655 : 1/25/00 : The Worm In the Lotus

1,727 : 105 ?



The student came upon
a lotus bud
that had been
preyed on by a worm
He took it to his Master
saying,
there is a worm in the
Lotus, Master
The Master replied:
The worm
is not in the lotus
the lotus is in the
worm
and at that moment
the student was
enlightened

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

Milestones 2010

Been tough going lately. I feel stuck in various thematic and structural ruts with the current writing, frequently questioning whether I'm really forging any new or worthwhile territory or just obeying the dumb dictates of an obsessive structure. Not the first time, of course, and what is there to do? Push on.

Note a couple of milestones in spite of this. Yesterday I finished Notebook 23, the 10th volume (!) of the second song of the day project.



For many years my dad has kept a journal in those green hardbound RECORD books. Over the years of my youth I asked him for three of those books, all of which were short-lived attempts at keeping a journal of my own (the pages of which were eventually torn out, some destroyed, some socked away somewhere with the many, many journals I eventually kept in notebooks of my own - a habit I no longer carry out for many a long year now). What was left of all three eventually became Song of the Day books, volumes 1 and 2 of the first project, now finally volume 10 of the second project. Waste not, want not.

And, as will be noted in today's song's status update note, for the first time the continuity figure (how many songs I have written in a row without missing a day) passed three digits. Yesterday was the 105th consecutive day of continuous daily songwriting.

On reflection these observations don't exactly argue against the "obsessive structure" argument but hey, you take what you can get.

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

654 : 1/24/00 : Buddha’s (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 101/101)

Buddha’s ashes are falling
slowly in the temples
in the mountains above Hiroshima
Don’tcha know the score by now
up is down and north is south
That’s not the same thing at all
Nothing means anything
that’s the only lesson of
the modern post nuclear age
I regard all things on earth
passing flickers drifting by
mind drifting along another page
What you see is what you get
It may miss the mark but I’m not there yet
I only get to glimpse it now and then
I should have mentioned it
I guess I did a while ago
I don’t know nothin’ about Buddha’s Zen

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

653 : 1/23/00 : Silent Temple (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 100/101)

How do I get to the silent temple
Who do I ask the way
As the leaves fall in autumn
This autumn I'm falling through the silent Play
Watch me falling through the motions
of another grand campaign
that's not how the Silent Temple
transacts its buck's bang
Show me to the silent temple
This must be a proof
Sometimes silence is the
only answer to your spoof

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

652 : 1/22/00 : Vinegar (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 99/101)

The vinegar is sharp sharp
but I my friend am mum mum
edging past the Buddha
Amida please excuse my bum
vinegar vinegar
Clouds then clarifies
watch the mystic transformation
pass before your eyes
alchemy astonishing
and me working for coins
My vinegar is all I need
and watch how past and future joins

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

651 : 1/21/00 : Non Attachment (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 98/101)

If I gave up smoking
and defied all augury
gave up always looking ahead
then where would I be
Hey na na na non attachment
Nothing not present is required
I will stay the course I’ve chosen
full or hungry rested or tired
If I gave up telling fortunes
just lived in the day
If I gave up writing songs
What else would I have to say
Hey na na na non attachment
Rising it collapses to a point
I am free of everything
falling it creates another joint

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

650 : 1/20/00 : The Ultimate (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 97/101)

I am blind and I am sleeping
I must wake up I must gain my sight
Is it true what I said
everything would turn out all right
The ultimate thing in the whole wide world
Is to hold your lantern high
the ultimate objective of
living is to one day die
Brother could you spare a light
and a cigarette also
could you smoke it for me too
I had to give them up you know
Brother could you spare a candle
Seems my lantern’s lost its light
Somewhere on the unseen path
I navigate through second sight
If you run into a stranger
on your blind path let him by
listen close as he goes past you
he’ll reveal the ultimate lie

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

649 : 1/19/00 : Drop of Water (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 96/101)

1,722 : 99 ?


I didn’t like the doctrine
I resented the creed
I was hearing around me
all thought word and deed
singing I’m just a little
drop of water
like a rain drop in the sea
or a tear-drop on the blotter
One day I’ll dissolve
into the sea at last
to my scattered millions go
on by me through the door into the past
why to go on from there?
Oh just like a drop of water
the story always turns a page
and my wage is just a
drop in the lottery

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

648 : 1/18/00 : Letter to a Dying Man (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 95/101)

Hey brave little trooper
All that I can say
Is it’s a little bit closer
That it’s not as far away
Every song’s a letter
to a dying man
And all that I can say
is I am what I am
That’s a sad song
but then every one
is just a letter
to some poor dying mother’s son
watch another
disappear into air
like a snowflake
here then nowhere

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

647 : 1/17/00 : Midnight Excursion (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 94/101)

Daytime the extended version
Me still pondering the midnight excursion
station to station day to day
channel to channel hell to pay
when it's all done and it doesn't matter
anymore just more dust to scatter
the answer is hidden in a recursion
M.C. Escher version of a midnight excursion
If the master catches me scaling the wall
I'll never go out at night again at all
No more midnight excursions of pleasure jaunts
No more to revisit these old haunts
Rewriting the aspect in new designs
rereading the roles the sun assigns
Living in the day in the noontime sun
So this excursion day version begun

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

646 : 1/16/00 : Storyteller’s Zen (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 93/101)

I can tell a story
with storyteller’s Zen
that will take you back to where
it never happened way back when

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

645 : 1/15/00 : Firepoker Zen (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 92/101)

Whether a lover; a fighter
a dancer; some kind of cosmic joker
old lady jumped up from her loom
and smacked me in the head with a firepoker
Firepoker Zen
It’s not easy
Firepoker Zen
What else can appease me
I went to get a glass of tea
in a shop the other day
that old lady walloped me
and sent me on my way
Firepoker Zen
It’s not easy
Firepoker Zen
It’s not easy

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

644 : 1/14/00 : Taste of Sword (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 91/101)

Once you got a taste
of the sword
once you got a taste of
the sword of word
You'll never stop dodging it
You'll learn so fast you'll wish you'd quit
Once you taste the edge
of the sword of word
You'll have to think of
every one you ever heard
searching for the one that shatters
all that shakes and all that matters
If you take a vow of silence
Be on guard for sudden violence
If you get a taste of it
name of names
taste the blade the edge
of it through the flames

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

643 : 1/13/00 : The Last Rap (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 90/101)

I don’t mind leaving
I’m not afraid to go
I don’t mind spinning off the coil
It’s only natural
The way of all flesh
ashes to ashes and soil to soil
all I’m really
worried about
Is that last rap on the head
one more shock
the final blow
that sends me evermore to bed
the last rap
an affectionate tap
from the hand of the diligent master
I can’t think of a
better way to go
the dice roll from the hand of the caster

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

642 : 1/12/00 : Dialog (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 89/101)

Wherever the wind may blow
or if you think it’s a shame
we have to go the dialog will show
a future bounded by strict correlation
the dust bin of history is
rolling down the street
threatening to knock a
poor boy like me off my feet
it can’t be beat
its inertia the philosopher’s equation
As the leptons vanish to escape our wicked gaze
It’s a race between me and the ancient of days
don’t mind what he says
the dialog is merely a demonstration
of the mists of causality parting like a veil
the beginning of the end of
the thousand and first tale
don’t bail on me
speak unreservedly
without hesitation

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

641 : 1/11/00 : Chinese Poem (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 88/101)

1,714 : 91 ?


A Chinese poem in twenty five words
Instructions from a book of tales
I dreamed about a wooden boat
Writing poetry rhymes in the gunwales

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

640 : 1/10/00 : Disciple (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 87/101)

Make me into
a good disciple
knock me around
real good
I can do it
for you if
you really think
I should
I’ll stand out
among the
bags of french
fries on the street
And the Calvin
Klein clothes horses
that patrol
the strip mall beat

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

639 : 1/9/00 : Living Buddha (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 86/101)

Hey living Buddha
where are you at
won’t give me audience you’re
one elusive cat
If I were a tubmaker
at least I’d make some sense
have a reason to hang ‘round
on this side of the fence
I need a mentor
to lead me on the path
I need some guidance
and an abacus to do the math
I need a metronome
to keep a steady beat
I need a stiff one now
to keep me on my feet
hey living Buddha
try and help me out
I really want to learn the way
to live beyond my doubt

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

638 : 1/8/00 : Time to Die (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 85/101)

Time passes time moves
time flies right by
time to rise time to fall
time to live time to die
Time to die moving on
to the next escapade
I must be a lucky star
got it all got it made
could it be that the end
of the melody
is not the point at all
Yet if there were no end
to the melody
I’d never have heard the call

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

637 : 1/7/00 : True Friends (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 84/101)

If I could lay me down to sleep
I’d pray for God my friends to keep
And should I die I hope that
You won’t cut the strings of your harp
True friends are few and far between
I know how lucky I have been
To find so many who would
listen to me rant and carp
I’ve sung a song bitter and black
I’m trying to work my way back
without my friends I’d wither up
a branch cut from the vine
it’s eerie when love cuts the strings
a taste of what tomorrow brings
sends a shiver up my spine

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

636 : 1/6/00 : No Work No Food (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 83/101)

No Work No Food
uh huh uh huh
No work No food
uh huh uh huh uh huh
gird your loins up
uh huh and
adjust your mood
find your tools
No work no food
uh huh uh huh uh huh uh huh

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

635 : 1/5/00 : Nothing Exists (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 82/101)

Nothing exists there is not one Word
and not one song and not
one note and everything is
meaningless is nothing more
then its own exhibition
of an insensible cacophony

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

634 : 1/4/00 : Go To Sleep (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 81/101)

1,708 : 84 ?


Go to sleep
little ego
give me peace
go to sleep go
let me be
disappear now
let me be
only hear now
what I sing
praise and curses
in one breath
and four verses
go to sleep
count to three
clothes your eyes
I am me

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

633 : 1/3/00 : Miracle (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 80/101)

It's a miracle I'm breathing
That I'll probably survive
through to the next tomorrow
It's a miracle I'm still alive
I'm eating when I'm hungry
I'm sleeping when I'm tired
I'm writing every chance I get
Look at the strange procession I've sired
look at this foolish rambling mess
it's a miracle heaven knows
it's a miracle I'm still around
it's a miracle my eyes can close

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

632 : 1/2/00 : Incense Burner (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 79/101)

judge this song for free
one in a thousand
imperfect, of an imperfect hand
expressing what will be, will be
I used to drink and smoke and carry on
didn’t make me a better writer
another man would give up but I’m a fighter
so I blindly follow the fairy song
Sung by the will o wisp
in the dark woods of an uncertain past
flag of childhood dreaming flies half-mast
I weighed 67 pounds, spoke with an endearing lisp
I’m on the path but I’m a slow learner
So put this one in your pipe and smoke it
does discipline give birth to creativity or choke it
I’ll torch that with my other
imperfections in my incense burner

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

631 : 1/1/00 : Real Prosperity (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 78/101)

Father to father son to son
Real prosperity is in the progression
Who can hold onto time at all
And you’re lucky if you wind up
as a painting on the wall
Father to grandfather son to grandson
3 generations and a hundred years are gone
Look how it changes never stays the same
At least they’ll carry on the family name
It’s the order of things I guess
It works out in the long run
but the details are a mess
Real prosperity is just in the day
Fathers or sons for the moment anyway

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

630 : 12/31/99 : No Attachment to Dust (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 77/101)

There is nothing that will last
there is nothing that I must
No moon in the water
no attachment to dust
There is no one I'm afraid of
There is no one that I trust
I see nothing that's alarming
In a handful if dust
All my treasure has to perish
All will fall to moth and rust
I live without assumptions
or attachments to dust

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

629 : 12/30/99 : Stone Mind (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 76/101)

I have a heavy head
I wish that I
could lighten up
my stone mind
I’m sleeping in the bed
I made for myself
in a past
I left behind
My stone mind causes
me to be
so serious
I’m no fun at all
It never pauses
It’s always
chewing up
time searching for the call
Inside
Outside
forward
or behind
I’m carrying it all in my stone mind

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

628 : 12/29/99 : Temper (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 75/101)

Temper temper
better calm down
we’ve done a lot of damage
already
Speak softly
and carry a multi-warhead
city killing long range ballistic
equalizer
ready, steady
You better cool off mister
you ought not to have said
what you did about
my sister
already a steady rain falls
the earth is getting hotter
there’s a little less clean water
though unready, unsteady
still sane and
no walls
remain,
falls
away

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

627 : 12/28/99 : Reformation (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 74/101)

I get them with my testimonial
I gave it high on nitrous once
I know just how to play the
divine mystic cosmic dunce
when they see my mean estate
and my humble gratitude
Just to be alive
Baby it’s all attitude
They experience true reformation
They finally see
Get down to serious business
So I can get back to the fathomless sea

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

626 : 12/27/99 : Ten Successors (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 73/101)

Ten successors
is there anything at all
to the stories that they
heard a holy call
Was he struck down in anger
or transfixed alive
on the moment of transcendence
next stop dimension five
Did he wield the stick in anger
was his method trial by fire
ten swam back out of the deep end
other ten swam under the wire
Ten successors and
a bodhisattva martyr
poleaxed by a touchy monk
while sniffing after the garter

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

625 : 12/26/99 : Blockhead Lord (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 72/101)

Do not flatter this Blockhead Lord
He may wear fine robes
But he doesn’t know a thing of Zen
and the futures he reads in crystal globes
hey Blockhead!
build me a Temple instead
of this old cleric
rock you to sleep in the bed
you made for me
you may be a Lord
But you know not
what this third crow bought

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

624 : 12/25/99 : Be Silent (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 71/101)

Hush
Silent
Do not say a word
hush
be silent
do not say one word
not even
this
this
this
this
this
this
this
this
this

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

623 : 12/24/99 : The Most Valuable Thing in the World (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 70/101)

Do you want
the most valuable thing
In the world?
Hold out your
hand
and
I’ll give it to you

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

622 : 12/23/99 : Eat the Blame (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 69/101)

The master found
a snake’s head in his soup
I’ve been around
it goes deeper than I’ll stoop
while the world crumbles
everyone’s trying to make a name
give that snake’s head to me
I’ll eat the blame
the snake was born
for crawling in the grass
and every morn
I sigh for what’s come to pass
We’ve taken life and
turned it into a game
If you need a scapegoat
I’ll eat the blame
You know to me it’s all the same
it could be better but I’m glad I came
While the world boils in secret shame
I’ll just grab the snake
and eat the blame

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

621 : 12/22/99 : One Note Zen (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 68/101)

blow my whistle
toot my horn
one note zen
master is born
look how sacred
look how wise
one note master
angel eyes
bodhisattva
straight and long
one note zen
one note song

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

620 : 12/21/99 : Doing Saying (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 67/101)

1,694 : 71 ?


What are you doing
What are you saying
show me one true thing
You found by praying
doing is being
saying is nothing
dying is freeing
living the one thing
In doing be true
in saying be clear
Everything I do
I do without fear
What are you doing
what are you saying
this is the true thing
the curtain is fraying

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

619 : 12/20/99 : Children of His Majesty (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 66/101)

If I was a shareholder
one of the five percent
would I display my sinister bent
or would I be bolder
If I had wealth superabundant
would I tie my mule to a good cause
could my will contain an escape clause
Would I behave just the same, redundant
While I lay wishing for some fancy thing
ten thousand die ten thousand die
the children are starving I wonder why
the children of his majesty the king
he's mumbling he's mad as a hatter
and I am poor as a mouse
no wagon field or house
no crown no silver platter
Yet if I were a shareholder
I could give away everything
To feed the children of his majesty the king
that's what I'd do if I were a little bolder

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

618 : 12/19/99 : Subjugation of a Ghost (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 65/101)

Seven minutes prior to the
witching hour
I lifted up my hammer and my tongs
And set myself to
engaging the higher paradigm
And unleashed the untold
potency of my songs
Seven seconds past the
next long goodbye
As the valet dished up something
like dismay on toast
It was heavily connected
to the function of the evening
namely the subjugation
of a Ghost
And I will stand by and
watch them march
through that door

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

617 : 12/18/99 : Sweat (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 64/101)

I can talk the talk
I talk it in my sleep
I can’t walk the walk though
I’m just another sheep
put me on the stand
then you’ll see me sweat
every drop accuses me
every drop’s a lost bet
Never let them see you sweat
never let them in
that was my whole strategy
but now I’m ready to begin
I will walk away today
all my past regret
will disappear like morning fog
evaporate like sweat

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

616 : 12/17/99 : Killing (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 63/101)

I shouldn’t be allowed
to preach without enlightenment
there oughta be a law
Some license on my gospel tent
What can I do if I’m simply wrong
am I killing Buddha with this song?
I should just write
my own material
this has become
one strange ass serial
I guess I’ve kept it up this long
I guess Buddha can take one more
unenlightened song
He said to kill him
If I met him walking on the path
It sounded dicey
Caught between satori and the grapes of wrath
Maybe I’ve been killing Buddha all along
Maybe I should write another song

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

615 : 12/16/99 : In the Hands of Destiny (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 62/101)

My army is one-tenth the size
my war-chest is one-tenth the worth
We’re in the hands of destiny
my friends
but we stand to inherit the earth
Randomness will choose our fate
Fortunes cast with a trick coin
Young man you can’t get more West
than here
So turn around and join
My mentor’s march one million strong
My teachers follow me to war
In the hands of destiny
we rise
things won’t be the same anymore

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

614 : 12/15/99 : Gudo (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 61/101)

Gudo
I guarantee you
this very mind
is not the Buddha
that’s a one thing
I can assure you
You will not tell me
what will become of me
you say you don’t know
I know there’s more to this story
are you here
to knock me to my senses
I sense there is
more to me than what they call defenses
maybe then I’ll see
What Gudo showed me

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

613 : 12/14/99 : Tunnel (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 60/101)

1,687 : 59 ?


I’m going to dig a tunnel through the earth
tunnel through the earth
tunnel through the earth
I’m gonna dig and show you what I’m worth
and come out on the other side
I’m gonna dig a tunnel through the moon
tunnel through the moon
tunnel through the moon
I’m gonna dig that tunnel real soon
and come out on the other side
I’m gonna dig a tunnel through the sun
tunnel through the sun
tunnel through the sun
I’m gonna dig because I am the one
and come out on the other side
I’m gonna dig a tunnel through the sky
tunnel through the sky
tunnel through the sky
dig my way through space and stars don’t even ask me why
and come out on the other side

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

612 : 12/13/99 : Soldiers (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 59/101)

Soldiers of humanity
Out to save all sentient life
ain’t that something pretty big
ain’t you just the butcher’s knife
Ain’t you just the pruning shears
ain’t you just the cheese
out to save all sentient life
and me too as you please
soldiers of humanity
rooted to the spot
meditate these blues away
while I smoke lots of pot
in your temple far away
and very long ago
you showed them a thing or two
that’s really all I know

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

611 : 12/12/99 : Stone Buddha (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 58/101)

I only have one ambition
I face every day with the same decision
I want people to point and say
he’s a Stone Buddha
he’s superfly he’s astral
he’s a stone Buddha
don’t let his wisdom slip past ya
I wanna step past all the phases
the need for Chi or secret places
I wanna be rock steady
like a stone Buddha
still and ready
like a stone Buddha
one day I’ll just slip away
maybe I’ll petrify some day
and finally achieve my karma
becoming Stone Buddha

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

610 : 12/11/99 : The Gates of Paradise (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 57/101)

Where are the gates of paradise
point me in the way
I’ve had my share of fire and ice
and you won’t have to show me twice
I’ll know it by the rocks and clay
I’ve seen its aspect in my dreams
And visions of it when I pray
or so it seems
at start of day

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

609 12/10/99 The True Path (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 56/101)

No coming
no going
the true path
no slowing
me down now
I’m in it
get on it
begin it

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

608 : 12/9/99 : Tea Master (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 55/101)

Tea master
and assassin
there’s a tale
to keep you laughin’
imagine being
Fooled by tea
and the Tea Master
at the tea Academy
the usual alchemy
raised to the point of artistry
hardly useful
but mark the words
the assassin’s blade
can’t cut all the cords
hey Tea Master
that’s quite a
scenario you spin
The Tea Master
and the assassin

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

607 : 12/8/99 : Will and Testament (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 54/101)

I am nothing
but an insignificant
insect

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

606 : 12/7/99 : The Giver (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 53/101)

1,680 : 52 ?


I just need a couple million
Build the machine and put the wheels on
I’ve got it all locked up inside
I’m ready for the ride
I just need some one to Give Me
What I’m missing to hire my Army
To round up my million men
And get ready to begin
I promise I’ll act like a man of the Tao
And I’ll give it all back but I need cash flow now
the giver should be thankful for me
giving them some reason to be
I’ll give one million a reason to
Stand up and rise on cue
Take control and shout the riddle
I’ll laugh while it burns and play my fiddle

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

605 : 12/6/99 : Your Light May Go Out (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 52/101)

Anyone can speculate
Your light may go out
So be sure to constantly meditate

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

604 : 12/5/99 : Sour Miso (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 51/101)

Don’t cry over sour miso
children are starving in Vietnam
Children are starving in China
Children are even starving in Japan

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

603 : 12/4/99 : Clear Realization (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 50/101)

Realize so clearly
no path but pain
I figured it out once
I guess I have to again
when will I give up on satisfaction
when will I give up on satiation
when that when that day comes
I will have my clear realization

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

602 : 12/3/99 : Black-Nosed Buddha (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 49/101)

Black nosed Buddha
I’m gonna pray on you I’m gonna
pray on you I’m gonna
pray pray pray on you
and your ugly black nose
will tell me what to do
Black nose buddha
I’m burning my incense
just for your black nose
Your golden body mocks me
through a nose as black as coal
Black nosed Buddha
are you enlightened now
will you take me with you
will your black nose point me how

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

601 : 12/2/99 : Proportion (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 48/101)

Don’t try to fool me with
second best
If you put me up to it I’ll
pass the test
And if it seems to you
there is a hint of distortion
In my priorities
Then you lack my
Sense of proportion

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

600 : 12/1/99 : Stingy Artist (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 47/101)

I’m a stingy artist
I always take my pay
I never work for free
and I’m working every day
I painted for the king baby
I painted for his girls
I charge as much as I can get
in diamonds gold and pearls
I’ve got a secret habit
my art is just a tool
I’m not saving for a race car
or to build a swimming pool
I’m not charging just to have more
that’s a path fit for a fool
My art pays to feed the poor
and build a road to heaven’s door
my art will build a temple
please observe my fine example
I’m a stingy artist baby
I’ll charge you through the nose
but it’s all for a good cause
but that’s a truth just heaven knows

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

599 : 11/30/99 : Grass, Trees, Enlightened (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 46/101)

1,672 : 44 ?


I have a notion
I'm gonna be all right
come what may...
just look I'll have
escaped to paradise
within another day
grass, trees, enlightened
bees whisper
secrets as you dream
insensible
to the notion
of your own silent stream

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

New Continuity Record

Allow me to break the flow of the decade past for a moment for a note on what I'm writing now - I noticed today that I have broken my previous recorded continuity record on the current songwriting, that is to say the number of songs I have written on consecutive days without missing a day. Sometime around March 2009 (my handwritten notations on the subject are difficult to decipher) I broke a streak of 40 songs written on consecutive days; today I wrote song number 1,672 of the Second Series, marking 44 songs written without missing a day, and still rolling. Huzzah.

598 : 11/29/99 : Right From Wrong (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 45/101)

I need a classroom
to myself
to learn to write this one song
I need special treatment
because I don’t know
right from wrong
right and wrong
and good and evil
man and woman tooth and nail
If we have endorsed
the wrong rites
well maybe that god is in some detail
I learn my lesson
learn to pull back
before the hammer strikes
I learn to count
my p’s and q’s and use
my muse to fuel my mikes

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

597 : 11/28/99 : The Thief (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 44/101)

After I got off my sentence
I went back to the only one
who had not called me a thief
His singular example
had created
something like belief

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

596 : 11/27/99 : Beggar’s Life (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 43/101)

I am not cut out for the beggar’s life
always down and out misfortune is my life
I’m attached to food and wealth and mystery
this beggar’s life is too hard for me
I would like to be renowned for what I know
but I do not love knowledge for it’s own sake, so
the beggar’s path is all that is left to trod
I’ll beg my way to heaven, I’ll beg my way to God
I’ll beg my way all the way to Carnegie Hall
I’ll beg my way out when my back’s against the wall
I’m begging right now for grace I have not earned
isn’t it something how the wurm has turned
If I can make it three days on the beggar road
I may have a vision of Master Joad
And he’ll whisper the beggar’s secret in my ear
Softly softly just for me to hear

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

595 : 11/26/99 : Dead Man (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 42/101)

I said
I am dead
to this world
to this inheritance of the meek
she kicked me
in the head
and said
fool
dead men do not speak

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

594 : 11/25/99 : Joshu’s Zen (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 41/101)

What can
not be
thrown or
carried
no thing
no thought
burned or
buried
I can’t
wrap my
head a-
round it
Joshu
spun it
then I
found it
no thing
no thought
taut or
tangled
on the
hook of
mind I
dangled
no thing
in my
battered
noggin
take the
back off
let this
cog in
fit me
in a-
mong the
wurmgears
turn me
turn me
till my
mind clears

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

593 : 11/24/99 : Dreamland (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 40/101)

Dreamland
see the sages and
pick up the robe
the master dropped
touch the bowl
and dreamland stopped

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

592 : 11/23/99 : Sleeping in the Daytime (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 39/101)

1,666 : 38 ?


They say
Soyen
never slept in the day time
is that a riddle
what time did he
sleep in
then?

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

591 : 11/22/99 : Work (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 38/101)

thirteen years’ work
and still more gates
and still more blows
still more glory to come
when I feel the jerk
of the collar I hesitate
but where it leads I go
a grind to another a glory to some

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

590 : 11/21/99 : Sutras (II) (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 37/101)

Penny by penny
stone by stone
another day another dollar
I work alone
saving up to publish
My invisible sutras
ten years or twenty
don't matter to me
maybe no one gets it
well what will be will be
until I publish
my invisible sutras
penny for the orphan
penny for the poor
penny for the widow
wish I had a little more
hope they read what they need
in my invisible sutras

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

589 : 11/20/99 : Flower (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 36/101)

A long time ago the scientists say
flowers were unknown in all the land
they came before we made the scene
predestining our grasping hand
reach you cannot hold it
it’s just the way they told it
the flowers will inherit the earth
as they fall down around me
the simple truths astound me
the whole world spins an empty hub of mirth
everything changed when flowers came
everything changes when the flowers fall
the spider god crouches at the center of the world
and the ancestor gods make me record it all
and past the point of no return
is when you finally feel the burn
the empty in the fullness of desire
and while nobody complains much
when the flowers fall at the rain’s touch
they know at heart the elements of fire

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

588 : 11/19/99 : Minute Zen (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 35/101)

I’m a Lutheran myself
but every now and then
I have to stop and do
a little minute Zen
One breath that rocks the bellows
between heaven and earth
and pulls the stars into existence
at the cosmos’ birth
I practice grace through faith not works
I’m always at the cross
I rock a thousand times a day
between satori and plain loss
I’ve nothing but a shelf of books
my notebook and my pen
I turn it into time gone by
and lose myself in Minute Zen

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

587 : 11/18/99 : A Smile (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 34/101)

when they come to take you
and the guillotine awaits you
greet them with a smile
when it's time to meet your maker
and they beat you blind for being a Quaker
get up and take it with a smile
Nothing is fair and nothing makes sense
We're all getting put up at heaven's expense
and none of it will matter a thousand years hence
so greet the new day with a smile
when the big computer mixes you
and your alien slave lord fixes you
hey wake up with a smile
when the universe enters the big heat death
and you're in pain whenever you piss or take a breath
oh lie down each night with a smile
We're all headed for oblivion anyway
and nobody knows who listens when we pray
so you might as well live in the one day
and meet each moment with a smile

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

586 : 11/17/99 : Hand (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 33/101)

My hand is clenched tight
around my heart
I am a stingy miser
and I play a stingy part
I need to open my hand
and let my treasure go
it’s no use to me like this
to live it has to flow
I need to open my hand
and cast my bread abroad
across the seven waters
to show my faith in God
my heart can’t stand the squeezing
my treasure’s turning green
I’ll take my hand away from it
step from behind the screen

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

585 : 11/16/99 : Inch Time Foot Gem (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 32/101)

1,659 : 31 ?


Seven times a day
Inch time foot gem
this day will not come again
each minute’s price a worthless gem

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

584 : 11/15/99 : Everything Is Best (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 31/101)

Everything is best
everything is right
wakes you in the morning
keeps you up at night
could it be that simple
could it be that fast
Every beggar’s wealthy
every first is last

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

583 : 11/14/99 : Calling Card (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 30/101)

A goose ran over your grave
while you were away sir
an important man
stood scattering sand
while I lay sleeping
my fate stopped in
while passing by
I was out with my mortal sin
engaging in the long goodbye
and a blank calling card
is what I returned to
on the back it said I knocked once
on the back it said we spurned you
a blank calling card
a space for a name
on the back it said
just leave the way you came

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

582 : 11/13/99 : No Water No Moon (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 29/101)

No water, no moon
No water, no moon
at last I understand
not one minute too soon
no more water in the pail
no more moon in the water
I've uncovered my fate
after years that I sought her
after years on the search
after years on the path
there are waves in the water
and moonlight in the bath
there is light in the water
and light in my eyes
there is light everywhere
it should come as no surprise
and the light spills down
from a bamboo spoon
no water, no moon
no water, no moon

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

581 : 11/12/99 : Treasure House (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 28/101)

All the beautiful things you seek
are inside of you
In the end the darkness is overcome
and cannot hide the truth
And I’m not sayin’ nothin’
I’m quiet as a mouse
All the wonderful things I seek
are hidden in my treasure house

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

580 : 11/11/99 : The Voice of Happiness (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 27/101)

I’d kill and I’d die
I’d give my one good eye
just to speak with a voice of clear intent
I’d love to be enlightened
and have all my inputs heightened
but the hub is very tiny
and the spokes are very bent
they say the holy men
Speak with tongues mightier than the pen
and voices unencumbered with duress
unrestricted by society
free to speak the heart’s endless variety
how I yearn to hear the voice of happiness

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

579 : 11/10/99 : Trading Dialog (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 26/101)

The victor with the snappy lines
Wins the right to be the figurehead
sets up house in the cradle of society
We’d be better off electing a blind mute instead
trading dialog for a place to stay
trading dialog for food
they talk us out of a hell of a lot
and if we balk they act so rude
power speaks a wordless language
a fist shook under our noses
the man with the plan he warns us
there’s no time to smell the roses
It’s time to depose the masters of
the lying rhetorical game
and knock our stupid little brother off the throne
and know power by its true name
it’s time to win the war of dialog
and roust this class of professional liars
all they do is talk in circles
and piss on imaginary fires

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

578 : 11/9/99 : Three Days More (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 25/101)

1,651 : 23 ?


I’m only going to put up with this
three days more
I tried my best but in the end I
couldn’t find the door
I listen for a sound
that isn’t there at all
I guess I’d better kill myself
3 days is a damn long time to fall
I’m only going to knock myself out
three days more
if trying doesn’t work then what
is trying for
enlightenment or bust friend in
three days I’ll know
I’ll know as clean and crisp and clear
as freshly fallen mountain snow

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

577 : 11/8/99 : Sutras (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 24/101)

Was Hitler Enlightened?
Was Stalin Enlightened?
Was Pol Pot Enlightened?
When the Buddha turned the light on
In the world that day
I write my own Sutras
Recite my own Sutras
My daily homegrown Sutras
Why not I’m not so very holy
to use the real thing anyway
I’d like to exclude some
the wicked and fearsome
I can’t work out the sum
of evil versus universal
transcendent salvation
I baffle the lotus
I circle the lotus
I can’t work the lotus
into my twisted
universal equation

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

576 : 11/7/99 : Departure (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 23/101)

Stupid people ask me if the fire burns
Stupid men concern themselves
with steady returns on investment
What did you get out of life today
When the time of my departure comes at last
I won’t get sidetracked
by my past or a digest of regrets
It’s the same as anything say what you may
I’m on a plane and the plane’s on fire
It seems an awfully complicated
funeral pyre to me
technology has arranged my departure
for me
My preacher told me ‘bout the afterlife
he said nobody’s sure
but it’s the end of strife I promise
and it’s all guaranteed and all
for free

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

575 : 11/6/99 : My Heart Burns Like Fire (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 22/101)

My heart burns like fire
But my eyes are cold as dead ashes
See how the ocean rises
See how the great wave crashes
I’ve never eaten enough to fill me
I never think about the past
I never raise the flag up
it always flies half mast
But my heart burns like fire
and my eyes are cold and dark
and if I let an arrow fly
it always finds its mark

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

574 : 11/5/99 : One Hand Clapping (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 21/101)

The files among other things
collect one thousand songs
for example the world's smallest bell
and the way the surf of the big sea pounds
and the meow of the kitten that made me sad
dripping water in a cave where no one's been
and diamonds crystallizing on Neptune
and a duplicate of Einstein's voice in paraffin
a grasshopper chewing on the first page of
the last copy of an undiscovered verse
which lays out in aching clarity
a truth so complete it had no choice but to disperse
a cymbal, a wristwatch, a party horn
a candle, a bird's bone snapping
a windmill, a whirlwind, a dinosaur egg
from which there comes the slightest tapping
but nowhere among these rare recordings
or the nine hundred eighty five more
is the sound of one hand clapping
they say it's somehow secretly embedded in the core.

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

573 : 11/4/99 : Advice (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 20/101)

My mom gave this advice
don’t invent the wheel twice
All the good things that you seek
You’ll find inside of you

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

572 : 11/3/99 : The First Principle (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 19/101)

The theory is the
empty and unfettered mind
sets down a bold stroke
and each that follows in kind
is a masterpiece
perfect and simple
led inevitably
through from the first principle

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

571 : 11/2/99 : Parable (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 18/101)

If all my certainty
is only rooted in habit
I guess what sweet is offered me
I’m bound to reach out and grab it
if only reason creates order
what then creates reason
if chaos is a postulate
why do I name each season
I’m caught in between the
certainty of doubt
and the doubt of certainty and
I’m dying to get out
I’m trying to square the circle
and turn lead into gold
while I practice all my tricks
the future will unfold
just the way it wants to
So strong in wanting nothing
Don’t think too hard about it
You must have your own parable to sing

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

570 : 11/1/99 : Stingy Teacher (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 17/101)

1,645 : 17 ?


I’ve got a stingy teacher
she won’t give me an inch
and everything is hard to me
that she says is a cinch
she teaches me with riddles
they don’t make any sense
she just laughs and says
that I’m spectacularly dense
I’ve got a stingy teacher
she won’t give me a clue
She says I must do what I must
to know what I must do
I threaten that I’ll leave her
I threaten I’ll give up
she asked after the color
of the water in my cup
She stumped me with a question
one word that means no thing
Now that I think about it
There’s no word that I can sing.

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

Recalibration of time machine complete

Well damn, I have once more achieved temporal parity with the prior decade. Halloween 1999, I remember it well. A little too well, actually, but that's a whole other story. How long will I manage to maintain the daily-ish posting this time? Try not to let the suspense hurl your sense of order into violent disarray.

569 : 10/31/99 : Not Far (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 16/101)

I’m not far now
It’s not far now
I’m almost there
I’m working on how
It’s not far to go
a future none may know
I’ll find it at my own pace
shuffle through this deck of woe
It’s not far now
to get back to
the start of things
and me and you
I know a guy
who knows just what to do
and it’s not far
he’s not far from
finding what was sought for
answering what was asked
opening to one last knock
revealing what was masked

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

568 : 10/30/99 : Mother (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 15/101)

I don't care if people laugh
and whisper to each other
I don't care what people say
I'm a mama's boy
I'll always love my mother
I love all my family dear
Dad and sister and my brother
I know where I came from
I'm a mama's boy
I'll always love my mother
This life gives you just one chance
you cannot buy another
I know where my heart belongs
I'm a mama's boy
I'll always love my mother

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

567 : 10/29/99 : Muddy Road (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 14/101)

Come on girl
I’ll lift you in my arms
carry you across this muddy road
ignoring all your charms
When we reach the other side
I’ll set you gently down
it’s just the kind of monk I am
the root of my renown

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

566 : 10/28/99 : A Buddha (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 13/101)

If I renounce my vices
give up smokes and practice Zen
If I follow all the precepts
will I be a Buddha then?

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

565 : 10/27/99 : Happy Chinaman (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 12/101)

There are more happy Chinamen
in this world than any other
kind of man, that’s just statistics
that’s nothing special
If I had a sack of special gifts
If I’d just worked harder on the riffs
I might be some kind of
rock and roll santa by now
I can’t do what I want
So I guess I must do what I can
do I make any sense to you
happy Chinaman?

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

564 : 10/26/99 : Shunkai (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 11/101)

When I read the story of Shunkai
I know that I don’t have the right
to claim stories that aren’t my own
to take up someone else’s fight
It seemed to confirm my suspicion
that it’s a sorry lot we’re handed
God is silent God is mute
the rich are rewarded the good reprimanded
how could I compare myself
to the true pilgrims that went before
still Shunkai would have forgiven me
we all knock at the same door

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

563 : 10/25/99 : Last Poem (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 10/101)

I may have fooled you up to now
but you must know I am no master
I cannot predict my last poem
I cannot foresee disaster

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

562 : 10/24/99 : The Moon (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 9/101)

A wolf in a business suit
watch the bastard blow
I’m killing him with kindness
and he doesn’t even know...
the means of production
the source of all wealth
five acres and independence
wolf baby here’s to your health
I wish I could give you the moon
something worth howling at
It used to be yours by right
but you’re a different sort of cat
the will of the people
the truths self-evident
the pursuit of happiness
so many letters that I sent
that said here’s the moon for you
wolf I wanted you to have it
take the clothes off my back
I only wear them out of habit

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

561 : 10/23/99 : Great Waves (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 8/101)

It seems there is a bellows
it’s working all the time
drawing in the chaos
spewing out exquisite rhyme
And I am just the waves
that took me as a child
How can a man so strong
be so meek and mild
All I ever think of are great waves
Once I was bashful
painfully shiy
now all the little honeys
say my oh my
but all I ever think about are great waves
the universe rocks
between one breath and another
And anyone who’s breathing
I am your spirit brother

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

560 : 10/22/99 : Final Announcement (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 7/101)

What can I say but
Wish that I could stay
oh well final announcement
I’m leaving this day

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

559 : 10/21/99 : Ain’t No Lovingkindness (Flesh and Bones: An Homage 6/101)

Ain’t no lovingkindness
in this world we built
gonna hafta burn the whole thing down
gonna hafta burn the whole thing down
Ain’t no light or sense
in this system as it stands
gonna hafta run turn this ship around
before the whole thing goes aground
Ain’t no sense in trying
to fix what’s past repair
We’ve got time to start again
We’ve got time to start again
Maybe we will learn something
or do it all the same
guess we’ll never know till when
our sorry shack’s on fire friend

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