2.2219 : 05/31/11 : Dumb

So damn dumb
and still I've got some
more to go
one more row to hoe
but I'll hang my long face
at the sticking place
ratchet up my chin
and walk right in

what

2.2218 : 05/30/11 : In Memory

In memory of
well heaven's sake
for a fresh start
for a fair shake
asked a lot
don't know what I got
It was something
didn't seem like a lot
in memory of
I'd rather forget
a promise to tell
a dodgy bet
but days still come
and days still go
and will I remember
so long ago

what

2.2217 : 05/29/11 : The Endless Axis of Song

This endless axis
of song triumphant
and how I always had to
try where you said I can't
In the end
it all worked out really fine
and I had to say
a little bit of that was mine
Let's all agree
to call the night a success
You ask me what I say
dear reader I say yes
let's to the trenches
let's to the battlements
See me in my true form
in my radiant vestments

what

2.2216 : 05/28/11 : First Song (Second)

I'll write you the first song
oh guess I already did that
my mistake
confess I am addicted to starting
All so dramatic
give me one more take
that's a pretty cheap rhyme
but I'm having a good time
why harsh it with creative restriction
whatever ink I spill
I guarantee I will
make it sound a little smarter
with a perfect diction
I'll write you the last song
oh won't fall for that
this round
I'm here
I'm going to step across
with two feet firm on solid ground

what

2.2215 : 05/27/11 : For Reals

I'm declaring a suspension
for reals
no more work
no shady deals
I need a break so hard
shelve the lot of it
now turn the card

what

2.2214 : 05/26/11 : No Answers

No answers regardless
might as well be smarter then
I must dismantle these riddles
one by one
without so much as a portal gun
heaven help every
display of bravado
and how we still succumb
to the lure of El Dorado
but I know a fearsome spell
to paralyze no answer's dread
lay my head down
after all I made this bed

what

2.2213 : 05/25/11 : The Endless Axis of Song

So many a day passed
and many a day was gone
when I turned another spoke
on the endless axis of song
some were pillars
some slender as straws
but the axis kept turning
in spite of all my flaws
I saw another way
a new presentation
A new turn of a shiny new screw
this was my realization
that I would set it here
leave it for another year
and I hoped that I would be
uplifted by the news I'd hear

what

2.2212 : 05/24/11 : A Touch

with only time
for the lightest touch
on a day that again felt to be too much
I'll make no excuses
promise no resolution
no great new day
no revolution

what

2.2211 : 05/23/11 : In Isolation

In isolation
it might be imagined
could be completely free
assume a watcher
assume dominion
Still I might be me
this fog of the membrane
I must fight it
a long journey
but I remember
and I must fight it
and be fit for the tourney

what

2.2210 : 05/22/11 : Technicality

Lest you catch me on a technicality
I'll cross every dot and slash every 2
And that last messed up story I've got about it
I will refrain from telling you
nothing much has changed you better believe it
change is technical, change is hard
but then again one day is good as any other
so watch as I turn one last card

what

2.2209 : 05/21/11 : Exceptions

What sort of exception am I looking for
Another chance to break my own rules
Another chance to say just one more time
My set is full enough of those tools
I should be studying, trying to figure out
the ins and outs of systems, classifications
Maybe I would know what the exception was about
and where it stood among all my creations
and I suppose there is no limit to the class
though if they start to outnumber the standard case
I should perhaps at least have the courtesy to feel dumb
I just keep ending up back in this place

what

2.2208 : 05/20/11 : Bridge

I said not another
but bridges kept coming
I said I'm not so smart
but that must mean something
and if I come to a point
but refuse to cross
will the whole tale
be accounted loss?
I try to listen
for the distant thunder
I try to take time
to sit and wonder
what's over the bend
beyond the ridge
and always whether
I can sight the last bridge

what

2.2207 : 05/19/11 : Roots

Year to year these roots I
try to extirpate
as if I didn't have enough
on my plate
I used to see those leaves poke out
you have to admire
how all I want to see
is fire fire fire
I'm being petty
I know I'm being small
and in a hundred years
will any of it matter at all
but the roots vex me
they make me wroth
they make me want to
start all over from whole cloth

what

2.2206 : 05/18/11 : Crank

A spiral coil
that seems to ever ascend
wherever does it go
whenever does it end
as long as somebody
turns that crank
it will twist up forever
no need for thanks
for real it is not
a metaphor
just a little observation
nothing more
it reveals nothing
on closer regard
merely to turn the crank
just isn't that hard

what

2.2205 : 05/17/11 : Inflamed

How did every vital viscera
become inflamed
every poison irritant and vice I blamed
the dark disease that forestalled progress
oh viscera
here's another fine mess
tired of tracking
paying heed
why can't I just order
whatever I need
these inflamed passions
will they not subside
settle to earth
right where the last dream died

what

2.2204 : 05/16/11 : Reset

Getting too twitchy on the reset
wanting to fix it all
to start from perfect perfect
I won't mention the fall
or any common mythos
it isn't about that
I just want to hit the reset
turn back decades, stones of fat
one day doesn't mean much
two days hardly more
three days starts to matter
but it takes so many more
but I like to forget
there's one day that you have to get
before an order can be restored
the one we call a reset

what

2.2203 : 05/15/11 : Feelings

Let's write a song about our feelings
let's let it all hang way out
I gotta bunch I come up with 'em all the time
It's all I ever write about
If I take the high road baby
if you take the low
I'll get there a little faster
you'll get there a little slow
and it's sad that though I'll meet you there
we'll never see this town again
tell me about your feelings baby
something to remember when
I'm said if you must know
and the reason is too dumb to tell
So I'll clam up and watch the clock
and hope I get saved by the bell

what

2.2202 : 05/14/11 : Rock and Roll

Oh rock and roll
I'm still after you
there's a pack ahead of me
I'm running toll my face is blue
We've been together so long
Me and a transistor radio
mono in one ear
top forty played in eight-oh
and if you stayed elusive
if the years take their toll
I'm not halfway yet perhaps
and I'm still after rock and roll

what

2.2201 : 05/13/11 : A Memory

Just a memory
blowing smoke into salty air
pretending I was all together
and didn't have a care
no date on it
no mark to know the time
assembled neatly in order
wrapped in well used rhyme

what

2.2200 : 05/12/11 : A Person

I'm just a person
I didn't sign up for this
except I did
but I didn't know what I was doing
and before you
spill red ink on what
you are reviewing
I will just bow out
nobody to find here
this will be the breakaway night
raise a ragged, blind cheer

what

2.2199 : 05/11/11 : A Smile

Slavering to transgress
but I find I'm not believing
I'll enjoy the thing
even for a little while
seems all and sundry
are getting by and getting by
And so I try to
wrangle up a smile
no matter how I slice it
there has been a lot of hack
and corner cutting and so
hey here we are
and it seems I have the inkling
the capacity to stumble
no matter how low
I set that damn bar

what

2.2198 : 05/10/11 : Man of Parts

Before the flashing and the fighting starts
I've seen it all I am a man of parts
I've seen this line and I can tell you Bub
It all comes out the same and there's the rub
where is the outrage so the man inquired
When he was far too well ensconced to be fired
the rest of us believe me we kept mum
believe believe me because I'm not dumb
If what I want just doesn't signify
if every single thing that lives must die
So many parts I still don't seem to fit
and it's so dull I hate to speak of it
but while I sit and spin out art for free
whenever will you find a part for me

what

2.2197 : 05/09/11 : Wretch

I could pity the wretch
but I'd rather not take
the time to repeat
that sorry mistake
so easy to fake it
to throw on some paint
if there's nothing else for it
well Shakespeare it ain't

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

2.2195 : 05/07/11 : Tactics

I've got tactics but
I'm not winning the war
and I forgot to ask him
what the world I am for
my tactic today
is to be short and sweet
and forgive me if it seems
not quite complete

what

2.2194 : 05/06/11 : Menace

The menace of the moment
the decisions that unravel
dreams that do not signify
when the judge lays down the gavel
never to be famous
never ever to be known
careful if you talk to me so long though
lest your lid get blown
not to be a menace
to be calm as Mr. Rogers
do it all so thoughtfully
end up with the other codgers
Speak to me oh from beyond
love me oh a little more
and I will turn my back on menace
and that word you did abhor

what

2.2193 : 05/05/11 : Calm

Try to measure this shake down up
try to bring the calm
You know I stood up
to the worst of it without a qualm
I knew I'd never get out
of this thing so might as well
calmly pull my pen out
and give all you fuckers hell
All you young experts
at looking fabulous
You're going to make me drop this cool
facade you're going to make me cuss
but no hot wasn't working
So it's calm for me from now
dreamily walk up to you
with a smile, then, kapow

what

2.2192 : 05/04/11 : Let's Get Wierd

Let's get weird
turn inside out
whisper hoarsely
when we mean to shout
Keep the secret
one more just one
under compulsion
under the gun
let's get weird
and really surprise them
when you see them next
you won't recognize them
When the student gave up
the teacher appeared
in a puff of chance
and then things got weird

what

2.2191 : 05/03/11 : Freed Radical

When they'd
freed the radical
When he
explained the anarchy
Who could argue?
the rightness of it
was plain to see
and they just lied
and said it did not exist
but they could not
quench the radical
When we elected to resist

what

2.2190 : 05/02/11 : None Will Say

None will say
we didn't press through failure
none saw such failure
defile meat and war
we can't obey our own laws
follow our religions
and yet still lowering the bar
and no one wants to hear
and no one wants to see
and no one wants to speak a word
and still I speak
and still I look
and tell the tale to a little bird

what

2.2189 : 05/01/11 : Future

For any May-day
from the future
should we change
meet the challenge
maybe it is in the stars
maybe it is built in Stonehenge
will the thief in the night
get away with one last heist
blame it on the wind
blame it on the Zeitgeist

what