the pirate in

the kingdom of the blind

my eyepatch says fate’s

chosen me

but fate she is not kind

Sometimes I feel there’ll never be

a real release again

someday that make believe ship

will come in, I’ll get off then

until then I guess I’ll

have to get used to being king

in the kingdom of the blind

it may sound fine

but here’s the thing

the world is still out there

looking down on me and mine

and me being king means nothing

to the trolls down the incline

what

2.1314 : 12/7/08 : Convalescent

Such a little time afforded

to the convalescent

I could use a good rest cure

but I am just a peasant

I suppose I could resist more

leave the business piling

let the drifts come up to the door

scorn the weekly filing

but I carve my little niche out

for the moment for the moment

savor my small interval

Spent as the convalescent

I guess I’m thankful

I am basically sound in body

and the rest care in the alps

might be a little gaudy

what

2.1313 : 12/6/08 : A Thing Done

I guess I didn’t

get a thing done

that weekend

after all

but listen to waves

of course the train fun

not for me and

I guess we had a ball

what

2.1312 : 12/5/08 : Misery

Pitiful weakling

think of the poor widow’s son

lost at sea

how dare you call

your slight affliction

misery

say you’re a week behind

and more

Say that to those stuck

in the last century

you don’t yet know

the least touch

of misery

all will lose all

all come to the

same estate

it is the cause and end

of all misery

the wiping of the slate

what

2.1311 : 12/4/08 : Fans

Someday maybe I’ll

have fans

not likely with all my

crazy plans

I wish I could stop thinking

about the cosmic long shots

wish I could hold out

until that old door

rots

what would I do even

make a buck or two

What would I ever do

without my little him

or you

Don’t make me find out

you’re the only fans

I want

And may I never

cheapen it

with any crazy stunt

what

2.1310 : 12/3/08 : Rushing

Feel like rushing through

to get to what though

Whatever does it even matter

if it’s got flow

you put down rap and Cohen

I should be so lucky

there’s another thousand floors

beneath him in the tower

and if the center will not hold

where will I find the power

Isn’t it a lot like

every other thousand million times

holler if you think

these art transgressions should

be crimes

I’m rushing to a point

that’s arbitrary

as the day is long

call it the end of a song

what

2.1309 : 12/2/08 : Disorder

Clean and clean and wash and wash and

you’ve got more than your head

buried in the sand

Surely you must recognize

this thing is a disorder

the same old tangled circular thoughts

ragged at the border

form the picking and the prodding

hoping for some new wrinkle

all the crazy learned behaviors

repeat till the groove’s instinctual

the disorder whispers that insanity

is daring to change

And I’d listen but I know I’m

in the spooks’ wireless range

and my tinfoil sombrero

is full of holes

where I tried to pick off

all the bugs and burning coals

what

2.1308 : 12/1/08: The Point

Will the point be established

by the re-enumeration

will anyone be left

listening past the long vacation

done so many things

for so many wrong reasons

but hell with it I’m building my

bulkhead in its proper season

faced the fire, now it’s in me

burning for its only purpose

one more thing you’ll never fathom

if you only see the surface

I could call the point of turning

if the readiness is really all

now I’ll bring the fate winds with me

Past the golden gates of Fall

what

2.1307 : 11/30/08 : Dreams

I suffer hope in dreams

proof that someone up there

believes in me

cybercasted pagan runes maybe

deceiving me

that seems likely

whatever I keep looking for

it is not where I’m looking

But what else now

what else here

whatever must appear

in the books I’m cooking

I don’t think much about

the alternatives

but I know what tomorrow’s got

So I will daydream

about my night dreams

Some technique that will

enable me

to gobble up the lot

what

2.1306 : 11/29/08 : Water Rocket

Under pressure

full of piss and hot air

I’m going to pop the plug

and fly down on you over there

the human water rocket

call it water to be polite

that’s not vinegar

and I am bringing you the fight

it’s a war of silliness

rube goldberg war machines

Would be a lot more fun

than all your modern counting beans

what

2.1305 : 11/28/08 : The King’s Robe

Do I need to go back to

the blah blah blah

and is it true

that if I talked it out enough

I’d finally call

the devil’s bluff

recorded in the

book of Job

You can’t rely on

the king’s robe

for protection

from the worst

to prove a point

we’re freely cursed

wear it for the

photo opportunity

and if you care to

pretend you’ve got immunity

but don’t be surprised

when the messengers come

to tell the Lord tooketh away

in your zero sum

game

what

2.1304 : 11/27/08 : Thankless

If the task seems thankless

if the path seems endless

if the object seems immovable

and the road seems friendless

I can’t offer optimism

promises of intervention

only to be there at crunch time

with my very best invention

Well you can’t eat thanks

or cover with them if you’re cold

even so it would be nice to have

a few to remember when you’re old

so maybe look up

from the awful spectacles

and remember to say thank you

to fate’s chosen receptacles

what

2.1303 : 11/26/08 : Ordeal

Almost called it

an ordeal

could I get more

ridiculous

at least my record of

my clownish

pantomimes

meticulous

no war no

serious disease

no grief

knock on wood

if you please

I should be so thankful

how about that

guess I will be

just in time, cat

what

2.1302 : 11/25/08 : Ping

Ping

anyone home

just one

functionally alone

no message

nothing

just acknowledging

the ping

what

2.1301 : 11/24/08 : No Way Back

3,492 : 21 ?

Just generating filler now

just filling in the lines

uncaring about how it looks

between the clotted tines

unwilling to retrace the steps

but there is no way back

unless I drill down all the way

through that infernal stack

worse than a diary

more fractured than a log

it feels like some bad artery

disgusting with its fatty clog

and how should I reveal

a night like a thousand others

the nights that passed

like silent ships

this night and all

its brothers

what

2.1300 : 11/23/08 : Second Strike

Whiff streaks past

second strike

try to imagine it

up at the mic

the deepest fears

anxieties

various ends of

various sobrieties

not what you’d think

well maybe you

maybe God

maybe me too

waiting for

another pitch

pretty sure this one’s

going to be a bitch

what

2.1299 : 11/22/08 : Vice is Like a Job

Somedays even vice is like a job

and I am one predictable slob

trying to make sense of the senseless

before which I’m defenseless

bad intention carries the night

and I do not intend to fight

but I can’t help it struggle finds me

whatever passes for a muse finds me

and I’m rushing to make it up again

foolish midnight foolish pen

what

2.1298 : 11/21/08 : Music In My Head

As soon as I focus

the music in my head stops

a thousand thoughts crowd in

the volume sharply drops

What an illusion

What a tale of years

hear it in my head

but cannot ever

bring it to your ears

Somebody else did it

better years ago

Someone did it weirder

a bridge beyond what

I could ever know

but it’s done complete

the page is truly turned

and before the hour is cold

I’ll see that

last bridge burned

what

2.1297 : 11/20/08 : Refuse

Refuse to give in

to the impulse

to pull the pin

self destruct is

not an option

what instructs this

All feels redone

all feels rehashed

something flickered

for a minute

then spun out

and crashed

what

2.1296 : 11/19/08 : Just Like That

And just like that

I’m on the cusp

one two three

one step ahead of the rust

doesn’t quite work

but who can stop me

keep it all

short and sweet

let failure hone

and strop me

what

2.1295 : 11/18/08 : Long to Go Still

Long to go still

bitter harvest

bitter pill

made of clichés

and failed imagination

tomorrow to wake

in the same degraded station

So many tricks

learned over years

sew the eyes shut

Stop the ears

but the sound of it

penetrates every barrier

hope the next time

it comes knocking

I’ll be a little warier

what

2.1294 : 11/17/08 : Closing the Gap

3,485 : 14 ?

Not much you can control

the gap that keeps

yawning open takes its toll

Close it up again

Slam it shut again

I know I’ll let it

lapse my friend

Closing the gap

has just become a chore

and I’d talk more about it

but I don’t want to be a bore

it’s silent past midnight

I just want to be done

what I agonized in leisure

about

sort of wish I hadn’t begun

like a rent you might pay

like tribute

at least it’s not paying out

to some grim suit

man I’ve got to get past

all this crap

but for now I’ll just keep

shoveling it

all into the gap

what