2.1083 : 4/20/08 : Always Something

Always something; ain’t it always something

I heard they used it in a proof

that God was real and not aloof

Don’t know about that: logic isn’t my thing

Never really saw it like that

relegate me to the dunce hat

I’d love to think tonight I’ll get my cake and eat it

but fear that at a second take

I’ll find I don’t have any cake

And all will be for naught, like ever, always, useless

What an awful way to see it

someday I’ll think better and be it

what

2.1082 : 4/19/08 : How Long Ago

Now I see the DNA

of all the late nights

every day

or almost

and how long ago

how long ago?

how long ago?

I know I did it all for cause

vice I pursued

at every pause

I saw a ghost

another way

but not tonight

but not today

what

2.1081 : 4/18/08 : Doctor Memory

Doctor memory

recollect the negative world

white and black

and inkling that shivered and whirled

So much I cannot place

moments lost in time

And I’m not saying it so well

but what the hell it’s my dime

what

2.1080 : 4/17/08 : Zapped

If you feel a little zapped

if you’ve already snapped

who knows if it will matter or not

you think the brave act would get stale

day dream about a crust and pail

it could be so much worse

You should give thanks for what you’ve got

It’s not really complicated

it’s not rocket science

it shouldn’t take a slide rule

or some modern appliance

You should be tired of spouting off by now

when you’re a farmer every tool looks like a plow

Oh I guess some furrows

won’t be the straightest

but don’t let that make you feel like

you’re not the greatest

what

2.1079 : 4/16/08 : Normal

You’ve done the stream of consciousness

the in jokes written large and small

I was surprised by how quick the ancient wisdom

ran out and I didn’t feel enlightened at all

back to normal whatever that means

sure the hell not what it means to most

I can’t call it genius now can I

but hell I am productive though I don’t like to boast

think I can call this normal for me

twelve lines twelve hours twice a day

It’s nothing new it’s ordinary

Make no mistake though I’m here to play

what

2.1078 : 4/15/08 : H.E. and Cryptos

Well it’s a pretty bunch

of worthless crap

compared to the great mythos

I shoulda been fighting in some war

Studying H.E. and Cryptos

take things apart:

put ‘em together

I shoulda studied computers

I put things together

one by one

And pray it don’t get hit

by the looters

sick of imagining

a world gone sideways

sick of worrying

ever, always

I can’t believe I’m stacking up

another brick

I can’t even believe

that I am still this sick

what

2.1077 : 4/14/08 : Free Will! Free Will!

Holy shit!

free will is back

better wake up pay attention

it’s a sneak attack!

free will free will

it’s a strange estate

I think it’s an illusion

but still true:

and great!

Oh man I can’t decide

What I’ll do first

satiate this hunger

or slake this thirst

I’m looking some disheveled

I’m feeling slightly tight

but I’ll exercise my free will

and not stay up all night

what

2.1076 : 4/13/08 : Sweet (Seventyseven: 81 of 81)

Don’t give me those sweet words

you’re not sincere

you’re not sincere

and no good comes of rhetoric

you’ll get no debate here

In your ivied halls of learning

wisdom is not found

The less I hoard the more I live

for everyone else the more I abound

Would you believe the universe

is here to help not harm us

The sage won’t strive with anyone

but rather dutifully charm us

what

2.1075 : 4/12/08 : Small Country (Seventyseven: 80 of 81)

Oh for a small country

an island principality

no more of this modernism

Luddism will set me free

let us discourse by passing notes

content to be clothed and fed

is this old school life really simplicity

a place to sit a roof over your head

oblivious to the world next door

stuck firmly in the mud, nothing more

what

2.1074 : 4/11/08 : Stitched (Seventyseven: 79 of 81)

They stitched the great wound

of the great war

But still we knew

there would remain a scar

Who wanted that?

Nevertheless in my left hand

I hold the tally

and stand up to the demands

on me

But ask nothing of anyone

And as a man of virtue

no tax or fee from me

There’ll be no book no statue

Heaven serves only the all good

the all-God One-truth

Look at the sweet good I hold

in my left palm unclean uncouth

what

2.1073 : 4/10/08 : Weak as Water (Seventyseven: 78 of 81)

Soft as water

weak as water

I’m aiming at your weak spot

like a vector plotter

You know how things go

you know how it works

but you refuse to walk the walk

You bunch of jerks

While you scramble in calamity

I am the lord of dirt

And all you fancy princes

going to lose your shirt

what

2.1072 : 4/9/08 : Superabundant (Seventyseven: 77 of 81)

Will you not hand me

everything?

I’ll

aim straight for your heart

like a great bow

where you take

I’m giving

when you sleep

I’m living

You might as well give it up easy

Don’t you know

That nobody else can

put these superabundant

riches to the service of the

right way?

My superabundant vision

it will sneak up on you

And you won’t even notice

that’s just how I play

what

2.1071 : 4/8/08 : Dry Stalk (Seventyseven: 76 of 81)

Why do I bend so

because I’m alive

when I am gone

I will be so hard

like a dry stalk

seeds rattling in my head

don’t tempt me to

turn over that card

I’ll be with the living

not with the firewood

my army travels

quiet and light

harvesting what is

ready for the axe

be wary and exalted

we will come tonight

what

2.1070 : 4/7/08 : Strife (Seventyseven: 75 of 81)

Why are we starving?

the taxes you levy

why are we revolting?

You all stand too heavy

Why do we mock death?

You cling so to life

But we who have nothing

must laugh at our strife

what

2.1069 : 4/6/08 : So Bad (Seventyseven: 74 of 81)

It could get so bad

we won’t fear death anymore

anything for a window

anything for a door

cannibal nation

generation of thieves

usurping God’s work

bringing in the sheaves

You want to swing that axe

you better watch your hand

there’s a lot of gimps between here

and the promised land

what

2.1068 : 4/5/08 : Daring (Seventyseven: 73 of 81)

Are you brave enough to

get killed in daring

are you brave enough to

hesitate: and survive

As one harms and one

benefits

something even heaven hates

but nobody alive

knows why

even I am perplexed

Heaven does all so effortlessly

Silent but you answer next

we come not knowing why

heaven following it’s great plan

without haste it casts its vast net

Near ephemeral catch as catch can

Not a single thing

Slips through

look now because tonight

I think I see it coming for you

what

2.1067 : 4/4/08 : Afraid (Seventyseven: 72 of 81)

If we’re all so afraid

I’m afraid we’ve got a long wait

coming for a greater power

They’re up in our houses

they’re taxing us harder

Growing wearier by the hour

I know me

but you won’t see a thing

I love who I am but don’t expect

me to whisper a word of it

I just keep looking deep within

for what is perfect

what

2.1066 : 4/3/08 : White Hat (Seventyseven: 71 of 81)

All I know is that I don’t know nothing

and so I’m noble

To call this ignorant estate

knowledge is a low blow

And we’re sick in the head

and until we’re sick of that

we’ll stay sick; but baby I know better

So I’m wearing my white hat

what

2.1065 : 4/2/08 : Fewer Disciples (Seventyseven: 70 of 81)

Could I say it any simpler

could this yoke be lighter

but the world looks back bemused

and I know I’ve got a fighter

on my hands

The ancestor and Lord

of these words I say

I know you stupid humps

misunderstand me every day

just understand

the fewer disciples

the better in all respects

I wear coarse peasant clothes

but he may find who least expects

jade in my hand

what

2.1064 : 4/1/08 : Step (Seventyseven: 69 of 81)

I step back step back

I step back and lead you on

I roll up my sleeves, not threatening

and sing my prisoners this song:

my words have an ancestor

My deeds have a Lord

I wield the knowledge

like a terrible swift sword

I know just how strong

my enemies can be

My army’s grieving so hard

that our tears are like the sea

what

2.1063 : 3/31/08 : Good Soldier (Seventyseven: 68 of 81)

3,254 : 6 ?

Never strike first

never angry

and when I serve you

you will see how I lead plainly

effortless virtue

mighty magnet of men

Wedded to heaven

Good soldier; next gen

what

2.1062 : 3/30/08 : Nothing on Earth (Seventyseven: 67 of 81)

Do you feel that strange

way

like nothing on earth

No nothing on earth like this

Yes this is like that

It became too small

drawn to the strange attractor’s kiss

I have three treasures

Mercy

Frugality

and being nobody

brave and generous

chief of all vessels

Linger behind

as the way gets muddy

Mercy alone can help us now

end our wars and

save the whole damn show

a mere million

rescued by heaven

like nothing on earth

heaven on our way with us

will go

what

2.1061 : 3/29/08 : King of All Streams (Seventyseven: 66 of 81)

King of all streams

reign from the bottom

humility and lingering

baby I’ve got ‘em

no one finds me heavy

nobody gets hurt

the whole world moves forward

While I lose my shirt

strive with nobody

no one strives with me

the king of all streams

so far down, so free

what

2.1060 : 3/28/08 : The Old Days (Seventyseven: 65 of 81)

I’m pining for the old days

when the great minds let us be

let us go about our business

in our fine state of simplicity

it’s clear we’re all too clever

for our own good in this state

bereft of our rule and measure

man those old days sure were great

And still looking for a new day

and that virtue mystical

I’m beginning to suspect

those good old days are mythical

what

2.1059 : 3/27/08 : All Start (Seventyseven: 64 of 81)

If that target would stop moving

I could easily nail it

if this tempest weren’t so ominous

I’d easily sail it

I guess it better all start

with this one little line

one day, one step

and I suppose it went fine

what

2.1058 : 3/26/08 : No Ado (Seventyseven: 63 of 81)

I do but there’s far too much ado

I strive but it’s not effortless

I couldn’t be lower

I couldn’t reach fewer

I’m reliving all those injuries I guess

These troubles are in full bloom

great sowing is reaping me small

And all these difficult difficult

things in this world

I don’t know what to do about them at all

I feel like I’m grappling with big things

achieving so little

I promise too seriously, faithless

sure to fail like a foolish lickspittle

what

2.1057 : 3/25/08 : Nothing Destroyed (Seventyseven: 62 of 81)

Nothing destroyed

hidden in a secret reserve

truth’s treasure

a good word and who it may serve

No one abandoned

I lay down wisdom from where I may stand

I seek and I will find

And wake to find the treasure at my hand

what

2.1056 : 3/24/08 : Downhill (Seventyseven: 61 of 81)

3,246 : 19 ?

Did the river flow downhill

into this swamp of ours

too much for too long

too many walls too many cars

and we who would not

take a knee to anyone

guilt by association

live and die by the gun

but they keep on pouring in

for the time being anyway

and we will bow eventually

no matter what warmongers say

what

2.1055 : 3/23/08 : Little Fish (Seventyseven: 60 of 81)

Cook that little fish

what an empire what a dish

no demons

no spirits

I’m harmless

Yeah hear it

let’s call it a truce

call it a day

all the benefits of life

no one need pay

what

2.1054 : 3/22/08 : Frugality (Seventyseven: 59 of 81)

If you’re running things

if you’re serving God

there’s nothing like frugality

get your goodies twice

overcome it all

ascend so high above reality

If you want a kingdom

a mother of a kingdom

there’s just no way else to go

sink those roots deep now

sink firm in sleep now

see far, live long, rise and know

what

2.1053 : 3/21/08 : Your Damn Mouth (Seventyseven: 58 of 81)

Shut your damn mouth

Shut your damn mouth

Shut your damn mouth

and we’d all be so happy

If you’ve got to act

So smart so smart

if you gotta act so smart

man we’re going to get scrappy

Good times always hide

a velvet fist

what can be the end of this

eternal grist

I make perfection uncut

sculpt without carving

check my enlightenment

without strain or starving

what

2.1052 : 3/20/08 : Status Quo (Seventyseven: 57 of 81)

Uphold this empire by the status quo

but you’ll need something special to win this war

but the world just needs to be left alone

I know what’s within, I know what it’s for

keep it all upright covered in laws

and we just all become poorer

We keep ourselves armed right up to the teeth

the confusion grows ever more

So many the brightest and the best

Pretty soon it all gets strange

the finer, more grand this edifice of law

the more you’ve got robbers and thieves on the range

transformation proceeds when I hole up tight

You all get into your regular groove

I stay aloof and you all get rich

sweet simplicity: I’m sure you’ll all approve

what

2.1051 : 3/19/08 : Silent (Seventyseven: 56 of 81)

If I knew I’d be so silent

say not one word

I tell you I don’t know

but then I’m sure you’ve heard

I’ve got to fill up the passage

with whatever I can find

I’ve got to barricade the doors

try to unscrew my tangled mind

try to blunt the edge on my sword

harmonize these crazy lights

find wholeness for one moment

in this parade of crazy sights

You can’t woo it or avoid it

Nor cut nor elevate

You cannot help or humble it

it is the thing most great

what

2.1050 : 3/18/08 : Born Again (Seventyseven: 55 of 81)

Oh to be born again

steeped in virtue

free from sin

safe from sting

from poison bite

firm of grip safe from

endless night

grow whole

scream my head off

old soul

like I could get off

how can there be changeless

in this crazy joint?

Whatever else there

might be it

just proves my point

what

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

Plant it deep

clasp it well

a thousand generations

your saga to tell

hoe your row of virtue

till it grows in you

foundation of a family

yeah you know it’s you

basis of community

only comes within

understand a new state

ready to begin

we could draw the whole world

into its embrace

every person, family

community and state in its place

And how do I know

what the world might hide?

as ever and as usual

by what’s inside

what

2.1048 : 3/16/08 : Way (Seventyseven: 53 of 81)

With just a speck of wisdom

I will walk my way

not to stumble

not to stray

It looks so smooth and straight

but all around it’s wicked, wild

all around the bandits lurking

careful oh my child

look at them with their ravaged fields

look at them with their fancy clothes

look at their sharp shiny knives

our lives are in the hands

of such as those

gorged on wine and dainties

money that they’ll never use

knowing nothing of my great way

knowing nothing

about all they’ll use

what

2.1047 : 3/15/08 : Beginning (Seventyseven: 52 of 81)

This is a beginning

a common beginning

not an ending

not a loss

no I am winning

know the mother of the world

know the mother, her offspring

You’ll be free of earthly harm

you’ll be free of everything

Block every passage

lock every door

Then you’ll know exactly

what freedom is for

Or throw it all open

get busy as hell

you may find you no longer

see so well

it may seem a small thing

but its use is endless

watch me start a new life

now I’ve got the changeless

what

2.1046 : 3/14/08 : A Gift (Seventyseven: 51 of 81)

Life simply a gift:

nursed by virtue

shaped by matter

you’re perfect aren’t you

respect to the gift:

respect to virtue

not by any command

I just adore its rich hue

nursed and grown

fostered and sheltered

claim no reward

however I sweated and sweltered

about to close

a chapter I slaved on

Called the hidden virtue

no record yet I saved one

what

2.1045 : 3/13/08 : Life or Death (Seventyseven: 50 of 81)

Life or death

it sure seems binary

thirteen breaths

Life, death the refinery

If you draw down

the account too hard

You’ll take thirteen steps

before you feel the shard

if you walk well your path

no danger you’ll see

escape every snare

death says:

no room there for me

what

2.1044 : 3/12/08 : Self Interest (Seventyseven: 49 of 81)

I can’t deny my self interest

though I want to be kind

though I want to be faithful

to be shy and self-effacing

I would surely be grateful

for the sake of the world

I would play it so nebulous

if not for my self interest

if you could be so credulous

what

2.1043 : 3/11/08 : Stacking (Seventyseven: 48 of 81)

So much learning

stacking and stacking

not at all the scenario

I need to be attacking

cut it all down till I

get back to zero

I could achieve everything

and be the real hero

I could renounce it all

and serve only mankind

But me with private ends to serve

I’m left in a stark bind

what

2.1042 : 3/10/08 : The Wire (Seventyseven: 47 of 81)

I can stay right here

get it all on the wire

keep the shades all drawn

see heaven’s holy fire

the farther you go

the less you know

so I stay right here

shut my eyes tight to see

do by doing nothing

all access, all free

what

2.1041 : 3/9/08 : Yoke (Seventyseven: 46 of 81)

The simple division

yoke to peace or war

our sickness decides

what the harness is for

it turns out it came down

to knowing that what

is enough is enough

it seems simple, sure, but...

what

2.1040 : 3/8/08 : Identity (Seventyseven: 45 of 81)

So amazingly perfect

You’ll think I’m flawed

the seeming vacuum

of this vast space I’ve gnawed

line by line and song by song

so crooked it’s straight

One it gets infinitely long

watch me skillfully screw up

and fumble my lines

till I shiver a sweat up

but freeze ‘cause there’s landmines

pray for the normal

peace and serenity

A way to overcome

this strange bent identity

what

exactly five of my favorite things

Finished posting another volume of the songs of days not too long ago and have now updated the Favorite Songs list on the Sidebar as well as the full archive of past favorites from the preceding 13 volumes (and change via the "Interim" side-quest).

what

2.1039 : 3/7/08 : Your Money or Your Life (Seventyseven: 44 of 81)

Lose your body or lose your name: choose

Your money or your life, what you want to lose

What’ll make you fret more, gain or loss

You hold on so tight: hey I don’t give a toss

So why store up a pile of what you can always go and get

Had enough? Well you don’t seem able to say so yet

Knowing when to get when the getting’s good will save you grief

And I’m going to go a long while without final relief

what

2.1038 : 3/6/08 : The Soft (Seventyseven: 43 of 81)

The soft

ultimately

defeats the hard

only nothing can go

everywhere

so if I turn that card

please take a moment

for the less of quiet

not a lot to do

when you’re God’s co-pilot

what

2.1037 : 3/5/08 : One (Seventyseven: 42 of 81)

One from nothing

two from one

three from two, and

here comes everyone

man and woman

me and you

breathe in breathe out

count to two

what’s hated more

than to be helpless and small

yet we love the smallest

weakest ones most of all

If you live by the sword

well you know what they say

it was true in the garden

and it’s true today

what

2.1036 : 3/4/08 : Mediocre (Seventyseven: 41 of 81)

If I were wise I would be

practicing practicing

If I were worthless I would be

laughing my ass off

I’m mediocre and I

oscillate

What can I do it’s a hard truth

I pass off

day is night and progress

looks like  collapse

hard to fit the contradictions

through a synapse

Virtue looks like a valley

the greatest white space is spattered

abundant, deficient;

Firmly founded - tattered

cornerless, late to ripen

Silent and shapeless

they say it alone can help

me need to escape less

what

2.1035 : 3/3/08 : I Am (Seventyseven: 40 of 81)

3,225 : 17 ?

As to movement I am always

returning

As to use it is only in

softness

Everything is born of

the something

itself is born of a nothing

called the lossless

what

2.1034 : 3/2/08 : The Unified Way (Seventyseven: 39 of 81)

it’s no rare thing to take to the unified way

the sky is clear and the earth is calm

and the spirit is subtle and mystical

and the fountain overflows just like that psalm

and ten thousand hearts also beat as one

And every prince and bishop has his day

And every single one of them comes to such estate

by virtue of their taking to the unified way

just imagine the sky’s falling

just imagine the earth torn asunder

just imagine the spirits all vanishing

and every fountain dried just think and wonder

and every creature dying childless

and the rulers fallen flat on their face

Can’t build the high without the plinth of the low

so good leader better call yourself low

I think the wisdom of not outshining the sun

is a lesson even those bastards know

what

2.1033 : 3/1/08 : Virtue (Seventyseven: 38 of 81)

Our highest virtue is beyond virtue

but we so seldom get so high

as to get over ourselves much

To get back up to the best of us

Humanity does all right to make the nut

though it’s true it tends to make a fuss

And your vaunted morality it’s just as bad

and what’s more always serving private ends

And ceremony stands when all else fails

and if nobody bows or bends

It rolls up the sleeves

to administer a beating

It sure comes up in the cards a lot

but sure to hell its moment is fleeting

When the way fails an you gotta rely on virtue

If you gotta rely on virtue you’ll end up

relying on humanity but sad to say

that’s a manifestly half empty cup

humanity always ends up

relying on morality

And it always rots back to ceremony

from the altar to the lethal spike whatever the modality

But I’m effortlessly on the mark

and so for me exists no doubt

I seek the fruit not the husk or flower

prefer what’s within to what’s without

what

2.1032 : 2/29/08 : Little Peace (Seventyseven: 37 of 81)

All things are accomplished

without notice, or bother

hold tight to the fathomless

to all mother and father

and when it all gets riled up

a simple word will still it

restore the natural order

raise the cup and fill it

and finally we’ll know

a little peace

and for a little while

the world will settle in its lease

what

2.1031 : 2/28/08 : Stretch (Seventyseven: 36 of 81)

I gotta stretch this failure out

to shrink it down to nothing

build it into a juggernaut

to bust it up with just one thing

I took it to the highest hill

didn’t tempt it I just hurled it down

I dressed it in such fineries

then stomped it in the muddy ground

and every rock will be

by water all eroded

stay in the deep my fishies and

Keep your damn bombs unexploded

what

2.1030 : 2/27/08 : Great Symbol (Seventyseven: 35 of 81)

If I just had the Great Symbol

I’d get everything

significance importance

and the shiny ring

while you dally at the table

with the trifles and the sweets

I’m onto something stellar

with such sublime beats

though it’s bland as buttered bread

pale as the sky

though it appeals to neither

the ear nor the eye

what

2.1029 : 2/26/08 : Source (Seventyseven: 34 of 81)

Universal like a flood

no turning aside

source of all things

and nowhere to hide

work without recognition

caring for all

holds none to accounts

So it might seem very small

but it is everyone’s home

So you could call it great

And it doesn’t even care

thus it attains this estate

what

2.1028 : 2/25/08 : Clever (Seventyseven: 33 of 81)

Aren’t I clever I know you so well

how much better if I understood

my reflection

Push you right over

Doesn’t mean I’m strong

mere force will never match

true introspection

I’ll be rich

when I stop wanting more

I’ll have my purpose

When I stop dwelling on what’s in store

Someday to find my true homestead

there to stay in perfect repose

long after

long after I’m dead

what

2.1027 : 2/24/08 : Nameless (II) (Seventyseven: 32 of 81)

Call me nameless

Who is?

There is no there

second to nothing

counsel of all kings

everything, everywhere

heaven and earth

came to perfect accord

rained down sweet dew

We made peace under no lord

simple existence

became so many names

epistemology

it it worth all these games?

isn’t it time to stop?

if nothing else to keep safe

as much as I can be

this great ocean’s little waif

what

2.1026 : 2/23/08 : War II (Seventyseven: 31 of 81)

3,218 : 10 ?

All the destruction we’ve bottled

What do you expect

I will not acknowledge them

or give them respect

This ritual of violence

that turns it all upside down

the last resort of the fool who wears the crown

I only want peace and quiet

I don’t even care to win

Should I be happy

the vicious cycle begins again

our history of war is a

protracted funeral dirge

and we can only mourn and wonder

if it’s a defect we will ever purge

what

2.1025 : 2/22/08 : War (Seventyseven: 30 of 81)

If the ruler were right

he would not seek war

blowing up in your face

is all it’s good for

Soldiers spell trouble

I’m sorry it’s true

tearing it up is

what armies do

Keep you borders

don’t go on parade

civil and modest

that’s it, you’re made

We should regret

every war we wage

eventually I’d bet

we’ll be wiped from the page

what

2.1024 : 2/21/08 : Lost in Space (Seventyseven: 29 of 81)

You wanna change the world

you’re crazy

we’re lost in space

and inviolate

not for grasping at

or lazy

tampering, short-

lived disaster’s all you get

a time for going forth

a time to follow

breathing slow

or fast and hollow

time to get strong

time to fall apart

So I eschew all extremes

and keep counsel with my heart

what

2.1023 : 2/20/08 : Towards the Infinite (Seventyseven: 28 of 81)

Rock cock but keep it soft like a bitch

And flow like a river for the world

Flowing like a river is walking always straight

and narrow no matter how big wave finds you hurled

up against smacked back like a baby

maybe: mind on bright but always in the dark

To be a pattern constantly in virtue

Onwards towards the infinite and never miss the mark

Inward glorious, outward lowly

I am the global fountain

From virtue to simple in my hands all soldiers

my tailor’s brigade storms up that mountain

what

2.1022 : 2/19/08 : No Tracks (Seventyseven: 27 of 81)

See how when I left you

I left no tracks

You’ll never pin down what I say

though I say stacks and stacks

I shut that thing like a

stone made whole

and you’ll never open it again

if it’s your lifelong goal

I tied you to that stone

and sent you to the bottom

You ain’t no part of it no more

So smoke ‘em if you got ‘em

I’m gonna save all I can

So nothing gets wasted

I’ll follow my light

and every love I tasted

led me here to teach the bad

and how I cherish my charges

and like a fool where angels fear to tread

in love barges

what

2.1021 : 2/18/08 : I’m Light (Seventyseven: 26 of 81)

3,212 : 4 ?

I’m so heavy I’m light

I’m so serene I rock the mic all night

Therefore the sage, traveling all day

I don’t look out the window not a thing to say

No matter the signs or roadside attractions

I stay home avoid distractions

You think I’m going to tip you all the heat I got?

You think I’m going to let you unseat my spot

I’m restful and thus my own master

For all your restlessness you won’t get there a minute faster

what

2.1020 : 2/17/08 : Nameless (Seventyseven: 25 of 81)

Big nameless

and yet whole and undivided

before heaven and earth

silent and boundless

standing one unchanging

all-encompassing pervading

think we could all call it mother

I don’t know it by any other

name

I call it the Great nameless

a thousand

the same

things that go

that go far

to return

so what you are

great like heaven, great like earth

Yeah you’re the king

man to earth

earth to heaven

heaven does its own thing

what

eponymous

Grasping concludes Songs of Days Volume 2.6, The Axis. Up next, Volume 2.7: Seven

what

2.1019 : 2/16/08 : Grasping (Seventyseven: 24 of 81)

You can’t stretch grasping forever

and stand at peace

Get up on the pedestal

You’ll get seen but not release

If it’s all excuses

You’ll never rise up to glory

And you’ll never be for real real

if you’re only telling your own story

The victories that go out on parade

don’t outlast their season

All these things are waste and mutant growths

And nature abhors them with reason

And as the man of this endless hour

I will not allow my heart

to give them power

what

2.1018 : 2/15/08 : Whirlwind (Seventyseven: 23 of 81)

Is this simple enough

is this quiet enough

to come to fruit on its own terms?

no this is a whirlwind

no this is a thunderstorm

writ brief

by the air with its birds

by the earth with its worms

To be One with the all

to be one with virtue

to be one with loss

owned by the all

owned by virtue

Caught without counting the cost

and if I have no faith in it

it will have no faith in me

that is my whirlwind prose

my frailty

what

2.1017 : 2/14/08 : Bow (Seventyseven: 22 of 81)

Bow to be whole: curl to be straight

the empty shall be full and the old shall relate

have less to be more, much will bemuse

so I gather the one and all others refuse

The pattern under heaven I do not myself display

And this I shine all the day

I keep my mouth shut and everyone knows me

I get the credit by saying nothing of my ability

I bury my success and so I endure

I yield to everyone so my enemies are so unsure

No my fine low bow’s not just sewing the wind

and like a mighty magnet I draw all things in

what

2.1016 : 2/13/08 : Elusive (Seventyseven: 21 of 81)

What is the nature?

Elusive and evasive!

Yet everywhere is form

persistent and pervasive!

Yet everywhere is substance

shadowy and dim!

that kid has got a core

of vitality in him

don’t doubt me now

this is for real

my unfailing sincerity

a name that’s set in steel

recollecting the way of things

at the beginning of history

how would you know such a thing?

by what is within me

what

2.1015 : 2/12/08 : Miss America (Seventyseven: 20 of 81)

I’m done with learning it never made me happy

your little here and little there

I refuse to fear what everyone is fearing

But the consequence of bucking the tide is a bear

Everyone is smiling like Miss America

Like they’re grilling the golden ox on the fourth of July

I tell you today I really miss America

It seems like there’s no one left to ask why

I am staying silent from now on

like a baby that has never smiled

While everyone is swimming in prosperity

Look at me plunging into the wild

What a fool I am what a muddled mind

While everyone is bright I am so dim

All your sharp brilliance wafts over my silent sea

When they seek the one nobody will say that’s him

settle into your upholstered ruts

while I crouch on the muddy verges

but you know I got one thing on you

I am at peace with my natural urges

what

2.1014 : 2/11/08 : I Should Dispense (Seventyseven: 19 of 81)

I should dispense with my

big brain antics

every one would be so much better off

dispense with my finer feelings

my focus on right

they’d all go back to just normal

though you well may scoff

If I weren’t so sharp playing such a close hand

there’d be no more robbers and thieves

And yet all of these fine foundations

are not quite enough

So this age so sadly grieves

So it must bow down to

Something higher

one stroke and back to basics

make so little of myself

come to be next to nothing

hey watch this old dog play tricks

what

2.1013 : 2/10/08 : Great Principle (Seventyseven: 18 of 81)

3,205 : 15 ?

Once a great principle

now left behind

replaced with humanism, law

the blind leading the blind

with the brightest and the best

came the biggest hypocrites

and it all fell out of balance

and nobody gave two shits

and from family to tribe

to city state to nation

your great principle appears

to be on permanent vacation

So it all gave way

to chaos and spats

and sure enough here come

the loyal bureaucrats

what

2.1012 : 2/9/08 : Ruler (Seventyseven: 17 of 81)

I am the greatest ruler

who you never heard of

Not like that handsome fellow

you hung on every word of

but the ones we have now

any one with half a brain

would fear and despise

but when will be defy again?

no faith for the faithless

I bite down on my words

watching the contented

self-satisfied herds

what

2.1011 : 2/8/08 : Empty Cup (Seventyseven: 16 of 81)

Would you believe: I’m looking for the

all the way empty cup

trying to bullseye peace in the maelstrom

envisioning how every number comes up

return to the root

find peace

fulfill destiny

be constant

have insight

‘Cause failing insight well blessed be

It’s a headlong into disaster

but knowing constant

I know all, embrace all

and it gets me to that gear faster

to be just to be over-reigning

to be like heaven

Don’t think I’m complaining

I’ve got a feeling this thing

lasts forever

after all is said and done

that’s a damn long lever

what

2.1010 : 2/7/08 : Ancient II (Seventyseven: 15 of 81)

Insight to the enigma of

the ancient of days

unfathomed depths of oceans

you can only know them by their ways

walk on eggshells

peeking ‘round the curtains like a shut in

proper like a diplomat

while you stick your ugly mutt in

soft ice left in a scotch glass

flat and simple like a slab

hollow like a cave

a muddied stream, slow brown and drab

but at its end runs clear

spilling life into the gap

Which is never filled

but ever spanned by

the cosmic bootstrap

what

2.1009 : 2/6/08 : Formless (Seventyseven: 14 of 81)

The looked at the unseen, formless

The unheard soundless

More listened, informed less

Vanished through clasped fingers

incorporeal but no spirit

Unfathomable fused

three is one but I do not fear it

facing the sun not shining

hugging the earth no shade

undefined unimagined

of form and image unmade

Face to face it’s faceless

Chasing find no back

It unlocks the gate on anything

with charges seething up the stack

what

2.1008 : 2/5/08 : Welcome Disgrace (Seventyseven: 13 of 81)

Welcome disgrace

with a big grin on your face

Hey Calamity!

Hey kid you know I love you like you were me

Because it’s good to be low

How pleasant to find it

Good to get back up

at least that’s how I mind it

And as long as we’re alive

we get calamity

without my self

What could my troubles be?

thus the one who gave it

all away

holds this world in his hand

And only if I raise

the rule of love

will my steward’s promise stand

what

2.1007 : 2/4/08 : Five (Seventyseven: 12 of 81)

3,199 : 9 ?

The five colors are blinding my eyes

The five tones make my ears ring like:

Ah-ay yi yis

My tongue lies in my mouth pressed by

the five flavors

And the racing and the hunting

are such maddening behaviors

Somehow we’ll always find a way

to make things most can’t have

I take care of the belly not the eyes

preferring what is within to without then

preferring to pause where Silence lies

what

2.1006 : 2/3/08 : Cipher (Seventyseven: 11 of 81)

The cipher at the center

is called the hub

thirty spokes turn the wheel

but here’s the rub

without nothing

there’s no movement or change

Parmenides knew it

but that cat was strange

spin a cup out

of a lump of clay

the hollow in the center

the use of it you weigh

imagine a room without windows or door

and see what terrible emptiness is for

what

2.1005 : 2/2/08 : Files (Seventyseven: 10 of 81)

What’s the essence what’s the spark of life

They must not separate on pain of strife

Gathering and channeling the energy wild

become as soft and supple as a newborn child

The inner eye grown clouded and gray

the masters need so badly to put cleverness away

hiding in the role of my anima

storming heaven’s gate from here to Panama

Seeming silent, prescient but still

Doing all yet seeming as if with time to kill

I set no store by these burgeoning files

I call it hidden virtue hidden in these piles

what

2.1004 : 2/1/08 : Fullness (Seventyseven: 9 of 81)

Ply the sword and ply the sword

the stone that you apply to the sword

You will sharpen the edge to dullness

grasping after and hanging onto fullness

You can’t trust treasures

gold or jade

the fancy titles or rich

friends you made

there it is

written in letters of fire

the way of heaven:

do the work

and then retire

what

2.1003 : 1/31/08 : Water (Seventyseven: 8 of 81)

Never striving always

choosing my moment right

super efficient

keeping order through the

next long night

keep my counsel

gentle and kind

diving hidden depths

to cultivate my mind

dwelling low to the ground

in places loathed by all

helping them despite themselves

like water: highest goodness

goes before the waterfall

what