2.5210 : 8/8/19 : Blank (The Experiment: 45/100)

Drawing a blank

gets me thinking on

who has been transformed

and what about me

am I yet reformed

firmly fixed

in a supposed

power locus

could I sieze, direct it

If I just had focus

don't actually feel

like I've got much control

in need of rehabilitation

of my world weary soul

what

2.3000 : 07/20/13 : Save the World

You say that I can't save the world

because I'm not special

and I'm not that smart

You say it's just a complex

I've got that makes

me even want to start

Sometimes I think it

doesn't really need it

but there's so much bad everywhere

sometimes I just don't know

why I even try to care

I pick away at my

own little corner

and I hope somebody's got perspective

And I admit inside I still

think that I could give it a go

but I know that I'm not really objective

101 Curious Professions 45: Messiah

what

2.1049 : 3/17/08 : A New State (Seventyseven: 54 of 81)

Plant it deep

clasp it well

a thousand generations

your saga to tell

hoe your row of virtue

till it grows in you

foundation of a family

yeah you know it’s you

basis of community

only comes within

understand a new state

ready to begin

we could draw the whole world

into its embrace

every person, family

community and state in its place

And how do I know

what the world might hide?

as ever and as usual

by what’s inside

what

2.963 : 12/22/07 : Sweep In

Sweep in like

the wind snow

All change just

like wind blow

call it

revolution

call a

resolution

could I lay it

out in one day

Still work still eat

still rest still play

tick back

to simple

sweep into

the temple

All change just

like sunrise

oh hear ears

oh see eyes

what

2.962 : 12/21/07 : Triage 3

Am I screwing up my priorities

should I be resisting authority?

trying to triage 3 million options

with nothing but a few stories and conscience

I got to get down with a smaller picture

I’d give it all up but I’m such a fixture

I probably need to stop talking smack

however far I slide down I gotta crawl back

however you slice it

I just want to wrap it up

pray that tomorrow fills the last half of the cup

what

2.945 : 12/4/07 : Priorities

I’m shifting my priorities

up punk so don’t

try to unload any junk here

it doesn’t matter here

and that’s the myth we

shatter here

shifting gears across

genres and universes

praised you with damn feints

Famed you with damn curses

no tracking back

and no corrections

no allowance for

revolt or insurrections

my perfect sedition

is my only priority

if I turn it up do you think

you could roll it with me

what

2.897 : 10/17/07 : Brave and Bold

I love the feel of a paradigm slide

when you’ve got nothing to lose

and even less to hide

watch the clinging of

the first becoming last

welcome to the dustbin

welcome to the past

I’ve got a feeling that

everything’s changing

power structures crumbling

classes rearranging

and I’m afraid of the

death throes

how bad how long

nobody knows

and it might seem like another day

of the same old same old

but still it’s coming

Whatever you say

and I am to face the new day

brave and bold

what

2.780 : 6/22/07 : Crash

If you accept it’s not all
crash revolution
what’s the incentive to
turn over a new leaf
and look the old style
snuck in just like a thief
I guess you must have faith in
slow revolution
the dance of real life
defies a simple story
too slow too many
and the logic all askew
makes sense from some angle
but not to me and you
the only common thread
is both tend to get gory

what

2.762 : 6/4/07 : Flame and Moth

I expect to see an
altogether
duller revolution
the books and their
solutions
such idealistic froth
Society is brainless
drawn and pulled
by tropic triggers
all our gadgets
and kajiggers
really it’s just flame and moth
How long have I written
of the end that
is no end
of the around the next bend
it’s always coming going coming
I bet you’d like to think
it’s just really
another metaphor
I hope to slam that door
with this monotonous
tune I’m humming

what

2.732 : 5/5/07 : Wires

The attenuated nervous system
of the urban core
spilling from the convoluted heart
that beats under the false floor
in the city cellphone spikes
are hidden in the church spires
even out here in the boondocks
you can see they still got wires
If I was in charge you know I’d
call for a great public works
power data transportation
call in all the young tech turks
dig the mass of network tunnels
lay the fiber set the tracks
wind the great superconductor
bundled thousand subtle hacks
Such a drifting Sunday dreamer
so enhanced with lofty flights
Of fancy but this world is dull
and sadly we must pick our fights

what

2.730 : 5/3/07 : Me and my Little Brain

Me and my little brain will
decode the spaceship signal
and I will be the big hero
that sets the doomsday clock to zero
me and my little brain
will figure out the roulette system
the goodfellas will come for me
the pitboss says you just missed him
I’ll know when to stop just when
my welcome’s turning stale
I’ll roll up my last big score
and before you know my ship will sail
we’ll cure cancer square the circle
world peace and free lunch our work will
shine and just change everything
the bright delight my little brain will bring
Me and my little brain will
build the last cathedral
I’ll sit upon an iron chair
if nothing else it won’t be dull
We’ll bring about the new age
End death end war end pain
Or so it seems imagining
inside my little, little brain

what

2.676 : 3/10/07 : Vanguard

The velvet invasion will be
dull as dirt
get a little more stingy
watch the man lose his shirt
it’d be a shame to waste all that
concept of capital
why not sweep in with the vanguard
why not have it all
I’ve dreamed my perfect revolution
in a thousand subtle turnings
while I piled up more IOUs
and the ministry of love
docked my earnings
but hell us early adopters
always gotta pay the vanguard tax
sometimes get a fat IPO back
sometimes get stuck with the betamax
I couldn’t even tell you
if I really believe any of it now
it seems just too convenient
it could be both a cash and a sacred cow
I wonder what will really happen
when your great object meets our blunt force tip
I guess we’ll find out by and by
how paradox impacts our vanguard trip

what

2.638 : 1/31/07 : Turning Point

If you keep thinking about it it will never come
who the hell came up with something so mean and dumb
who knew so many more would feel time out of joint
who knew we’d all end up at the turning point
The problems of this world are simply one, two, three
short sightedness and selfishness and entropy
Energy can solve the last one for a while
Ingenuity might yet bridge that last mile
But of human failing what is to be done
Can’t satisfy myself, I’m not the only one
So I pray with the rest the turning point is near
So I pray with the rest to not so much fear fear
looks like we’ve muddled through a thousand centuries
Given the last one that thought does not appease
Given global warming and the nuclear deterrent
we need a far far better way to swim against this current
And if we do not find it then I think we sink
This society will vanish in an eyeblink
The turning point a memory a false surmise
Can anyone pretend it would be a surprise
Still long as I’m alive and optimism’s free
I’ll just keep searching
for some pivot
where I can turn free

what

2.592 : 12/16/06 : Break the Vow

Break the vow and shout out
storm the cloister bang the drum
Yell and holler sing and stomp
Raise hell bring down kingdom come
When I vowed to keep my silence
how could I have known
the extent and painful excess
of the firm advantage you’d have blown
I never would have guessed it
Dreamed of such a thing
you screwed it so hard in the ground
witness the pain I’m gonna hafta bring
look down at your shiny toe caps
feel your faces flush
I bet you never saw it coming
when you pushed that power rush
but anyway I’m back in play now
no more silenced shall my voice be
better figure out your next play
better figure what will your choice be
 
what

2.589 : 12/13/06 : Coup d’État

Secret first announcement
of the coup d’état
strike of state
don’t hesitate
to disassociate the flaw
that we all see
We’ll blame it on
the right people when
Shatters and dumps
half them in the sea
I’ll show you
Where to stand brother
Either you’re
Coup d’état
Or you’re the other
There’ll be no
subsequent announcement
of the coup d’état
You want to know that
you’re on board
you’ll have to
look straight down
into the maw

what

2.498 : 9/13/06 : The Ways

Conservation reclamation generation
the holy trinity
of sufficiency
what I keep and what I make
what I grow or trade or take
the ways are three
how much more simple can it be?
there is no scarcity
there is no lack
welcome to the heresy
that’s still holding us back
conservation
reclamation
generation
the triad of the wise
the cornucopia of wild surmise

what

22 : 5/2/98 : Long Slow March

There's a certain way dust rises
on this trail
At the end of a long day
At the end of a long hard day
They never tell you of the boredom
Of valor turning stale
On the long slow march
To hold the enemy at bay
Here we all are
on the long slow march
To an uncertain end
The millions marching
Into an uncertain
valley

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

15 : 4/25/98 : Manual Transmission

Illuminated manuscripts
Abandoned flames and favorite ships
cashing bogus checks and scripts
For manual transmission

Broken watchsprings tarnished coins
cracked gaskets rings and dirty points
So roll the universal joints
For manual transmission

We just cannot let this thing
go on running itself this way
We've got to switch our play
To manual transmission
of the message, mission, vision

Chop it through two three four five
Master the dance and teach the hive
Dead or dying still alive
For manual transmission

The answer could be on the shelves
Those books aren't gonna read themselves
what fever raised desire quells
For manual transmission

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

5 : 4/15/98 : Men Without Style

(“What is Fashion?... It is usually a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months” - Oscar Wilde)

We're wear wear wearing
our coats of many colors
with the black side out
So as not to raise a shout

We keep our colors
Up against our skins
we don't reveal our intention
And we pass you without mention

What you call fashion
One more circuit to drain your energy
We are men without style
Without encumbrance almost relatively free

You won't forget the day when
we reverse our tactics
When we let our colors fly
And raise our ragged battle cry

The men without style have landed
We are among you...
We are among you...

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here