2.856 : 9/6/07 : Ire

The ire is up I’m feeding it
On every bitch that doesn’t give a shit
I want it sharper hotter meaner
I want you taken to the cleaner
Straighten up your spine there’s no excuse
Kindly explain to me what’s your fucking use
mine is easy ain’t it cook and clean
I think you know exactly what I mean
the ire will burn then smoke and die
I hope you get the worst bit in your eye
I don’t feel sorry wrong or cruel
call it a weapon call it a tool

what

2.855 : 9/5/07 : Plainly

Plainly the system needs work
I try not to look like such a jerk
I try to stick a pin in some event
is there still room for me under your tent
I confess I’m just trying to fake it through
Somewhere along the line I lost my retinue
lost my crown and scepter now I’m some nobody
but if I were still king in your hands I’d still be putty
Plainly I’ve got a lot to live for each day
plainly I think I’ve got a lot to say
but at the crunch I just want to lay it to rest
another day another another test

what

2.854 : 9/4/07 : Love Is All

Why is it so hard
when love is all around
stuffing every channel
splashed on billboards all over town
maybe that’s the answer
media’s
devalued coin
rather keep my
motives pure
that motley throng
I will not join
hey maybe that’s
a dim excuse
maybe I refuse
to let my impulse loose
and dress it up as
scruples reservation
preserve the illusion
of my own
exalted station

what

2.853 : 9/3/07 : Keep it Simple

Regardless of
how I starkly protest
It seems again
I fail this test
not just to rectify
but stay on that
straight route
falling behind
yet once again
stumbling along with
my senseless pen
Again again I
think I’ll work it out
what I wouldn’t give
to keep it simple
love and stars
a smile a dimple
failing that why
won’t the bitch just let me quit
I know, I shouldn’t
blame the muse
still I swear I’d gladly recuse
myself if you’d just
show me some finer
end of it

what

2.852 : 9/2/07 : Slow Time

The wall’s just a metaphor
though certainly not for a door
it marks the changeover
back into slow time
I don’t believe we’ll make it to the asymptote
I don’t believe I’ll live to see that’s all she wrote
Still I might see the seed sown
of some strange new old fashioned future paradigm
such gorgeous lies we now concoct
and parables of worlds we rocked
I imagine we’ll pull together another run
up the slope of the great geometric
bio and nano on top of electric
on our slow way to be absorbed by the sun

what

2.851 : 9/1/07 : Previews (In the Near Future)

3,043 : 2 ?



In the near future
my unorthodox opinion
will become simply the recognized
assessment of the way of things
this business isn’t confidence
it’s sadly close to indifference
in some respects it’s easy
to see what tomorrow brings
but I’ll avoid detailing the previews
the coming attractions
they sound too sexy but
the won’t be like that at all
I rather expect we’ll quickly
accept and then scarcely notice
how we swiftly pile together
straight into the wall

what

2.850 : 8/31/07 : Prior

Prior to the great question
storming the final bastion
give me the best of the best
that is an evil fearsome test
surprising I am not thwarted
all the pages in the intros you shorted
I’m at zero waiting like all the rest
behold: the 7th continuum

what

2.849 : 8/30/07 : Sentient Sentinel

I placed a sentient sentinel
at the exit to
keep me honest
and all
that came to pass
was merely
sturm and drang tempest
forget all you have learned
forget all that is past
remember only ever
all that will last

what

2.848 : 8/29/07 : Visionary Late

Sure enough
I find myself
up late with
no back up
on the shelf
I have to deliver it raw
all the peril
all the whack I saw
now they worship him
call him an evangelist
I’m sure some nobody
who did all of the work
is pissed
visionary
visionary
I’ll find it with a dictionary
makes me question
the library
finding another
visionary

what

2.847 : 8/28/07 : The Tough Get Weird

The tough get weird when the bottom falls out
art is so far ahead of the urban spout
We all must fake it till society decides to make it
Call the brainstorm a pet rock
believe it baby this sound is pure cock
and I am wielding the stopcock
until the tough get tougher still
I’ll swallow the bitter pill
and accept:
through double catastrophes
I was inept

what

2.846 : 8/27/07 : The Start

I don’t want the start, I don’t want the start
I want to go straight to the heart
I want to be right in the thick of it
Nothing works that way
but pipe dream fantasies
for me these stumbling ellipsis
clumsy treatise without a speck of wit
and if there’s anything to the first stroke
I fear the document’s
the record of a not funny joke
notable perhaps as
the world’s longest running choke
I’ll dare to call it art
I’ll dare to leave it as the start

what

2.845 : 8/26/07 : Wretched Precedent

3,036 : 2 ?



The reality exceeded every wretched precedent
they said it couldn’t be be helped
they said there’d been an incident
but in their hearts they thought
it hadn’t been so bad
at least the people didn’t know
what to do about their being had
they said they’d smoke the devils out
of every wretched hole
and nobody could figure out
if they had ever really had a goal
3rd generation of
the best and the brightest
All that was left to protest was the
most ephemeral and lightest
and every day that column
looked a little more bent
As they prepared and served
another wretched precedent

what

2.844 : 8/25/07 : To The Bridge

I saw the planes I saw the flames
I saw them jumping we will never know their names
and I should be ashamed; It’s just images to me
and here they said it wouldn’t be televised
that patriotic swell, yeah, I know
played me like a cheap piano
and you know how the rest goes
lies and lies and lies and lies and
Welcome to the bridge to the twenty first century
Welcome to the 3rd world, America
Welcome to the bridge to the twenty first century
Welcome to the third world, America
3,000 murdered by Mohammedan assassins
Welcome to the 7th century, this must be what they mean by entropy
demand revenge to the 7th generation
their lives become mere rhetoric
their lives become pure politics
you should be ashamed if you fell for it
you should be ashamed if you fell for it
Welcome to the bridge to the 21st century
Welcome to the 3rd world America
welcome to the bridge to the 21st Century
welcome to the third world America
Welcome to the free world Iraq
Welcome to the free world Panama
Welcome to the free world Viet Nam
Welcome to the free world Grenada
Welcome to the third world America
Welcome to the third world America
 
what

2.843 : 8/24/07 : Acid Green

The cut the sore that
bears an evil eye
will drip its bile
acid green
all wicked words unsaid
all dirty looks
unseen
I want to turn my mood ring
around
as long as it’s
acid I won’t make a sound
I’m tired of burning
acid green

what

2.842 : 8/23/07 : Shift

With every shift it seems
nothing changes
infuriating sameness
same inconsequential
rearranges
give up on
transformation
increments
another day
the only shift
what matters
is decay
a record of the
slow depression
sinking in the endless rain
record of the
degradation
the fools’ nation
the luckless train
it has always been thus
just the memories
decay and drift
giving an impression
false recollection
of a shift

what

2.841 : 8/22/07 : Disintegration

if only

Rapid disintegration of the
Wealth of information
all decaying every moment
in my moment driven brain
Itself only phenomena
says Om mani mana mana
less nonsense would make no more sense
so why to effort why to pain
I’m looking for the pivoting
the act of search is riveting
but comes back to the same depressing nodes
if only something new would appear
only see one small thing clear
only break these enigma codes

what

2.840 : 8/21/07 : One and One

and rolling still...

One and one rolls down the hill
I’ll make you stronger if I don’t kill
your sense of purpose, possibility
I can at least insist I have no enmity
I put my shoulder to my beloved stone
reverse the trip I, one and one alone
many are with me in body, in mind
I expect no justice because she is blind
I don’t expect the call because it’s been too long
I don’t expect the world to pay attention to my song
the sum of my desire is one and one
life without guarantee of peace or fun
we’ll just keep rolling onto the next joint
praying to God the next one is the turning point

what

2.839 : 8/20/07 : Sides

The edge of the coin

The sides wield power
the sides make war
heated division is
their paramour
the sides make systems
to make them necessary
ask me if I’m sick of it
yes I am sick very
the sides hold their circuses
insist I be a fan
but I will not submit because
I’m not a partisan
the sides push the message
they’re the only act in town
hard to deny
facts on their side
and there’s a lot of it around

what

2.838 : 8/19/07 : In Foxholes

what all the love is for

3,029 : 12 ?



There are no therapists in foxholes
you gotta work your own kinks out
What you think comes from nothingness
or what morality’s about
there are no physicists in foxholes
because the numbers are too grim
a million p.s.i. of blown to fuck
Sir Isaac Newton’s battle hymn
there are no socialists in foxholes
there’s no society in war
so it’s damn funny that we love it so
guess that's what all the hate is for

what

2.837 : 8/18/07 : Oracle

tell your fortune

I have to take a quick jump
on the catch as catch can
because time is very fleeting
and I am only a man
I have to take my own chances
find my own way
because that oracle
has nothing to say
I see the patterns
and I revel in their purity
I cannot reproduce them
So alas I lack security
well you might ask
what sort of engine turns this crank
I don’t know I just wish
I could take it to the bank
and after 15 years
you think I would give up on it
the oracle and all its lies
and I don’t really give a shit
but I’m condemned to play the part
of someone who’s concerned
with auguries and sparrow flight
and all the crazy stuff I’ve learned


what

2.836 : 8/17/07 : In the Library of Babel

of course my library would have pentagonal rooms

The situation’s better than I thought
but it’s still the same deep rut track
responding to responding to the quandary
that goes every little inch right back
what if nothing’s new under the sun
The the whole thing’s just a lesson in futility
In the library of babel it’s all been done before
every possible thought rendered useless by ubiquity
Some say there’s hardly any chance it’s all real
and we’re all some hobbyist’s creation
I can’t for the life of me see that would matter
It’s all either God’s or physics’ imagination
But just maybe it’s the first time through
And none of this was ever thought like this before
maybe it’s all a one off unique irreplaceable
Maybe you get exactly one shot through
that door

what

2.835 : 8/16/07 : Mark that Spot

X marks

No matter what I put down to mark that spot
after the fact I can only give what I’ve got
and these days I’m back to feeling too little too late
after every tired idea and worn out phrase
when the wheel comes round to the end of days
I’m ashamed to confess I rise and rise to that bait
I’m ashamed to say I’m like anybody else
I’m shortsighted and dumber than I’ve any right
I’m a sucker for the trumpet and the bells
I’m addicted to a certain time of night
Despite twenty years of working for the man
I’ve got some crazy notion about just what I can
get away with if I could just get a break
snag that idea brilliant from the ether
Find that statue of the goddess and grab what’s beneath her
Just win that spree and grab whatever I can take
It seems crazy I forgot where my treasure’s at
It seems to justify a little intervention please
I’m afraid I’ll end up taking any measures
that
will get me to that spot digging on my knees


what

2.834 : 8/15/07 : Better

halfway to nowhere

What would make it better
rejecting fear and shame?
the key to not
fearing exposure
is to simply own your name
if the thing was longer
and it dwelled on life and truth
would it counteract
that summer lost
that late walk in Duluth
I should have kicked them out
told them to talk to him
I should have told my friend to help himself
although his prospects were so dim
I should have said
nice to see you again
and took another bus
it all would have been better
but I couldn’t crunch
the Calculus
And what am I doing wrong now
not tending the small
slacking off by small degrees
slowly slipping off the ball
I said I hoped it would get better
soon and now its been ten years
or almost
you can almost hear
the grinding of
the tiny gears

what

2.833 : 8/14/07 : Little Monster

way before gaga, naturally

Little monster
deep inside
ashamed but there’s
no way to hide
the aftermath
of its rampage
another little
mess on the page

what

2.832 : 8/13/07 : What Else Besides

rtfm

What else besides a manual
of fear and attrition
besides failure and regret
and intimations of lost vision
crumple up the lingering
and hurl it in the trash
I’m not the least bit better
regardless how I burn and slash
I didn’t try hard enough
I didn’t stick to my guns
I didn’t use my clichés enough
I missed the mark by tons
I surely didn’t measure up
by any scale but one
I hauled myself up day by day
and toiled beneath the sun
too late to think persistence
is enough to raise these beats
above the level of mere novelty
and failing asses in the seats
it’s all an exercise
and this another mediocre lap
but I’ll keep pulling on it
up until I feel the snap

what

2.831 : 8/12/07 : Wednesday

dies Mercurii

3,022 : 5 ?



Hail Odin father of war
to this day no one knows
though
what that sacrifice was for
One eye to the well
What did the answer say?
disbelief will
strip you bare by
Wednesday
give me a fortnight
and I’ll get to naught
work equals spin
you know that’s all I’ve got
Would not have guessed
I’d have so much to pay
I’ll gladly pay off Caesar
by next Wednesday

what

830 : 8/11/07 : The Endless Axis of Song

just ask the axis

I better multitask
rather apologize than ask
permission to just get along
another step on
the endless axis of song
I thought I’d ask that guy
if I should just give up
I thought I’d ask again
could I give back this cup
never expected recognition
or recompense
confess I never thought
that it would make so little sense

what

bold as love

"Summer's End" finds us at the end of another volume of A Song A Day: so long, volume 2.5: The Creative, a.k.a. maintain the firm correctness of the superior man.

Tomorrow will see the beginning of volume 2.6: The Axis.

A third of the way through the crowdfunding experiment.  Plenty of room left in that crowd...

what

2.829 : 8/10/07 : Summer’s End

The storms of summer come at last
the lightning flash the thunder blast
the rains that took so long to come
So let me illustrate this sum
the spider on the thread of silk
ascends his line like all his ilk
another day I’ll let him live
for what the storms had come to give
Lacking coherence, common theme
given the solitude of a dream
given the storms that rule us all
the violent whirl the rains that fall
And summed up in a slow dissolve
the earth and how all things revolve
I gave thanks for the storms and rain
and all the summer’s end contains

what

2.828 : 8/9/07 : Scatter

crumbs tossed on the water, so to speak...

Nothing comes and
nothing comes
but anyway
I’ll take my crumbs
I waited too long
maybe or
I waited just exactly
enough
for
another day
soon starts by some light
me still going
ready to fight
nothing came
it didn’t matter
throw it down
and watch it
scatter



what

2.827 : 8/8/07 : Fantasy World

no, get closer to my fantasy

If I eschew the fantasy world
hitch my wagon firmly to the mundane
will I be less disappointed next year
will I feel any less pain
When the end came to the
Wizard’s journey
I just remembered that tune
I could have written
the words to that one
a handy verbal harpoon
but nobody asked me
plus I was seven
another world of fantasy
like as if I could call up
those long ago friends
and play those old tunes
oh down by the sea
like to believe it’s all
based in something
Some truth seed hidden and curled
tightly in green leaves and bound
with a grass blade
Somewhere in my
fantasy world

what

2.826 : 8/7/07 : It Doesn’t Matter

action cuts both ways, forsooth.

It doesn’t matter if it don’t feel right
It doesn’t matter
if it kept you up all night
You make it happen
You say this is it
the rest is action
nothing else means spit
It doesn’t matter if
it all seems the same
it’s no accident at times
it seems a game
there will be stumbles
there will be hard falls
there will be chasms
and high high walls
Just one thing matters
that you’re here and now
hold onto that
until you take your final bow


what

2.825 : 8/6/07 : Old Horse

throw a poor dog a bone

I’m a mottled dog
laid out in the sun
poorly socialized
I’ll bark at anyone
I’m an old old horse
no I can’t carry you
it’s probably the time
to end up boiled for glue
I’m a lizard babe
I press into the cracks
prefer to stay out of
all your beaten tracks
yeah I’m an insect now
ignore me crawling by
such a cliché some day
I’ll be a butterfly

what

2.824 : 8/5/07 : New Beginning

I'm so bad at self-promotion I forgot to keep it up for 3 days

3,015 : 13 ?



New beginning don’t
get old on me so fast
I remember everything so
why must I relive the past
If I didn’t sign up for this
where should I complain
I’ll file something formal
in the darkest corner of my brain
new beginning
did I spoil it from the start
is it a failure of science
or of art
a little bit of column B
a little bit of A
how about
I scratch it out
and start again, again:
what do you say

what

2.823 : 8/4/07 : Heart Worm

now with extra solipsism!

I’ll worm my way into your heart
I said I would right from the start
and when I’m nestled deep within
I’ll turn and start to eat again
Said to my heart, worm let me be
I’ve got to find my symphony
my masterpiece my coup de grâce
whatever fits underneath that umbrella
the worm said don’t look at me friend
I said it to the lotus at another end
I couldn’t be in you if you weren’t in me
how can I make it clearer let me see
I only go where I belong
to the heart of the matter the heart of the song
don’t carry baggage or host regrets
and can’t be caught by hook or nets
Some think I am a metaphor
I tell you I am so much more
in time when you see my true face
you’ll be amazed to find your place
not in the museum or the hall of fame
not an also ran but right out of the game
you’d be amazed you’re not alone
So many couldn’t find a heart of stone
and though you’re more than a place for me
to dwell
What else you might be I can’t tell


what

2.822 : 8/3/07 : No Portals

a door that will close in 26 days

There are no doorways
to other worlds
no portals no wormholes
nowhere to run
nowhere to hide
no thought that consoles
If we cannot do better
someday it will
do us in
and I it seems am
still
Am still!
Unready to begin

what

2.821 : 8/2/07 : Time Worm

slipping into the future...

The time worm just keeps
drilling through the apple
the winter dust that glitters
the fall leaves that dapple
maybe everything’s virtual
composed of light
it is pretty to think so
but they say the math won’t
work out right...
another week of worms
all gnawing at the tapestry
another stab at meaning
that comes out as sophistry
What good is science
at the mercy of the paradigm
and now the worm is telling me
there’s really no
such thing as time

what

2.820 : 8/1/07 : Better Than it Was

It's Rome, Baby!

What an unfortunate illusion
to believe because
you bully through
some busy work
that anything is
better than it was
Your resolutions all
are shattered
and like as if
it ever mattered
there’s the hard alarm
and you reduced
to
trying to do less harm

what

2.819 : 7/31/07 : Five

I'll get weird with a little help from my friends

I’m kind of obsessed
with the number five
got it on each hand
rhymes with alive
the riddle spark
broken symmetry
and all the ways
I see it’s subtle mimicry
it’s probably a mistake
to treat numbers so
but in half a dozen
minus one lyrics I’ll go
deep down to the bottom
of this crazy thought
reporting whither which
if whether and ought

 what

2.818 : 7/30/07 : Minimum

what rhymes with sick tart?

3,009 : 7 ?



The minimum intake
to sustain the machine
the minimum allowance
to get rested and clean
live on the margins
but only for so long
already feeling the backlash
always something goes wrong
right action for an hour
but the demeanor is sour
and a piece or three are missing
that’s not destiny I’m kissing
always sidelong glances
always look never touch
always want to be perfect
but the cost’s just too much
I did the minimum effort
for so long I can’t recall
what anything finer
really felt like at all

what

2.817 : 7/29/07 : Excess

are you part of a crowd?  if so perhaps you should fund it

The inevitable outcome of excess
begs the question of the hair of the dog
begs the question of moderation
beggars can’t be choosers whines the little cog
the feeling comes and goes deep in my gut
flashing on the next great obstacle
you’ll see me coming a mile away
you’ll catch me in the tabernacle
hijacking the lesson of the man on the road
falling hard for human logic
striving for the mojo of the preacher man
and the rhyming patter hypnagogic
relegate my excess to a life gone past
slouching into the mantle of the bourgeoisie
show ‘em what I’m made of with a
magnet on my car
of the flag of the free
oh say can you see
unlike a confession work pays
just as well
even if it is under duress
Thank goodness cause I gotta
earn my daily bread
And a little extra for excess

what

Telling Secrets

Some occult inner signal tells me it's time to breach the surface and engage in a little random promotion of the Song of the Day.  Self-exposure frankly gives me the jibblies, but you've got to push your comfort zone in this life, right?

So I'm going to kick it off with a wild shot at the big casino and post a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" this morning.  Yes, this is me, should anyone actually require proof, which honestly seems pretty unlikely.  Would someone actually try to fake... this?

I'm lowering the price of of the far-from-unlistenable "Only the Very Greatest Hits" to 99 cents with the "pay what you like" option enabled for the more generously-inclined.



Finally, for the next month (through 8/29/13) I'll be adding a link to my modest "crowd funding" experiment to the daily song posts.  After that to slip below the surface of the fairly secret again, I don't doubt.

what

2.816 : 7/28/07 : Positive Outlook

I’m regretting my
“maintain positive outlook”
tattoo
it might end up counterproductive
it’s true
Considering that on
the other arm I got
“Life Sucks”
A little introspection
could have saved me
a few bucks
I wanted to write something
that would make a good
reminder
after all I’m
better now yeah after all
I’m kinder
I guess I need a
subtler approach
to make that book
until I work that out
I’ll have to fake
my positive outlook


what

2.815 : 7/27/07 : Simplistic

How we love the black and white
a simple evil to be vanquished
how I succumb like all the rest
so fail the test mission accomplished
does it start with books and movies
stories that we love the best
be snow white or witchy wicked
mutant spawn of moral incest
like to be more sophisticated
there’s a popular stance
see the value in the other
see our own failures and blown chance
this world loves simplicity
might make right or fight the power
nature’s laws permit it all
guns are not silenced by a flower
for a moment seems this order
pauses for a man to face a tank
but you know how that one turned
so think hard before you break rank

what

2.814 : 7/26/07 : Track

I’ll call this rut a track
and go round and round
every day a thousand cycles
every year a few inches
further down
Calmed by repetition
stupefied by lack of mission
go and grind that routine
further in the ground
I’m sure I’ve waited
till it’s too high to jump out
I like to fool myself
but I know what they talk about
nothing now to do or say
I’ll just stick to it one more day
and daydream someday
I’ll manage a rout

what

2.813 : 7/25/07 : Ire

Ire for no reason
just the season just the heat
just the horrible monotony
that hauls me grumbling
to my feet
I tried just about everything
that I could think
to change the scene
nothing helped just
left me feeling
irrationally mean
perfect world I seldom
even think of you
anymore these days
think of work and work
think about only what pays
and it’s scratching at
my comfort zone
it’s riling up my ire
surrounded by a thousand morons
pray to God
it’s trial by fire

what

2.812 : 7/24/07 : This is Your Brain

This is your brain on fucking crazy
throwing down every scrap I saved
this is my brain on losing patience
this is the brain that roared and raved
look at the brains of the sunken masses
rotting in sugar and teevee rays
look at the brains of the politicians
pray for the end of their numbered days
rock it or not this boat is sinking
shrinking deflating and taking water
these are the brains of conspirators
these are the brains of the lambs led to slaughter

what

2.811 : 7/23/07 : An Unexpected Development

the understated
sadness of trains
was an unexpected
development
in the mainframes
of the pop machine
and it was a clean
transition on the silver screen
if you blew it up as big
as your biggest wall
the forest would be lost
you couldn’t see a tree at all
and everything changed
and everything went strange
I would have thought
it would be something
I could rearrange
like a deck chair
on the Challenger
What next?
I fear our highest Causes
will be shattered
by mere specks


what

2.810 : 7/22/07 : Dilemma

3,001 : 22 ?



And trains again
and trains again
they follow me around
it’s too easy to fear
my death perhaps
shivers with the sound
throw me on the horns
I can’t take
all this grayscale anymore
that thing looks
just like a platform
that thing
looks just like a door

what

2.809 : 7/21/07 : Obey My Orders

Obey pay heed
I’ve got a good reason
if I’m faced with
another chewing out
I’ll wait a season
Obey my orders
I won’t be like them
the cave of my unfathomed
ocean bears a perfect gem
quick as I can you know I’ll
throw down my knuckle bones
no matter how many
they throw at me I’ll fight
I’ve got the stones
I see you suffer
and I know girl
how it seems
relinquish to me
though despite it
and I will
unleash your dreams



what

2.808 : 7/20/07 : Odd Coincidence

The standard explanation
of the cometary impact
bred the mother and
the father of all
theories of conspiracy
the final war
against the beings that
descended from
the heavens and began
to wipe us out without mercy
It seems an odd coincidence
that each and every one
of them who were left in that place
turned out to be a chosen one
and under every layer
of arcane flesh and
mecha detritus
The heart that beat
was still of the way of the gun

what

2.807 : 7/19/07 : Straight John

After everything I’ve relegated
everything I revelated
masquerading as a Straight John
Yeah no man I moved a ton
of oddly scripted scraps of rhyme
of thoughts from some scrapped paradigm
absolved of rhetoric and context
whoa this is your brain on text
observed and sung becomes a bliss
that circles and resolves like this
observe the center that does hold
the thing remains: the story told

what

2.806 : 7/18/07 : Truth Out

I’m thinking about
throwing my conscience over
What can it do anyway
about the web
or how he wove her
why not just reach out
with the widest open hand
why not let my mantra be
because I can
because I can
stamp the truth out
on a thousand Chinese
trinkets
and sell tickets man
guess I’m done?
don’t even think it
take one slow breath
and dive into the melee freak boat
I’ll fight until I’m
dog food
just to stamp all
this damn truth out

what

2.805 : 7/17/07 : Disastrous Lapse

What a disastrous lapse of
judgment we’ve been reeling through
and what an ill-deserved rep
you’ve gotten for dealing true
they say that you’ve not wavered
well that’s easy when
there’s nothing underneath
and so fortunate son
to you I here bequeath
My erstwhile love
for our glorious distraction
ladle on another
double helping of moral action
it’ll all end up in traction
paralyzed by fear again
when I begin
My disastrous lapse
of giving a shit
Should be just the thing
to insure I win

what

2.804 : 7/16/07 : Proximity

Too close to the center
And sensing the eccentric
Wobble in the orbit
and the consequence concentric
if I ever get a chance
to brace the bastard to his face
you better bet I’m gonna
chase the signal to its trace
I’ve got proximity
I’ve got extension
I’ve got a handle on
at least one dimension
I got answers
I’ve got a wicked taste
to repent in sumptuous leisure
what I set to work in haste

what

2.803 : 7/15/07 : Wreck a Beat

2,994 : 15 ?



Unpack the wax stack
get the Slacks on their feet
fire up the telemeter
and Wreck a beat
we got no standard
of conduct in this place
so you know we’re gonna
take it right up to your face
unpack the black feedback
and transmit fire
don’t mind the slow adopters
just hook up to the live wire
And wreck a beat
Yeah wreck a beat
Clap your hands wave your arms
and stomp your feet
And don’t you just
think it all turns out neat
horns strings and reeds
and a wrecked up beat

what

2.802 : 7/14/07 : Saving the Best for Last

Eat your desert first
be a rebel
in this coddled
post-modern fashion
We protest but don’t
expect to pay hell
can’t we hire someone
to storm the bastion
Yet it might be true
saving the best for last
might be a losing proposition
I say ignore the signs
forget the past
all planning’s really
Just a superstition

what

2.801 : 7/13/07 : Lapses

In all the lapses
my synapses fire blind
there’s no story
thrill or bore me
that explains away mind
and I’m determined
despite vermin
that infest the metaphysic
to relate to
what you hate too
but the discipline is sick

what

2.800 : 7/12/07 : Sight Unseen

I’ll buy that old Mustang
sight unseen
when that boat that I imagined
my magic sun machine
pulls into a harbor
real not thought
oh what a silly little
fantasy I’ve bought
tear down some big score
unique safe and legal
float like a butterfly
soar like an eagle
buy that old convertible
learn to restore it
how you like my pipe dreams
you know I’ve got more of it

what

2.799 : 7/11/07 : Tale Untold

He’ll spin that yarn
into a
retread of old
classics
baby you know
I cut my teeth on
rhymes old as
jurassic
park hop get it
grind the bench
molly on the runway
so many ways to
cancel that check
me I’ll take
the fun way

what

2.798 : 7/10/07 : Familiar

Not a thing’s familiar in
this moment it’s all new
and I am thinking of that
thing I’d like to say to you
I rang a score of random bells
just trying to stand out
but in the end I just had no
idea still what all the fuss was about
seems a lot of fear out there
of things said and of things thought
seems it all gets tuned out
as long as something gets bought
living without guarantees
is making me quite cagey
and nobody has a clue
what trifle might enrage me
It all just gets turned into
a rough and ready verse
to get me through another day
another reprieve from the curse

what

2.797 : 7/9/07 : Meet in the Middle

Not all that diverges
can meet in the middle
if there is no common ground
The adversary horn must sound
hear that noise
it’s the world’s smallest fiddle
that there’s no chance at peace
not on this watch not on this lease
yet still I’m going to try
while your rough beast slumps
while your candidate stumps
I’ll even try to hope
for a door that says enter
flashing for a middle man
doing what tiny bit he can

what

2.796 : 7/8/07 : Distance

2,988 : 9 ?



Surely I have sung of distance
many times and many
times before what with
Descartes and all
extension
what with every
well-remembered door
that shut behind
a universe abandoned
Rocky said it was
the tragedy of life
I’m not so sure
but it’s a key too
slippery to get
my hand on
At the bottom of the cup
half empty and half full’s a
rich man’s game
That I can’t believe I’ll ever play
when I spoke of where
all distance loses meaning
was I gleaning just
how still and silent
I would see it this
day


what

2.795 : 7/7/07 : Glimmer

Glimmer of waking
conversations half heard
not knowing who is spoken to
not knowing every other word
a sign it’s time to leave
this cave of distraction
and deception
time to go where
there is the best of
all possible reception
allow me if you will
this one conceit
that I’m crossing the river
never more to be
the same
allow me to
reintroduce myself
but I will not pretend
that I’m new
to this game

what

2.794 : 7/6/07 : Turning Point

Every point
is the turning point
the universe expands
in all directions
the flashy part
of apotheosis
was the flaming hand
but the main event
was just a lot
of injections
time seems to flow
back and forth
from this moment
they tell me it is all
an illusion
personally I think
I’m there in every
inkling if
that doesn’t add too
much to the
Confusion

what

2.793 : 7/5/07 : Off Center

With a stutter of
images and sound
look at what our little
homegrown empire’s
brought around
So many doorways
I thought I could not enter
thanks for the memos
that arrived
from off center
barely remember
anything all that
specific
that came down from
all points East and
West of the Pacific
just one of many
gifts that broadened
my horizon
every sketch that
came alive for
me to put my
eyes on

what

2.792 : 7/4/07 : All Delete

30, 40, 50 thousand objects
by some definition
dragged into the bin
and rendered all but
invisible
it makes me think about
this scary nation of the
free and what we really
think we mean by
indivisible
In simple acts of housekeeping
just what did we
discard and fail to back up
or replace with something better
who has the time to read it all
who knows perhaps
the secret is there
hidden in some
plain on paper
letter

what

2.791 : 7/3/07 : Dependence

Dependence upon the chaos bell
addicted to its nearness
and it’s a mixed-up tale to tell
loathe to lose the strange
security of falling behind
it must be some bad level
of the juices in my mind
on fire to ditch dependence
and leap on this gospel train
get with the holy spirit
flush this habit down the drain
I racked up quite a debt
to Caesar gambling on that chase
but look up from that table
I’ve got on a different face

what

2.790 : 7/2/07 : Wreck the Wrack

2,982 : 3 ?



Wreck the wrack
the vestiges
the tower, the stack
invest and choose
to clear a way
the shuttered tangle
the stark array
gets a new angle
build the new
inspired foundation
shining fruit of ideation
on the plain
scraped clean and flat
erect this train
roll out like that

what

2.789 : 7/1/07 : Eradicate

Eradicate all traces of
weak rationalization
Draw every ounce of energy
around an act of grim creation
grasped within the inmost heart
this human lot is sour
I overturn the vinegar
and here declare my hour
a thousand and a thousand
pages turned like sand descending
however narrow the bottleneck
this timebound time is ending
now push until the stone surmounts
drink till all thirst is sated
all partial, all conditional
will be eradicated

what

2.788 : 6/30/07 : Trivia

Sweating and cursing the trivia
screwing the spirit of
a motivating postcard
as if it makes a difference
as if it’s gonna
get me past the longest yard
I can’t stand stressing the eschaton
global warming peak oil the bomb
faced with what you cannot
know or control
what can I put up but
some grace and aplomb
am I navigating
some middle course
grim spectre of mediocrity
trying to come up
with some fresh hell
some better tale of
this boy in the city

what

2.787 : 6/29/07 : Walks

Bullshit walks but
walks are not bullshit
shoot for twice a day
little man makes
me just do it
I feel the subtle giddiness
of self-cannibalization
erase a little at a time
ritual self-ablation
if you don’t walk with me
Lord who will
if you don’t lift me up
I’ll just keep
sinking in the swill
this grim culture war
is sure grinding me down
and I got no
answer to it so
we’ll just keep
walking around

what

2.786 : 6/28/07 : Multiverse Navigator

Multiverse navigator
will you plot my course
Think I’ve got the strength to one
more time get on the horse
who am I fooling
I’ve a thousand
graceless pratfalls left in me
and not an ounce of will
to brave this
politicians’ deft spin sea
So you will get it plain
no matter
how pathetic I may look
better than to succumb
to always ever
dangling off the hook
of what if and why
and regret’s so subtle curse
the price of freedom
so by need I must
navigate this multiverse

what

2.785 : 6/27/07 : Aching

Aching for an oracle
aching for a dream
aching for someone
upright to pull this fucking beam
out of my poor eye socket
out of my aching head
just trying to get it
together
just enough to lie down
in this unmade bed
sometimes I ache for smoke
or a mirror to prove
that I’m awake
sometimes I ache to
sell out
there’s no offer there
to take
at least I’m not yet aching
for the next great
telephone
more of what I’m trying
to get away from
as it is these days
I’m never really alone

what

2.784 : 6/26/07 : Host

Am I the host or the parasite?
am I leaning toward the dark side
or seeing the light?
Am I spamming the server
or spreading enlightenment
is the whole thing greed
fueled by a sense of entitlement?
is a fad no better
than religious delusion?
did the Pokemon descend
with satanic collusion
While Rome gets good and burning
will I tie one on?
start another little enterprise?
Write another song?
I only wanted to pay Caesar’s due
Put a little by
and run away with you
forgive me if I’ve fallen
to the mindset of thieves
this den is thick as
hell with them
and I’m fighting
dry heaves

what

2.783 : 6/25/07 : Falling Apart

They say we’re living
twice as long as any
reasonable expectation
what with the brains
the information, you know
so if we’re
falling apart, well
buying snake oil
or the hard sell
wrecked by stress and toil
It doesn’t matter
if I’m tired
I got a job I can’t
be fired from
but when things blow
I got to go

what

2.782 : 6/24/07 : The Artist

Portrait of the artist as an
underachiever;
liability distracted
lapsed believer
gripped by indecision
heretic or apostate
some days a blockhead
orthodoxy sounds just great
portrait of the artist as
an almost ran
imagine all the pages
that don’t make the master plan
Logic on the sale of
human narrative or thought
convince me it’s much different
from whatever dream you bought
Am I the artist or just
his biographer
is there any lasting value
to these blinks I proffer
If I give it over
will I get another chance
time for a no longer young man
time to learn another dance

what

2.781 : 6/23/07 : The Fuse

There’s so much anger over
nothing every day
there’s so much more important
so much foolish in the way
Oh the time that swiftly passes
oh and how we choose to use
Who decides what sets us off
who is it who lights the fuse
we all think our anger’s righteous
different from the rest
we all look the same from above
failing the same test
the fuse is trimmed a little shorter
every year it seems
blame the weather blame our parents
blame our sullen failing dreams
I am standing up against
this trend of ire and rage
I am standing firm and free
I’m turning my own page
and when the call to join the hate
comes I will just refuse
my cup is running over
and I’m pouring it
down on the fuse

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

2.779 : 6/21/07: Summer of Love

Never will I stand on mediocrity
No matter that perfection’s lash cuts into me
No matter how these moments never ever come back
Or how I must stand to attack after attack
So if the shoe fits despite its lack of style
So what if I sacrifice the gift of guile
I’ll hold out for the shroud that fits like a glove
and declare today anyway my own Summer of Love
Nothing’s left of the old days but stories now
sorry, stories aren’t enough to tow my gospel plow
the day that I was born the crest was well receded
no matter how the hippie holdouts begged and pleaded
and I do not believe these days will come again
illusions that society’s not marked with sin
yet my summer is not simply some eternal trip
and there’s not a million tickets left for this ship
peace threatens peace beckons peace passes understanding
Open your eyes and see what I’m handing
you to hold a moment and pass along
not a riddle not a movement it’s just a song
So I will spool it out no matter what I suffer
I stand up to your acid tongue for my heart is a buffer
I stand until below is as above
in the shining apex of my Summer of Love


what

2.778 : 6/20/07 : What Indeed?

What will replace this
stale old taste
what indeed? what indeed?
what force of nature
could revise my nomenclature
in my time of need
if I just adjust
the inputs
tweak the flows the feed
what will rattle
off the belt
what indeed? what indeed?
like to think I’m
past gestation
after such a long affair
like to think I’d pull
my magic out of
something more solid than air
what indeed
is not an answer
just a comma at the pause
but it must serve
long as I refuse
to invoke the escape clause


what

2.777 : 6/19/07 : The End of the Universe

From the end of the universe
my life’s so much less
than an eye blink
a fraction of an eyelash
gone before there’s
time to think
so what persists and
what collapses
what remains beyond
my little valley
my rutted revision
my weak rendition of Walden Pond
I’m trying hard to end
a habit of coding
foolish proclamation inverse
I’m thinking hard about
being taciturn
stoic and terse
but at the end
of the universe
it will all just seem absurd
to anything that’s left
if anything’s left
to be heard


what

2.776 : 6/18/07 : On Deck

Who’s pacing on the deck
Waiting for their turn up
waiting for me to strike out
get a hit or walk or burn up
when was it me on deck
high school college next week
Once I thought I had it all dicked
how I cannot think or speak
what’s my next strange trip on deck
after scholar, clerk and housewife
two half truths don’t make a whole
all the halves that add up my life
swinging wild at ever pitch
or racking strikes just waiting
for perfection for perfection
how many moments ruined by hesitating
now I think I’m on deck again
do not know the count or inning
Wondering how I’ll play the game
if it’s down to that or winning

what

2.775 : 6/17/07 : Lightening

Lightening up
the enlightening cup
that I choked on anon
hey surprise it’s just gone
I don’t know what I am
not a dig or a slam
I don’t know what I like
so few hours on the mic
as the gray dawn grows bright
as I cry for more light
will the thing become clear?
be revealed, always near?
I felt I had prepared
in the dreams where they stared
at me naked, exposed
in the rules I imposed
but the moment stayed stalled
and the barbs they still galled
but I gathered the lot
and stood dead on the spot
made a fist, hawked and spat
ended it just like that

what

2.774 : 6/16/07 : The Fortnight

After a fortnight
seems nothing had changed
the cravings still rampant
the soul still estranged
I begged for an omen
a signal, a sign
I waited and waited
and scuffed at the line
after a fortnight
I knew in my heart
that I wouldn’t find
a superior start
but I chafed at restriction
I squirmed and I whined
at this cold and revengeful
dish on which I dined
one seven passed
in retreat and withdrawal
another just passed
slouched inert in the hall
and with one third seven
I’ll nail it in hard
there’s no word for it
Just a turn of the card
 
what

2.773 : 6/15/07 : Glutton

The glutton in me scoffs at rules
demands I stand all
hands to tools
and build its platform
build its plate
its stance to raise
its taste to sate
I fed it hate
I fed it lead
I filled its cup
I made its bed
the glutton laughed
and made a grab
for all my viscera
on the slab
but I demurred
held it all in
drew my own knife
and slew that sin

what

2.772 : 6/14/07 : Soul Attachment

My soul attachment
to the armor of my longing
my scratching and my scribing
my stretching and my yawning
I walk the paces off
what’s left of the foundation
dark lines of burned out stone
nothing else left but information
unfold the blueprint
raise the flag of past enchantment
burn those bridges to the ground
then in the name of harsh advancement
my soul attachment
has prefigured every move
as I went about this business
as I settled in my groove
I won’t sever the attachment
I will drag it all along
I will spread it all before you
in my crucible of song

what

2.771 : 6/13/07 : Compelled

Compelled to seize
any opportunity
regardless whether
the spirit is moving me
compelled to summon
perseverance, strength
but not compelled
to have to
go on at length

what

2.770 : 6/12/07 : Day 3

Day 3 when the worm turns
make it official
the tinder catches and burns
I’ve done my day sevens
elevens, my five
did a thousand and one
and this thing’s
still live
it’s time to forget about
setting a date
I’m storming a new paradigm
one up my
second rate
pumping juice into the valance
going to force the quantum
leap
well aware at any
moment
I could tumble
in a heap

what

2.769 : 6/11/07 : King of Today

Begin immediately
do without ado
declare myself king of today
and babe you know
my queen is you
there will be no more
backtrack and revise
no more endless nights
no more veiled lies
So I declare
myself king of today
head librarian of babel
count of the county
watcher of the way
it’s all rolling now
the future manifest
I will be perfect from
now on
a hundred plus on every test
It will come naturally
as well befits a king
I’ll raise my sword
and rush the hill
I will do everything

what

2.768 : 6/10/07 : Time Tunnel

2,959 : 6 ?



It turns out that it’s all about
time
mistaken for seasons mistaken
for reason and rhyme
the secret of how cause and
effect can work without it
is there are no causes and no effects
there’s no more doubt about it
Goodbye time tunnel thanks
for the metaphors
turns out stories were all we ever had
so the hero explores
the riddle of why it seems
always to move in one direction
is that it’s arbitrary, voluntary
and one day will come the insurrection

what

2.767 : 6/9/07 : Surge to Goal!

Ignore the past and
how the moment seems contrived
ignore the bloody outcome
of every other time I strived
to ignore the wails
from the moments that I stole
surge to goal surge to goal
surge to goal!
Defy augury and
flip the bird to fate
Defy my predilection to
just hate and hate and hate
I know my redeemer lives
and looks out for my soul
surge to goal surge to goal
surge to goal!
And in a day or two
when I declare my mission
I will see through every trap
like I had x-ray vision
I will feel the fire inside
and hear every bell toll
surge to goal surge to goal
surge to goal!

what

2.766 : 6/8/07 : Departure

From real to real
It’s all one day
Got the usual hell
and piper to pay
departure reveals
the call of home
the rock that batters
every crashing wave to foam
it takes so long
to cover the ground
and sometimes I cannot
ignore that sucking sound
of that which I
and nature abhor
left behind by the departure
held by such a flimsy door

what

2.765 : 6/7/07 : Ashes to the Sea

Will those ashes make it
to the sea
eventually eventually
from the Great Lake
down the mighty
Mississippi
Past the Gulf of Mexico
to the Atlantic finally
Ashes to the sea
Ashes to the sea
I will put those ashes to the sea

what

2.764 : 6/6/07 : Fugue State

One rise up
one go down
backwards and
upside down
one goes loop
off the track
no one notice
it came back
one goes north
one goes south
one gets muttered
from my mouth
but the fugue state
I described
was nothing to
the pulse I vibed

what

2.763 : 6/5/07 : Dust Bunnies

The dust bunnies gathered
in the corners for a hop
Under beds and in the closet corners
hiding from the mop
no matter how they got swept up
they always reappear
hopping back into their places
when they see the coast is clear
Once there was a boy
who didn’t clean his room for so long
the dust bunnies decided
they would write that boy a song
they gathered in his room
first a dozen then a hundred
and they started with the chorus
“that’s the proper thing” so one said
they sang doolie oolie oolie
dollie doxen dillie day
because when they’re feeling social
that’s what all the bunnies say
and they hopped and danced
and scampered
in that little fellow’s room
living out their happy frolic
until Mommy came with the broom

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

2.761 : 6/3/07 : Prior Goal

Catching up to the prior goal
now looking like more
gotten behind
I’ll send this flag right up the pole
if you want to understand it
fucking read my mind
who am I really angry with
nobody put a gun to
my stupid head
So I guess I know why this tastes like pith
because I know why I’m
lying in this stupid bed

what

2.760 : 6/2/07 : Wings

Faded shreds of
butterfly wings
shiver in holes
in the rocks
and you’d think
that in this place
a fellow could stop
counting clocks
the water comes
the water goes
erasing edges
by imperceptible intervals
I’m gloomy as the weather
projecting ahead
soon it will be memories
of lighthouses and waterfalls
I wonder if that butterfly
got lucky in the end
before he scattered on the wind
and lodged in some cold niche
I wonder if a lucky
number's out there for me
I feel like I’m entitled
but I know that life’s a bitch

what

2.759 : 6/1/07 : Arrival

Projected ahead two business days
a day out of the long goodbye
a week out of the three week haze
Predict after the fact and above my station
the secret is revealed
we’re on vacation!
we vow to see lighthouses and trains
and when it seems appropriate
Rock out our brains
right there on the foldout
to the sound of great lake waves
And I predict
that the verdict
will just be raves

what