2.614 : 1/7/07 : The Worm Turns

2,806 : 21 ?



Nothing’s different nothing’s changed
even the deck chairs are left
unrearranged
despite so little justification
my pronouncement burns
today today today
the worm turns
pick up my flossing give up vice
drop the sugar soda
I won’t say it twice
stay off the cigarettes
give up smoke
Become that happy healthy shit
this is not a joke
self improvement is
a sucker’s game
Some favor self-destruction
but in truth it’s just the same
A man lives so long on symbols
but someday he learns
we’re all just making
up excuses
until the worm turns


what

2.613 : 1/6/07 : Be That Way

Why you got to be that way
always the same
never up for the game
when it comes to the new day
Where do you go in the push
when it’s down to the line
without signal or sign
not even a bird in the bush
Didn’t I treat you right
always down on one knee
and my favors were free
but you wouldn’t be kept for a night
And I guess I’ll have to wait
there’s no one else I can go to
You’ve got all the inspiration
it’s a bad bad situation
and I don’t even really know you

what

2.612 : 1/5/07 : The Technique

The technique: the secret style
the master’s coup de grace
the bear the crane the crocodile
the method of what lies beneath
when dragging once again behind
and every line’s like pulling teeth
plunging reckless in the deep
trying to learn the lesson
of distraction sloth and lack of sleep
Fully fed up with it all
the same old using day to day
the Rally and the fall
leaves only the technique
forge ahead and hope
absurd unreal I’m such a freak

what

2.611 : 1/4/07 : Thread

Taking the lesson
reluctant and grim
nothing left to learn now
from you, from him
hardly convinced
it beats the alternative
don’t know what’s next
don’t know another way to live
up too many nights
pursuing God knows what
a thread so unraveled
a wind that still blows but
The Change seems all random
divested of meaning
devoid of direction
no truth to be gleaning
No truth and what is that
just doing and doing
make something for nothing
some hellbroth I’m brewing

what

2.610 : 1/3/07 : Habit

We’ve made a habit of using too much
letting things go, dreaming and such
If we don’t break it we’ll be feeling it soon
Or so we’ve said a million times while
gazing at the moon
smoking drinking getting high
driving shopping getting by
Made of bad habits and dodgy bets
Someday soon I fear we’ll be made of regrets
Making good habits is dull as dirt
dull maybe better than losing your shirt
If I could just find a way
to make it thrilling
They’d be plowing a path up to
my door I’d make a killing

what

2.609 : 1/2/07 : Dull Refrain

The final obstacles are
boredom, inertia, and loss of faith
The tissue of justification
is tattered and battered and thin as a wraith
And fearing a dissolve
revolving devolving to the dull refrain
bite down on another salty grain
There’s no earthly reason why
I couldn’t make this train wreck a lullaby
and put all the doubt and fear to rest
shrug and smile and say I did my best
And it would be okay to quit
to bow my head and stop
but my heart tells me it isn’t so
and so I let another drop
Hoping I can wiggle past
the dull refrain
And the plodding
And the nodding
and this God thing in my brain
And casting for a future
with a broader scope
And failing that, enough rope

what

2.608 : 1/1/07 : Not Another Bridge

Not another bridge
I do declare
I insist henceforth
on the straight and low road
from here to there
I know I’m gonna lose
and despite myself be disappointed
and curse the spite
that’s got me up all night
trying to set to right
the way the whole damn joint
got so disjointed
I’ll try hard
I know
to stick to it no matter
how
that old wind blow
And failing’s not the real rub
as I’ll learn again
leaning against the wind
on some other bridge
way out along this wheel’s hub

what

2.607 : 12/31/06 : The Resolute

2,798 : 13 ?



The resolute
determined to have fun
tear it up proper
get the job done
give up forever
from this point forth
give up forever
ever after
keep the moment
hope
and laughter
I, resolute
fit for battle
on my feet
back in the saddle
now to the deep
the then to now
riding into the future
on my sacred cow

what

2.606 : 12/30/06 : Spark

Flash a moment
an inkling
a spark
two points of
separation
a gap
the arc

what

2.605 : 12/29/06 : The Near Thing

Nearly there so
nearly there
right back where I started
nowhere
anywhere
I’ve got no more credulity
no more hope
I know that I’m deluded
I know that I’m a dope
Yet I strive
still I strive
for the near thing
try to make the
ends meet
try to snatch
that bright ring
and I’ll make some
pronouncement
I’ll set some mark
that will rest in silence
in stillness
in dark

what

2.604 : 12/28/06 : Magic

When the magic is gone
do you say so long
or just keep hitting that pig
hammer and tongs
hammer and tongs
If I believed no more
would it close some door
would it put me on a vessel
to some distant shore
to some distant shore
will the magic return
if I rave and burn
how can I feel so old
and have so much to learn
and have so much to learn

what

2.603 : 12/27/06 : Factions

Free the radical
the redox reaction
free the numbered members
of the hated faction
hang the bloody dictator
in 2 days time
I’m telling of the future
that’s no capital crime
I hate the bloody factions
and the paradox
the more you fight the sides
the more they put you in a box
people love their categories
indexes and files
the factions take advantage
playing stupid all the while

what

2.602 : 12/26/06 : The View

The view out of the window
the unknown passing by
a vision of a greatness
for a little guy
stuck rutted in a rhythm
Stuck rooted in a beat
Stuck staring lost and fixed
at all the space between my feet
hardly as if anyone will care
I tell myself
no matter how I try
I’m browsing the same shelf
Daydreaming about breaking out
getting a different view
but guessing it will mean a change
that’s through and through


what

2.601 : 12/25/06 : Intermezzo

Slip in some blessed verses
on the intermezzo
asked if I think I’d make it
yeah you know I’d bet so
worry if these in betweens
produce the richest cream
but days when it’s just where it is
but days and passes like a dream
Sometimes I think all life
is just an intermezzo
and asked if I’m a cynic
well you know I guess so
no matter what I say though
I do keep on trying
in this space between the nothing
and the someday dying

what

2.600 : 12/24/06 : Condition

The condition’s flaring up
an outcome of the bitter cup
forgotten what symptom was
so now I drink it just because
forget about the long goodbye
or any tender lullaby
the fear is what I fear today
its object what I fear to say
the cup won’t keep the fearing down
So I must seem a real clown
to be tipping it back again
to be taking a pad and pen
to act like a man on a mission
seeking to cure the condition
with some voodoo herb or spark
that solves nothing but leaves a mark

what

2.599 : 12/23/06 : Another Flaming Hand

Another flaming hand
another king another wall
as if we needed more
reminders of the fall
What will you remember
in the morning when it comes
the writing of the fiery finger
or the ghostly drums
and the assembly line
of time it never ceases
and the new year’s resolutions
in a million little pieces
do you really think I’ll heed
the latest reprimand
you think you’d think
of better uses
for that flaming hand

what

2.598 : 12/22/06 : Casting

Casting casting about for a topic
try to steer clear of the mirror
try to magic out a hot pick
casting into turbid waters
casting where it’s clear
casting into kill and river
lake and stream and mere
I’m a lousy fisherman
I’m the first to admit it
but if I get a nibble
then by damn I’m gonna hit it
It’s hardly news that I don’t
know why anymore
lost looking for a window
lost looking for a door
I cast about and
I’ll cast off the traces
I’ll forecast heavy weather
till we have faces
this is a shadoworld
I cast for a light
and some clever pronouncement
to set things right

what

2.597 : 12/21/06 : Determined

Determined again to end the
failing
Rushing upstairs with scissors
not holding the railing
catching up’s the easy part
Changing is the bitch
I’ve caught up nine by nine
by nine
but still procrastinate
that one stitch
I know the feeling
I know what I have to do
I’ve figured out the pieces
but I don’t know
what’s the glue
I toss it all up in the air
hoping it stacks up neat
baffled as to why it is I
still will not admit defeat

what

2.596 : 12/20/06 : Lap

Another straining breathless
painful step
makes a lap
It’s such a shame I need
the carrot and the strap
I’ve just a week to
figure out some way
to turn
Some way to reconcile
and make this
fire burn

what

2.595 : 12/19/06 : Egregious

Egregious abuse of
the rules of engagement
I try to surmise where my
anger and rage went
bemused by the turns
and the twists of the path
around some bend which
I must have dropped my wrath

what