2.2746 : 11/08/12 : Idea

What came across like
such a straight idea
all light in the darkness
all truth will free ya
Such a bit of nothing
five minute's action
turned out so much work
and where's the satisfaction
I said: Idea
when you turned so wrong
another and another and another song
when I thought I had the number
of all you fools
world grew so many moving parts
all with so few rules
not much revision
in the premise as conceived
and if I turn it over
would I be relieved
Say I'm taking my idea
and I'm going home
but it sticks like a shadow
wherever I may roam

what

2.2745 : 11/07/12 : Other Game

Am I asking the right questions
am I on the right side
Am I foolishly spectating as
ill suited entropies elide
the feeling I can't shake
has two faces like a coin
bound always together but
the two can never truly join
But I see myself neither elevated
ranked in any great race
nor dragged int the heavy depths
having lost all worth and face
the answer's not somewhere between
it's some whole other game
Just need to learn the rules and
find the court and hand the judge my name

what

2.2744 : 11/06/12 : Horse Race

Screw 'em I'm not going
to watch the so-called
horse race
leave it up to
that one and
old what's-his-face
not going to get
anxious
and bite my nails
let the rest of
you all fools
chase your tails
drum up a little
light and
innocuous fare
pretend for a night
the horse race
just isn't there

what

2.2743 : 11/05/12 : In the Interest

In the interest of change
Throw a little strange
on the dice
all in the wrist
doesn't that feel nice

what

2.2742 : 11/04/12 : Sign Off

Before I get too used
to the change in time
I'm going to sign one off
with a played out rhyme
that road I've been down
a thousand times before
and I stay and wait and wonder
if you've got anything more

what

2.2741 : 11/03/12 : Pity

I want your pity
what's that say about me
I want to spit it
back at you and be free
all I wanted
was one last big score
You know at just a taste
you'd see me back for more
Oh it's a pity
but I'm stepping on this
doing nothing right right now
sounds just like bliss
I bet I lost you all
by now huh didn't I
pity as just now I bid
you look within my...

what

2.2740 : 11/02/12 : Beg

Do I have to beg
for freedom from dreams
and will it matter
even if I do
Should I just fake it
make what is from what seems
And who should I ask
then if not you
who would start listening
at this far point
try to make sense
of this continuous catalog
Even I just want
to quit this joint
revert the whole lot back to analog

what

2.2739 : 11/01/12 : Feeling It

I'm feeling it the dagger before me
Oh it's real sweet dreams
no more for you to ignore me
Time to put away all childish things
a dagger of the mind
and the release it brings
And the bloody business
will be done before noon
the final execution of self concept
and burn down this sad cartoon

what

2.2738 : 10/31/12 : Masks

I used to think I
understood the masks
knew the real underneath
their purpose and their tasks
turns out there's no
onion underneath the skin
it's masks all the way down
nowhere to end or begin
don't know who's saying it
don't know who says anything
guess it's saying there's no who
just masks and wandering
you'd think that it would let me
off the hook at long last
guest I can't see past it either
despite all illusions past

what

2.2737 : 10/30/12 : Reflect

How will I let go
how will I rest
is this just checking boxes
did I fail a test
Is there a new approach
anything to expect
will I recall a bit of it
with just this record to reflect

what

2.2736 : 10/29/12 : Elusive

Talk is cheap
and real change is elusive
despite my aspirations
to be bitter and reclusive
they just keep calling
me to serve again
and destiny just keeps
swerving when
I try to get a bead
succumb to a dull inevitable
So I served the stable
now I get to inherit the bull
no labors of mythology
to layout the elusive way
stuck mucking out my own mess
waiting for something to form my clay

what

2.2735 : 10/28/12 : Interesting

What's interesting?
snails and stones
the patterns water makes
the patterns water makes
brass and bones
no money in it
so sick of that consideration
what's not interesting
the business of this busy nation
process manager
procedures analyst
momma told me
someday I'd get the gist
you've got to
hold on to what's interesting
when the tide pours in
and I'm holding on with both hands
despite the shape I'm in

what

2.2734 : 10/27/12 : Haven't Got

I heard your song you wrote
and I liked it a lot
It reminded me of tons of stuff
I simply haven't got
The totally sweet bridge
and the rising action
all that keeps me going lately's
not to give the devil the satisfaction
cross my fingers say I'm fine
how much longer can I fake this line
give me a bottle of the hard stuff and a match
to hell with this
I'm burning down this patch
You can't make a change
with what you haven't got
I guess I'll push that pen
into another spot

what

2.2733 : 10/26/12 : Conversation

Imagine conversation
with the great but complicated man
tell him I'm a partisan
tell him I'm a fan
talk about the bible
the election
Where we grew up
talk about relentless time
and how it tends
to chew up
the imagined conversations
and trips
we only dream
something's got to give
I've got to step
across this stream
And he's got no
advice for me
I've not already read
And there's no more time
for making conversation
in my head

what

2.2732 : 10/25/12 : Willing

The spirit is willing
the flesh is also willing
and when I crack the formula
I'm going to make a killing
I'm so certain it's my destiny
to be every bit of that
and if fate won't cooperate
I'll take her to the mat
When I asked her if she would
She said that she was willing
not fate, mere mortal troth
but to me it was more thrilling
and maybe it's the only magic
the only destiny
I'm willing to work with that
if only it will work with me

what

2.2731 : 10/24/12 : Maybe

One stumbling brief maybe
after the next
the devil asks him
what he expects
he says you haven't
signed it yet you know
I do and so
now you go

what

2.2730 : 10/23/12 : Begun

So many days
I dreamed that he would come
the one
and then the thing would be begun
Given to believe
that my unreadiness was all
to blame
and now let's play the "what exists" game
what if it started
15 thousand days along
all gone
and just keeps rolling on
What if there's no answer
but shut up, head down
the sequel may astound
If I were you baby I'd stick around

what

2.2729 : 10/22/12 : Of Good and Evil

Of good and evil
recent days taught me a lot
but the cost of that great knowledge
is both heavy and hot
You can't just get around
disliking your own self so much
I used to slide around the sticking point
but these days I've lost my touch
maybe we all just
go along and each day grimmer
as we get to know the human race
its prospects just seem dimmer
as we get to know ourselves
good and evil seem like luck
the chance of birth of circumstances
chance you had the time to duck

what

2.2728 : 10/21/12 : Battery

I recollected the battery
because of pain
that unjustly fell upon me
I didn't expect it
but who does?
It wasn't unbearable
until it was
I don't know if I'd manage
to activate it
It causes hope
therefore I hate it
and I can't say
that it will change a thing
it might but it's an answer
only time will bring

what

2.2727 : 10/20/12 : Work It

The only kind of magic that's real
And I was a master once
just how did I feel
It doesn't leave a lot behind
And like everything else
it's all in the mind
If I don't break this
latest spell
I don't know what's next
but it won't be pretty
And I keep going back
to the well
How can I still feel vexed
by a substandard ditty
no more getting out
of my head anymore
no more to work it work it
I wrap the cord around
once twice tight
brace my feet and jerk it

what

2.2726 : 10/19/12 : The Other Thing

The other thing I thought of
was too sad to say
So hey, today,
another: come what may
so hey today
pardon my fray
the other thing I thought
was too hard on me
it's not a crime to be lost
or to want to be free
And if there are many
with a better claim on misery
Well it's not a contest
and we're on the same side you see

what

2.2725 : 10/18/12 : Gems

Moments shine out
like unstrung gems
no story at all
no shortage of problems
it'll all be a wash
in a thousand years
but still I've got to deal
with all these nows and heres
Now my gems look shabby
chipped colored glass
If I really had my druthers
give it all a pass
but I must keep mining
This played out claim
pray there's still a few surprises
left in the long game

what

2.2724 : 10/17/12 : Sell Out

If they offered me a paycheck
and a slot to tuck in
I'd sell out this mess so fast
your little head would spin
but there is no they
and nobody is buying
So it's back to the blank sheet
as it seems I'm far from dying
What a miserable topic
You must be so bored
as I struggle to embrace
what I claimed I once abhorred
we who never truly hungered
never truly faced the street
will sell out industry's last dregs
as we drag and drag our feet

what

2.2723 : 10/16/12 : Pile

Pinches or shovels
all add to the pile
but the critical mass
eludes all the while
if only I could
expunge this spark
I could call the pile enough
and eject hope for a lark

what

2.2722 : 10/15/12 : Obscure

The hole is everywhere
and what's the use
what's the point of pretending
What's my excuse
Anger, hunger
envy and lust
up to four already
fucken crazy or bust
this is your brain on
heavy doses
of realism framed
in the usual psychoses
not enough hours
not even making the polls
obscure to vanishing
and obsessed with the holes

what

2.2721 : 10/14/12 : Million

They laugh at me
thinking so small
only a million
you don't get it at all
just want to be great
at something hard
something uncommon
here's my card
like I could ever be
the next million seller
don't even have a rudder
or a damn propeller
try to get personal
Cook it down to one
hope I get enough time
hope sometimes it's fun

what

2.2720 : 10/13/12 : Twisted Wood

I close my eyes and all I see
is twisted wood
what does it mean you ask
I shrug in my black hood
who can search out the meaning
of the metaphors
that condense on the portholes
of perception's pressure doors
I had a dream I was
back in the old shop
Where I used to cook up beats
and engineer the drop
and oh man that brew
felt just like twisted wood
Still stumped me but back then
mystery still felt good

what

2.2719 : 10/12/12 : Phone

If I only want to
phone it in
should I wait a little longer
it begin?
Heaven knows I can
fake it up
but I can't escape the fear
I'll have to make it up
someday
Too samey samey
too long long long
too late I stuck it
in another song
Too late to worry
about solipsism
Everybody may
already be way past
post-ism

what

2.2718 : 10/11/12 : Material

Maybe the good just runs out
You ever thought about it?
The hole will take us all out
But guess who takes the first hit?
Your phone will not deliver
Cause you can't eat the ethereal
And I'd love to make anything
But I cannot stand the new material
What am I supposed to cut out of this black cloth?
How do I fly from the flame like an anti-moth
I never signed on
for a course in dystopia
but we're all getting one anyway
guess you'd call that entropy huh?
In my darkest mind
the streamers of black
wind up every jot and dittle
lash it all to the rack
pull every particle to pieces
in my fantasy imperial
Start from scratch with a batch
of the new material

what

2.2717 : 10/10/12 : Tentacles

Make it about tentacles
and zombies and cupcakes
and fixies
I'll bend it like Beckham
and woo like
the Pixies
I want to be so dated
before the ink dries
what else what else
it's so cute how he tries
always lose my stomach
less than halfway in
you can't always
bull through every
thing you begin
still like the tentacles
they'll stay in the show
as to the rest
guess I'll just go with the flow

what

2.2716 : 10/09/12 : Encore

And for my encore
allow me to say
I stopped short at almost
giving up on everything again today
It wasn't impressive
thanking God it's not all worse isn't a strategy
I'll blame the world for fifteen thousand days
but the rest are all on me

what

2.2715 : 10/08/12 : Extremity

These everyday extremities
embarrassing to protest
I'm so nobody special
I'm so just like the rest
but though it is a poor excuse
I'll take it and I'll bolt
another day like always
stage another dull revolt

what

2.2714 : 10/07/12 : Narrower

Maybe it's really all getting narrower
Maybe I'm finding time is the harrower
Maybe life really has no narrative
And I've cashed in my last imperative
the grass was always greener
in the past
And feeling like my own future's
Outcast
It's just another gloomy phase
maybe true
Feels and works out the same
So hell with you

what

2.2713 : 10/06/12 : No Pattern

Stare at the page
try to crack a code
night after night
it sure gets old
maybe it's nonsense
no pattern beneath
nothing you could carry back
or sink in with your teeth
the same gets samier
a brutal tell
and still I'll wave that motherfucker
ring it like a bell

what

2.2712 : 10/05/12 : Buy My Way Out of This Hole

I've got to buy my way
out of this hole
and I'll pay any toll
In any coin on any day
This is the first installment
a ticket for one night
all ghouls depart my sight
As I prepare to break the enthrallment

what

2.2711 : 10/04/12 : Flight Risk

Am I a flight risk
I think not
not sure exactly why
It's not the kink I've got
I don't dream of freedom
I did my time alone
but I must dream of something
It pains my crooked bone
Could we all run away
take all our problems along
take the debt take the jobs
this ancient curse of song
I don't know if I'm persistent
or deep in the rut
and I don't have a flight plan
no this is anything but

what

2.2710 : 10/03/12 : Fantasy World

So I guess
this is goodbye
fantasy world
how my blood boiled
oh how my toes curled
probably another
cheap scared
laugh in the dark
but there's no more slack
and this ain't
no dream park

what

2.2709 : 10/02/12 : Magic Box

Excuse my quiet voice I'm embarrassed
excuse me staring at my feet
I struggled through a tangled mess to get here
and seeing you my shame is made complete
just let it tumble out I want the magic box again
my efforts to run solo are all mired in molasses
I need a straight up miracle the real childish stuff
that never would get whispered of among the better classes
Excuse my crudeness I'm dull slob
My lack of grace but time is getting dire
My mundane box is only full of scraps of paper
and every slip is begging for the fire
and you of anyone should know how badly I need it
of anyone should know just how the seed was sown
Do I have to mention just exactly whose responsibility
put it in me and how it's grown and grown and grown

what

2.2708 : 10/01/12 : Numbers

Rather than allow dreams in
I run the stupid numbers
And try to figure out the route
run by this ship of bumblers
I haven't got anything else
my bag of tricks is empty
I'm down to my last sleight of hand
Vanish the coin he lent me
There's no escape from the numbers
the numbers never sleep
I wake up every morning to
more numbers in a heap
after another day
of pushing them around
I haven't got a drop left in me
Collapse onto the ground

what

2.2707 : 9/30/12 : Clever

Give be a big fat black marker
I've had enough of going dark to darker
I've had enough of being oh so serious
Ready to blow off the fog of the furious
     You could be oh so clever for sure
     and maybe end up as the jerk de jour
     but I am ready to try oh so nice
     I'll never break through well it's no big price
     I'm sick and tired of the clever smack
     And if I feel like no one's got my back
     It's an illusion and I know it's so
     Why not hum a little nice so la ti do
Give me a shredder tear the pages out
Want to be happy who care's what it's all about
want to be busy no time to think
about who the I thought I was or why the options stink
There I go again it's hard to change
Have to accept I may have found my range
Well nobody dies from keeping on trying
At least all the bustle will drown my sighing

what

2.2706 : 9/29/12 : Required

It was my choice
to be required
who knows what
tangled strand
inspired
I can swivel
if I wish
it will not help
this little fish
I do a mediocre job
better than none
and who else volunteers
not anyone
if I could be content
to merely be required
If I could struggle from
this dismal place I'm mired

what

2.2705 : 9/28/12 : Hoarders

Stock piles of batteries and gold
no damn trees
and you can't burn those when you're cold
the hoarders are in charge these days
and the wicked world
reflects their ways
the world was a cornucopia
of delights
self regulating
ocean depths to majestic heights
but the hoarders want
to sew it all up
for a sense of security
false cure for the half filled cup
I'm done buying in
to the dismal myth of scarcity
I'm not going to try
to drag half the world along with me
immediately
I'm smashing into the hoard
I'll get real wild on you
well at least I won't be bored

what

2.2704 : 9/27/12 : Backwards

Do things backwards for a change
see if the change up feels strange
what is hope when it's reversed
how is the relife uncursed
from general to specific
from terrible to terrific
Can't actually tell anything I bet
oh I'll find that formula yet

what

2.2703 : 9/26/12 : Stuck

Imagine totally free
some undulating creature in the sea
change its stripes
change its spots
do you like to recognize patterns
I've got lots
flowing like a flowing analogy
the river of cliché
into the story sea
and the freedom cuttlefish
that floats inside
I just finally figured out
how I got took for this ride
circling the circling
metaphor
El oh el I stepped
through the möbius door
tried hard to make it
about something outside and true
but I'm stuck in this damn room
so why the hell not you

what

2.2702 : 9/25/12 : Trash

Nothing to do
but take out the trash
bite into anything at all
and just thrash
hope it's a doldrums
not the crushing end
string about a thousand words
along and hit send

what

2.2701 : 9/24/12 : Times Like This

Times like this I really wish
the brain was as wired different somehow
I'd like to paint a picture
but it seems I don't know how
Don't know how to do anything
but dance around the words
couldn't you just scramble it all
send me out with the herds
Times like this exit the fugue
familiar walls familiar weight
Easy enough to string along
a meager meal of words on the dainty plate
No longer seems much better than nothing
and sure as hell it's not enough
and you just keep slinging pinpricks
Times like this I better come back hard and rough

what

2.2700 : 9/23/12 : Left of Me

First did I want to be important
First did I want to be good
How did I think of what I ought
And is that the same as should
I listen to my betters
even as I do my worst
And when I try not to do
It bears down just like a thirst
And if I stopped asking, grasping
What on earth would I be
Put away so many things
So what is left of me:
a vicious tongue
turned inside out
so every lash
I get a clout
worries borrowed
begged and stolen
a life that feels
like a semicolon

what

2.2699 : 9/22/12 : Work

Work work only want the work
what a jerk only want to shirk
Is it the work or is the fault mine
Did opportunity offer
did I decline
do I simply not work hard enough
did I shirk and slack and slough
Should I say tomorrow I'll be better
Should I write it to myself in a letter

what

2.2698 : 9/21/12 : Sick Persecution

Sick persecution fantasy
Be gone away with thee
Get to the back lord Satan
Gosh why must you be hating
I only want to sing and dream
you seem to want to see me scream
I only want a thousand superfans
I'm down from a million
Such humble plans

what

2.2697 : 9/20/12 : No Lesson

No lesson learned
no even worse burned
old responses insufficient
but at least all still efficient
let go the mob
cast free into the ebb and throb
making a go pray on easy rest
the first five minutes really is a test

what

2.2696 : 9/19/12 : Rough

Rough days
and no use protesting
I didn't ask for
those problems a' nesting
I can knock out one
at least and then retire
just for the night
you understand
then back into the fire

what

2.2695 : 9/18/12 : Hamsters

Hamsters got bigger
wheels than this
money fear of sickness
the elusive search for bliss
fear of evil fear of want and war
Is that all it's really for?
How much can get filed
under the end of everything
used to be at least
when I was dead I could stop stressing
not anymore
my obligations are immortal
and require insurance
even past the doomsday portal
at some point you just stop caring
for your far flung progeny
don't know if that's pragmatic
or reveals misanthropy
like hamsters in a warren
that just stretches on and on
fair enough it's not like they
will care about me when I'm gone

what

2.2694 : 9/17/12 : Imaginary

Far and far gone in
imaginary conversations
fretting did I step too far
reveal private intimations
frankly I was led astray
by the cut of the blouse
oh what a plaster saint
oh what a louse
I'm only human then
I bleed when I'm cut
I get my hackles up
I mutter huh and what
not happy with the hole
imaginary soup to nuts
but what I have to work with's
all I have to fight these ruts

what

2.2693 : 9/16/12 : Forget

If I could oh
really forget myself and tomorrow
What a proof against
a world of sorrow
I said I'd do it
this very day
isn't what I always say
why the looking in
What am I seeking
why looking ahead
I can't shake this sneaking
feeling it all comes to fear
and lashing out at ghosts
to forget the only antidote
ironic what I fear the most

what

2.2692 : 9/15/12 : Choices

Can't think of nothing
but the choices
that make me sick
and only salesmen
want to know what makes me tick
to think there was a time
I thought I should
hear all the voices
now it's so clear
it was always all about choices
and I'm wrecked
weary from choices I made
didn't seem much at the time
well that's how the piper
gets paid
and I will choose to
go out with that
not very tidy
but that choice is old hat

what

2.2691 : 9/14/12 : Autonomy

Oh heavens will I dare
to point my finger
The question's in the air
unspoken accusations linger
of the matter of autonomy
and it's nothing that you said to me
but the way that
certain things were written
and I guess you thought
You knew that I was smitten
well it was something but not quite that, dear
and anyway I heard your signals loud & clear
But that aside
I have to say
that I never did stand
in the light of your own way
and if I demure
that each thing will be fine
well it's just that you have your way
and I have mine

what

2.2690 : 9/13/12 : Proscribed

With the crackling probe of light
imagination described
I test each inch of the perimeter
by which I am proscribed
I droned so very long
about the state of limitation
then the moment that I
came to terms with my situation
All things are proscribed
freedom requires it
either that or mere explosion
and hell we're smoking in the pyre's pit
So it is my will no other
that put the locks upon the gates
I see him standing at the open door
and still he hesitates

what

2.2689 : 9/12/12 : Battle

I get the battle for
the center self
open hearted
unarmored
awake: how
it all started
but still
why must we
battle so
and don't these
cages
rattle though?
I keep on getting
up and
fighting on
but it doesn't feel
like victory
or like I'm writing wrong

what

2.2688 : 9/11/12 : Crowd

Asked the crowd
and the crowd shrugged,
maybe
Isn't how I thought
it would
turn out baby
they were right
about one thing
it isn't an end
but something else beginning

what

2.2687 : 9/10/12 : Explain Belief

Why in the world
try to explain belief
rhetoric will steal away
your answer like a thief
No one wants to understand
they just want to critique
why try to bust through that brick wall
why bust up the mystique
If I'm not trying to proselytize
I'm I'm not trying to preach
If I foresee a clear or clever
answer's right out of my reach
Why in the world explain belief
maybe just want to talk
maybe want to think of Dad
try to understand his walk

what

2.2686 : 9/9/12 : Real Attentive

What kind of life and wherever should I live
Things that were taken, things I give
I searched till dawn, face pale and drawn
Trying to reveal the real alternative
Nor just another tale of the seeking
Nor a complaint, at these crumbs I'm eking
no not a word, a voice I've never heard
not of the real alternatives speaking
And how I dreamed I saw its holy face
Heard its bell, and knew its dwelling place
walked in its land, It came out to my hand
Oh how I dreamed I'd carried through my race
What kind of life, wherever should I live
Things that were taken, things I give
And I search still, and say I never will
And still pine for the real alternative

what

2.2685 : 9/8/12 : Any Work Will Do

It cannot be that any
work will do
surely the shovel
digs me no closer to you
It cannot be
but I don't know how to choose
When I feel no matter
what I ever do I lose
It must be wrong
It must be all on me
Some stark command
that I refuse to see
and is that just my
brutal superstitious mind
a useless faith that
is both dumb and blind
nothing but killing time
and getting through
If so I guess that
any work will do

what

2.2684 : 9/7/12 : Protocol

I forgot the protocol
I don't have any time at all
and if it worked I
wouldn't be in this mess anyway
I know I lost it throwing dice
I lost it once I lost it twice
all that long dry time
I should have been making hay
gosh my head hurts gosh it's late
almost back to square one so great
thank goodness no the day
doesn't apply to my kind
try not to see the news
never to express any views
now if I could just likewise
disconnect my mind

what

2.2683 : 9/6/12 : What I Pine For

Why can't I get behind
the comfort the relief
of unexamined faith
of purely blind belief
my brainy version's
never going to catch on
ever present doubts
scabs for the mind
to scratch on
Whatever could qualify
as a real turning point
Some twisting in my heart
Some pressure in my joint
Some outside circumstance
in secret what I pine for
wishing to believe in purpose
if faith for what mine's for

what

2.2682 : 9/5/12 : Someone Good

Someone good
like my man said
reaping what I sow
and I guess until I'm dead
I'll have to try to make bread
from that dubious seed
please don't snuff my smoking wick
or break off my battered reed

what

2.2681 : 9/4/12 : Correct

Neither upright nor correct
no doubt how the turning point gets wrecked
back to lurking fearing doom
more minutes I stay in this room
more days thy foe squats in the wild
come listen to his tale my child
the rebel, the unseemly eel
that lurked and gave us such a feel
no this is not correct I think
he fooled someone with magic drink
perhaps it was a slice of pie
I look but can't quite see the lie
but anyway it's we're bad
and always feel at being glad
but cheer up there's another tale
a correct word a way from fail
the tale of the gathered light
I'll tell to you another night

what

2.2680 : 9/3/12 : Labor

Speak of labor, toil under the sun
did I slack off opportunity
thinking I was just the one
No matter how I sift through
every choice with such a tiny comb
I cannot find another path
that doesn't, too, blow up my home
ready for labor
or I say I am
just confused
helpless little lamb
just worn out
such a trying day
just working up the courage
or so I say oh so I say
speak of labor, shut up and do
What else can I hope
but something turns up true
Because I've never understood
the trick of knowing how
to tease the devil from the details
to set down then and get with now

what

2.2679 : 9/2/12 : Thoughts of Thoughts

Instead of thinking of
the thoughts of thoughts
trying to non-ado
the fresh onslaughts
I'm going to drift and dally
I'll dust your dish up pally
apply a little of the
universal solvent of let be
and trust this little reed boat
to the living stream of melody

what

2.2678 : 9/1/12 : The Hell

No matter how sweet I tune
that bell
it's the same strike
the same what the hell
find a different explanation
for the general strike
no better off
all days alike
all songs alike
a horrid tale
a no account bum
called Ishmael
who couldn't find the hours
to hit the heights
and here I am again
God I hate these nights

what

2.2677 : 8/31/12 : 10,000

Not even enough
to be an expert
not spending an hour
did you expect it?
How typical
how typical of me
how thoughtless
how inimical to be
ten times ten thousand
spent on sleep
far from an expert
I broke your theory on the cheap
two three nine, four four oh
spent it all on
god who knows
and expert on fretting
and whining
grasping and seething
and fearing and pining
the next ten thousand
no doubt chasing the dollar
daydreaming 'bout the true quill
that I'll never collar

what

2.2676 : 8/30/12 : The Old River

God bless steam
running on the old river
that generation's gone
and the landing's just a sliver
of concrete on the highway
a tourist track
a thing to remember
the old smokestack
things don't span
generations anymore
ravenous change
wants more more more
Even the old river
is so greatly changed
is bottom dredged
its channels rearranged
and tomorrow well
Who can tell?
tale of a river's
too big for me to tell

what

2.2675 : 8/29/12 : Trying

What would trying even mean
here and now and in this place
nothing left in this day
no one else running this race
what else would be my hardest
just trying to make it to my bed
It seems I end up here on purpose
despite what I may have said
what am I trying for what's my line
What's between me and just feeling fine
I can't stop trying though it sounds nice
Stayed up too late tomorrow I'll have to try twice

what

2.2674 : 8/28/12 : Leading

Leading up to
ha ha ha
don't buy it anymore
it's not a story
and anticipation
is a bore
not our best effort
no one
is inspired
excuse me
I am frustrated
and tired

what

2.2673 : 8/27/12 : Virtual

Like some irony
virtual memory loss
From the imaginary
other thing in a long list
Of things I don't do anymore
list just keeps growing longer
hardly know what it's for

what

2.2672 : 8/26/12 : Ultrachrome

Why can I close my eyes
and see the kind of beauty
that I know I could bring forth
in my complex way up North
beauty frosted black
bead blasted dark effect
down in the basement of my home
I call this one the ultrachrome
Part art part mix and match
fire up my chromatograph
injections on the gas tap
good directions to the flame trap
but it's all dumb fantasy
world is not could you ever be
no time to wait around
necessity drives me to ground

what

2.2671 : 8/25/12 : Racer

I like your candy world
So bright such rapid motion
So many moving parts
A dash of peril in the potion
Racer why you gotta race
What's racing through your mind?
You work so hard out on the track
work equals zero for your kind
Racer racer spinning out
drifting the trackless track
I wish I had such serpentine moves
looked so smooth in white and red and black
I'm racing fifteen clocks
none thrilling none aglow
not sexy but we do what we must
go dear racer go

what

2.2670 : 8/24/12 : Cog

Cog is desperate for the weekend
to pay a dividend
cog is bothered by the words
of a former
imaginary friend
if yours was the spirit
of that age
I'll denounce with all my heart
before I write another page
while minutes pass
resolutions erode
to think that I once meant
to write it all in code
like a little cog
in my own enigma engine
but I'm working for the light now
as I drop my own
Stonehenge in

what

2.2669 : 8/23/12 : Misericord

You are a strange duality
twin meanings of misericord
a leaning ledge for tired monks
and then again the thinnest sword
I knew a one who called your name
but which he meant I'll never know
or probably who knows these days
nothing makes sense well even so
I'll keep my counsel and mouth shut
misericord misericord
I hope that I don't need you but

what

2.2668 : 8/22/12 : Waves

All the waves of
adversity I surfed
is it just me
or is this one worse?
all ideas that come from
and go nowhere
a sickness unto
something like despair
waves of fearfulness
waves of grief
no good news for two years
and still time steals like a thief
waves of longing
for the time machine
and did I only dream
those fields of green
I wish I could empty
this busted vessel
bang up the contents
with a mortar and pestle
chuck them to the
great great waves
find out just which
holy sailor saves
think about the waves
till I become something like them
lord you better watch for
your dikes when I strike them

what

2.2667 : 8/21/12 : Others

And to the others
Who sacrifice so much more
to this Art I can't commit to
to the non-revolving door
I'll salute you in the morning
I will pay you when I can
I will think of you when praying
to become a better man

what

2.2666 : 8/20/12 : Want to Believe

Hard may be impossible
to get around the prejudice
of what we want to believe
that there's freedom, there's justice
I'm one of the fortunate
one of the few
more than I've earned or deserve
but can't feel like that's true
I keep making the story up
make life make sense
and I guess if I didn't
Still a thousand years hence
world will be here, I won't
likely none will remember
me or my revelations
some weeks shy of September

what

2.2665 : 8/19/12 : Disordered

Can't even break out of the
disordered thinking
while every level of
the so-called order is shrinking
can't even break out of the
stress and ire
try to find the final scapegoat
to frame for the fire
Do you even care
about the world or any living thing
are you entertained while I try
to punch my way out of the ring
will the disorder
ever give way to
Sweet harmony
will I ever
break out of
this life of strangely charmed ennui

what

2.2664 : 8/18/12 : To Be Selfless

To be selfless
to live for others
to ask for the good thing
and not my druthers
I just want out of
the damn hole
give me marching orders
I'll supply the soul

what

2.2663 : 8/17/12 : Terrible Curse

If I show up at your office
unannounced: no appointment
You'll not be moved in the slightest
by my bitter disappointment
sure as hell it will not loosen
even one string on your purse
sure enough I say it was you only
Set on me the terrible curse
More than a quarter of my life
given to the book of days
You say I made it up myself
I say you have your ways
though time grows ever swifter
I can't see beyond the curse's scope
and I must, so I suppose
look elsewhere for my hope

what

2.2662 : 8/16/12 : The Hallowed Goal Shredder Theme Song

Nothing's really worked for twenty years
that whistling sound between my ears
tells me I'm done with trying to walk on coals
Screw inspiration let's start shredding goals!
Once written a goal may only be released
once it's wholly completed or thoroughly deceased
If you kill it it's done, you must chuck it down the spout
think twice you know you really want to work work it out
Once written write the success or failure state
Write the kill plan though it doesn't feel so great
think positive instead write a bold new heading
The where and the how to just get shredding
Break it down and get all stepwise
Now your pencils are sharp said the guy with the great eyes
So get scratching get it underway
gotta check it check check a box every day
Only allowed one page at a time
Oh we've all run afoul of that paradigm
if some parts are checked up you can recopy it all
or just power and shred through let nothing stall
Sublime and mundane must share every page
Stay honest take it all stage by stage
Stick with it check a box every day
Supply the will and you will find a way

what

2.2661 : 8/15/12 : Rope

So this is what
the end of the rope feels like
nowhere to run to
nowhere to bike
coming up now in 13 years
predictably
no savior appears
nothing for it
nothing for it but work
nothing for it but
try not to be a jerk
I'm sorry for snapping
for getting so low
and since the rope keeps running
I better go

what

2.2660 : 8/14/12 : Joke On Me

The joke on me
I never wanted the path
I never wanted the risk
I only wanted the reward
and here it is
all path
and I wouldn't blame you
if you died of being bored
too busy
bottoming out
to offer any
explanation or defense
I'll get every
inch of what I deserve
the proper punishment
for riding the fence
should persistence
be admired
a child repeating
a moronic verse
is there nothing in this
world to break the curse?

what

2.2659 : 8/13/12 : Song of Songs

Be careful when you wish for
a love as strong as death
Its nature is to haunt you
till you draw your final breath
be careful when you wish for
an interesting life
be careful when you wish for
an interesting wife
Your head turned backward
by a curve of a lip
and ass that makes you
fall right off your ego trip
be careful when you ask
to write the song of songs
You know the last who did
You know the list his name belongs
can't see those fingers and
not dream them holding you
beware the songs you write
for each one will come true

what

2.2658 : 8/12/12 : Pith

Treading water still and dead as the crypt
Sun hasn't moved since the world weird slipped
Out of the picture into the myth
how the hell am I supposed to
hack my way through the pith
I imagine shooting through a curling wave of now
but down here it's sewing up the ears of a sow
and this down in the mouth is such a stale bit
If it tastes pithy
it's because I pithed in it
hey that's my dad's joke he ain't around no more
In my mind's eye I see him slipping out the big side door
without a word no without a backwards glance
well he was never so attached
to this stupid dance
But I am here so I'll toe up to that line
hardly knowing which still having to call it mine
right now the center pith seems bitter not sweet
Guess it seems the recipe
Still must be incomplete

what

2.2657 : 8/11/12 : Little Vacuum

Call it a little vacation
not even going to make it rhyme
it's a sorry business
but them's the breaks
And if you don't like it
post a complaint
or wait a day

what

2.2656 : 8/10/12 : Them Nah War

How do I love thee
and is it enough
when the ways diverge
and the sea gets rough
don't listen to them
nah, war is unneeded
I think I repeated
in the dawn you'd receded
I don't really think
things are okay
don't know if I should
fake it again today
Did you ask them? Nah
war is all they know
and again I must insist:
don't ask, just show

what

2.2655 : 8/9/12 : New Normal

There's no new normal
there's never been normal
I didn't have time to
engrave nothing formal
but you're invited, hey
to the convocation
solve for normal-not
solve up this whole nation
should forget the dreams
no one wants saving here
all want to wade in hate
all want to wade in fear
calling new normal's just
a way of giving up
and now I've had enough
sorry it's so abrupt

what

2.2654 : 8/8/12 : Trilogy

No one's going to
line up for my trilogy
the hero only wanted
to escape and get free
you could fit it on the
jacket leave all pages blank
I'll have to think a while longer
about who I'd like to thank

what

2.2653 : 8/7/12 : Dust

Dust is too thick
and I just cant be tempted
I've got excuses
plus I lack incentive
sorry for all these
drive by flutters
Well I'd dance harder
if you were flashing the shutters
will the hard work ever pay off
maybe this is all there is
I best get after the dust
and attend to my biz

what

2.2652 : 8/6/12 : Blurb

How can I boil down
a blurb: a précis
So far and soon
Just being lazy
Not quite true that
the hammer fell hard there
and I was the only
Itinerant bard there

what

2.2651 : 8/5/12 : Curiosity

Do I still feel
curiosity
lately some days
I don't feel like
I've got the time
And I got mired in
philosophy
that ate at
that kid's
energy like
quicklime
I'm rooting for you
curiosity
So far off
in a place I'll never see
here's to imagination
and a gentle touch
and for your namesake within me
please provide a little crutch

what

2.2650 : 8/4/12 : Stair

Where does my stairway lie?
hey mystic rocker guy
the wind is silent, mute
there is no lyre, no flute
bad news goes on and on
can't keep it from my song
and just don't have the knack
although not quite a hack
it seems I can't ascend
where does my stairway end
a hundred floors below
nowhere but down to go

what

2.2649 : 8/3/12 : Copper Field

A plain of green
rust
otherworldly
I trust
the tincture
and its yield
down on
the copper field
the ghosts all
file past
let's make a
pile, fast
digging all the pennies
from the copper field
scratching every surface
of the unannealed

what

2.2648 : 8/2/12 : Oh Well

Oh well it's the answer
to everything
the charm that
didn't arrive
and the broken ring
back to zero
do you think I'm daunted?
you'd die of boredom
from the tales of squares
I've haunted
it throws me back to solipsism
but oh well
it breaks my light up
like a prism
but oh well
you can't be perfect
no one makes it every day
So I'll walk by my imperfections
Come what may

what

2.2647 : 8/1/12 : Scanning

I want to be settled
stop the scanning
triple decade
this smack is spanning
It's little teeny thing to ask
an inclination
a persistent task
I've got my continuity
but no one's buying
forgive me if I've had
about enough of trying
now I'm the boy who called
I'm going to quit
and no one in their right mind
will believe a word of it

what