2.1185 : 7/31/08 : Suboptimal

Nothing will not make it seem

like action just for action’s sake

I know too well this occult town

this queer street crowd, forget it Jake

another stretch suboptimal

the routine screwed up, lost in tubes

Another daydream of the long con

pulling fast ones on all the rubes

nothing will not make this seem

like just another motion’s twitch

clichés choking up my throat

what can I say, hey, life’s a bitch

what

2.1184 : 7/30/08 : The Magnificent

The magnificent

seductive thought

the whole lotta nothing

to the table I brought

instead to be relevant,

heaven sent

and they will call me the

magnificent

If I was a real giant

of my times

I’d stand you on my shoulders

amid bells and chimes

lean on the magnificent

don’t be shy

I don’t quite still believe

I’ll get there by and by

what

2.1183 : 7/29/08 : System

I want a system

I want I want so bad to beat the house

no more scurrying inside the walls

scrounging crumbs just like a little mouse

I’ve behaved like such a little fish

snapping every baited hook

all unconscious swimming with the school

oh those bastards read me like a book

I’m nobody’s genius

one in a thousand ain’t good enough

maybe I don’t have a system in me

maybe I’ll never have the right stuff

I know that it’s not Christian

wanting to pile up some stacks of cash

wanting power and influence

storing up the rot and trash

but then again it’s said pay Caesar

I’m into that asshole for quite a chunk

and there’s no sitting still in this race

if I don’t want to get buried in bunk

what

2.1182 : 7/28/08 : Switch

3,373 : 18 ?

I’d like to shut my own damn

brain off like a switch

why keep on thinking thinking

never scratch that itch

God society and energy

space mind and death

blow it all away like dust

blow it with a breath

what

2.1181 : 7/27/08 : A Boring Piece of Paper

just a boring piece of paper

sure as hell not a ticket out of here

I am the paper man the paper boy

I’ll file that sucker have no fear

what

2.1180 : 7/26/08 : Maybe Not a Maze

Maybe it’s not a maze anymore

maybe all the walls sunk into the floor

maybe I traded a window for a door

And finally figured out what this bone is for

if I had a revelation in verse

sometimes a better one sometimes worse

if I could break the god king’s curse

and roll out of Hades in a platinum hearse

Out of the mouths of little kids

the been there’s past that’s do’s and did's

Can’t do nothing but set my bids

And wait and hope the amazers flip our lids

what

2.1179 : 7/25/08 : Last Minute

Everything put off to the last minute

this business is not fun or exciting

it’s just a slog of paperwork innit

And putting it all off again’s inviting

So I guess I can relate to you dumb slumps

who let it get way up on top of you

I’ll climb over your backs while you puff your humps

And from the top of that pile what a view

I’ve got no back story or origin

I guess I’m saying I’m really no hero

And through this paper forest that I forage in

God what I’d give to just get back to zero

what

2.1178 : 7/24/08 : Dead Letters

One letter after another

the paperless society the piles

just get higher

and as easy as it is to

make things disappear

I miss sending the dead letters

into the fire

still chasing the false sense

of accomplishment

clearing the in box out

checking the little boxes on

the great big list

was that really what it all

was supposed to be about

get me a shovel these

stables are stinking

get me a river to divert

wow how I’d love to

wash it all out

if only briefly conquer

all the muck and dirt

what

2.1177 : 7/23/08 : Week

How long have we been humping

this continuous week

Sunday to Sunday

the cycle unbroken

where did it get started

and did any dare to speak

or did the blasphemy

remain unspoken

We have a story the first week

established by God’s labor

The chances don’t seem so good

we kept track the whole time

And the first holy day

the day of rest we savor

might be supposed to be Tuesday instead

and every week perpetrates the crime

what

2.1176 : 7/22/08 : Pairs

So sing of something

that doesn’t come in pairs

like politicking and stumping

disguising private affairs

what

2.1175 : 7/21/08 : Tangle

Tangling with the demons this night

bathed in false electric light

stuck in a rut of rhyming pairs

Excuse me while I ignore the stares

Instead get tangled in the sound

I’ll find my best bet pound for pound

and craft verse into vivid scenes

tangled up in reds and blues and greens

what

2.1174 : 7/20/08 : Muse Speaks

as long as you look for your

treasure without

you’ll be ever beset by

confusion and doubt

as soon as you seek for

your treasure within

you’ll wonder how you ever

did anything

without me

I sent you an airplane I sent you a boat

I sent a flaming arrow over your moat

why you always got to be testing me

as long as you look you

know you’re going to see:

as long as you look for your

treasure without

you’ll be ever beset by

confusion and doubt

as soon as you seek for

your treasure within

you’ll wonder how you ever

did anything

look up look down

mere entropy is loose in your town

give thanks give praise

or do you say what’s the point anyways

I guess I call it a lesson when

I’m of the right mind

I sought ten long years

and I did not find:

as long as you look for your

treasure without

you’ll be ever beset by

confusion and doubt

as soon as you seek for

your treasure within

you’ll wonder how you ever

did anything

what

2.1173 : 7/19/08 : Tracking Error

Tracking error too much history

echoes of pure uncut possibility

mixed with a little knowledge a dangerous thing

here I am daydreaming about crazy bling

how many more times will I lose the thread?

give up another hour of life to dread

Instead of jumping wild in every blink

When will I learn there’s no damn time to think

what

2.1172 : 7/18/08 : Verifying

Verifying my motivations but the test failed

greed or convenience

so smooth the lies sailed

Or were they who knows what’s true

Paraphrasing Pontius Pilate

just like I used to

who’s got a use for

the cloister’s rejects

That vow of silence isn’t what it

used to be now we got texts

So maybe I’m dead on

and only think I’m lying

or maybe I’m just tossing off nonsense

while my blue screens are verifying

what

2.1171 : 7/17/08 : Fuck This Shit

Fuck this shit

not again

pull the plug

pull this pin

throw this pile

up in your face

I win again

this fucking race

what

1170 : 7/16/08 : Bitter, Better

Think this brew is bitter better

bump a little sugar in it

bitch would kill me if I let her

and my window’s far from infinite

Say I’ve got potential promise

well yeah twenty years ago

I’ve got nothing bet on this

and getting by is all I know

I’ve seen this shit that’s on before

somebody else’s fantasy

I’m better, bitter, out the door

The angles in the slant is me

what

2.1169 : 7/15/08 : List

I need to make some kind

of list so this

doesn’t keep happening

I can’t believe I haven’t

given up and scratched

the whole damn thing

and though I know that

I am done now

wherever I would wish to cease

I am compelled

to walk a little down

the road still trying to

capture my release

what

2.1168 : 7/14/08 : Strictly Continuity

3,359 : 4 ?

Strictly for continuity

offered as a very slight gratuity

strictly to stack the numbers up

why not I’ve still got half a cup

the best laid plans went straight to hell

I thought with words I’d cast a spell

and draw you in with impunity

to witness my continuity

what

2.1167 : 7/13/08 : Cracker

This sacred host is

one dry cracker

I’m dry as dust

and my heart couldn’t be blacker

I’m loathe to retire

I’m craving vice

I’m wishing what I wrote was true

Oh wouldn’t it be nice

to have a secret project

a fantastic trip

some kind of unfathomable

journey on a magic ship

underwater

with that mysterious captain

instead of sitting here

waiting for something to happen

what

2.1166 : 7/12/08 : Arch Stanton (Empty Grave)

This is not the night

and I forgot to hit save

look next to Arch Stanton

that’s the empty grave

memories of Lise Yates

long nights in my old estates

and what then must I call this day

my empty grave’s replay

think it’s time to stop fighting old ghosts

promises or maybe empty boasts

whatever may come just something new

refuse the black and fade to blue

this is not the night

but the portal of day

no more rewind

look up, hit play

what

2.1165 : 7/11/08 : Cicada Twilight

Cicada twilight, I hear

you climbing every tree

I see you emerged in false light

Now that’s what I call free

How many years were you under

Strange alien invaders

there to witness my regression

twilight cicadas

I will find your skins shed

when the sunlight returns

remind me how for shedding this

poor skin my spirit burns

what

2.1164 : 7/10/08 : Stupid Nights

Well is this another one

sure looks like another one

of my stupid nights

Like to say it’s the last time

sure like to believe

Once more to set it all to rights

well I’ve seen too many

and I know this one’s chance is past

and it’s all B.S.

say no mean yes

I’d love to believe I’d have a blast

Sure I’ll screw it up

maybe tomorrow spill the cup

reset that voodoo clock

but call tonight tonight

Shine one light so bright

Do what I must and take stock

what

2.1163 : 7/9/08 : Glug

Hell yeah I could

get drunk on a weeknight

glug glug glug

but I didn’t

and I won’t

take the wicked

pipeweed back up

like you always do

but I don’t

I might miss the sound

of inner rot

of glug glug glug

and vice

it’s not strength or

morality

it’s just fearing

the price

what

2.1162 : 7/8/08 : Purely Show

This one’s purely show

the smoke, the lights

the hype, the heights

a few cheap tricks I know

don’t believe the miles

On that odometer

I prefer to follow

my internal barometer

to know what weather’s coming

and to guess this tune

I’m humming

about how hard this thing

is going to blow

how hard I’m going to

rock this show

what

2.1161 : 7/7/08 : Another Name

So much the same so much the same

Try as I might to give it another name

I’m just glad the rain’s coming a little

I just wish I had some more time to sit and whittle

away the grimy rind of mundane accretion

the crust of runny boredom gland’s secretion

clear the nozzle I might just get a take off

though sure I’m afraid something might break off

by another name it might be twice as inane

So I won’t waste a minute to convince you that I’m sane

So much the same so much the same

after years of something totally different is it the same game

that I played not so well on the play ground

where I lost teeth and fights and saw it all got turned around

and if I fired the old skillet up would ever the twain meet

the city and the country side of my street?

known by another name a matter of tracks

and sides still truth abides I’m getting down to brass tacks

what

2.1160 : 7/6/08 : The Catch

The catch just like it

volume two

hard as I might try

I can’t carry through

to stack up more

than one in a row

will it come tomorrow?

I just don’t know

what

2.1159 : 7/5/08 : One for Two

Give me one for two

for me for you

for posterity

supposedly for me

trothed the ritual out

forget what it’s all about

some memory done spent

and off to here I sent

a message to the king

that’s it I nailed this thing

and it was all wrapped up

damn your eyes and fill my cup

what

2.1158 : 7/4/08 : Two For One

I’ll give you two for one

advice upon this declaration

independence is a myth

ask me twice and I’ll say this:

On the shoulders of giants

dependent on ones we’ll never know

geniuses who lived in caves

invented language

it happened just so

and I’m so clever sure

but what the hell will I invent

in a world subsumed by problems

how the hell could I

make even a dent?

what

2.1157 : 7/3/08 : In Preparation

In preparation for

surrender and defeat

I’ll slog another lap out

though I’m dead on my feet

I don’t know what I’m coughing up

but it tastes like blood

and another damn initiative

is trampled in the mud

horrifying and unmarketable

I go back to the well that’s always full

in preparation for

another day of independence

I’ll leave the rest to fate

and dream of transcendence

what

2.1156 : 7/2/08 : News

Reading the terribleist news

I know I know

I could refuse

fascination is it voyeurism

everything refracted

through this

horrible prism

perhaps I’m addicted

to the worst case scenario

power of negative

thinking’s impresario

strange calls in the midst of night

I feel it coming on

but I won’t bite

maybe I’m addicted to paying dues

maybe I’m addicted to bad news

what

2.1155 : 7/1/08 : Appropriate

The venue is appropriate

you’d laugh if you were in on the joke

I can’t avoid imagining

a rock big enough

to make the bastards choke

if virtue is its own reward

just what should be my

punishment

to try again and

try again

like any other revenant

the call of work

the call of sleep

the so loud call of distraction

the step too far

the crossed over line

the dreaded chain reaction

so what, if so

if so, if so

if so then so be it

I trust at least the

punishment

will be appropriate

what

2.1154 : 6/30/08 : Ritual Stupidity

Down the path of ritual stupidity

please forgive my idiot cupidity

the bile is floating my teeth at this point

another first something or other to anoint

Why persist giving in is so easy

live in the day what could be more cheesy

I still believe and it’s the hope that kills me

every time the vertigo of dumb ascent thrills me

what