2.1285 : 11/8/08 : Numbers

I’ve played my share

of the magic numbers game

mostly all the dice

rolled out the same

hard to pick out the signal

from all the noise

observation and the chance

at precision it destroys

tough to be sensitive

tough to empathize

tough to see revealed

the grim equations ‘fore your eyes

and if this console blows

it’ll take you out redshirt

but hey put it off as you might

we all end up feeding dirt

what

2.1284 : 11/7/08 : Anomaly

The anomaly: last came first

well actually second

there’s that bubble burst

and the last will be

second to last

in an ultimate sense

that will get swallowed by the past

and I know that I’ll forget

when it’s time for the next

forget to mark the moment

Whatever it expects

but maybe I’ll remember

make it something new

remember at it, all of it

was written down for you

what

2.1283 : 11/6/08 : Ritualistic Conclusion

Attempt to drag the thing

to one last

ritualistic conclusion

all elements in place

in all their usual profusion

full of doubt it’s nothing new

new must be a long way off

I guess I’ll have to make it up

while anyone acquainted must scoff

to hear me talking new and first

to hear me talking tough

to hear me say I’m moving on

because I’ve had enough

what

2.1282 : 11/5/08 : Gimme

Gimme a freebie

toss me a line

I’m trying rather hard

to resist the decline

It may be quite serious

but here’s my retort:

I nailed it twenty years ago

in a book report

what

2.1281 : 11/4/08 : I Voted

I voted

I helped a friend

a neighbor vote

in the biblical sense

don’tcha know

I call it historic

I call it fine

I call it a supreme victory

I call it mine

what

2.1280 : 11/3/08 : History

History will teach me

Where to draw the line

between the advent of hope

after the steep decline

and if you’re doubting

I can relate

but there is time

to raise

this great estate

what

2.1279 : 11/2/08 : The Thorn

Even further behind

than you thought before

what’s better a brick wall

Or a slamming door

it’s getting tedious

I’m getting wroth and grim

Paul said the thorn pierced him three times

but I’m not him

And I should laugh of course

the price of bending rules

If you complained about the like

I’d curse you all as fools

but we all like rules

till they apply to us

and I’m no better than the next

So please excuse me while I cuss

what

2.1278 : 11/1/08 : Memory

I’ve got a mean streak about a mile

wide, inside

that tells me that we only

wreck things for the

drama, comma

but here’s what really keeps

me up at night:

Maybe Fred was right

And what had truly been true once

has died

what

2.1277 : 10/31/08 : Coda to a Decade

Can’t figure out if it’s been

nine years or ten

looks like I’m going to have to

call it rounding error again

coda to a decade

one more stumbling halt

but I need a fast run-up

to this damn pole vault

what

2.1276 : 10/30/08 : Age of Fire and Wine

And so began the age

of fire and wine

history got rewritten again

no surprises

about who came out fine

I’ve got to write

one period

to put a cap on it

this twenty pound rocket

with a strap on it

what

2.1275 : 10/29/08 : And Now the Clown

We’ve done the big night

eighty times

the variations

the various crimes

act like a grown up

middle aged

buried down deep

some dim impulse raged

how could I claim

any changes

the regressive twist

and how it estranges

me from my present

all my treasure

maybe next time

better measure

what

2.1274 : 10/28/08 : Campaign for Change

Dial another

no such number

doing some teensy part

try not to think about

my own backsliding

my neglected

so called art

Maybe it will

count for something

granular

distributed

at least I don’t want

recognition

let it all be to

the campaign for change

attributed

what

2.1273 : 10/27/08 : I Am an Idiot

3,464 : 24 ?

You are an idiot

enjoy being an idiot

You are an idiot

so enjoy being an idiot

Nothing much you can do

about it

Just the way the cards got dealt

I know because

I am an idiot

I just try

to enjoy being an idiot

what

2.1272 : 10/26/08 : Winter

It’s going to be a long hard

season in the ice

it’s part of living here

it’s not the part that’s nice

I’ve been waiting for the season change

despite the frigid slog

for changes a long time coming

new tricks for this old dog

thirty second or thirty third

who can keep track of it

I don’t remember my Western days

soon I’ll long to see the back of it

it will outstay its welcome

like other changes soon to come

but I’ll try to embrace it all

just follow through

complete the sum

what

2.1271 : 10/25/08 : Hells

This crooked shoulder

an ache to my soles

What is this affliction

that afflicts my poles

how can anything be

about anything else

how can I get past

these multiplex hells

here’s the fire

there’s the spark

here’s every single animal

but where’s the ark

I can’t understand

why I keep hearing bells

it must be the matins

in so many hells

what

2.1270 : 10/24/08 : Another Song

The alarm clock tells me

you gotta write another song

has gone on long enough

at least tonight

So hell I'll call this mess

another song

and I guess that's it

I guess

what

What's a tower of approach?

There have been many explanations of this congeries of "web pages", a portal to many of them (though some are lost) can be found here.

What are Songs of Days? Things I wrote, for days that were. The writing continues, at least as of this writing. When it ceases I'll correct that statement, if I can.

What is a Tower of Approach?  It is a time machine, currently set seven years in the past, though this has changed throughout the years.  It is as well an introspectograph, a portal into the state of one mind.

2.1269 : 10/23/08 : The Rest Cure

Hello middle age

another page

and here’s how I

fantasize now

about the rest cure

just inaction

solitude

something pure

work all these kinks out

pump some ink out

I could be

really certain

of my path forward sure

if I could just get

get a few

winter months

of the rest cure

what

2.1268 : 10/22/08 : The Provinces

When I finally beat this

affliction

and mend what I can of

my fences

I’m going to light right off

for the provinces

there’s no physical frontiers

left

or if there is the poor bastards

should be left alone

but oh God the provinces

no cyberspace

no telephone

if only I could beat this

thing

this thorn in my side

And so on to the

provinces

I will ride

what

2.1267 : 10/21/08 : Fine

Doing this wrong

the wrong time, lost the flow

I had it a minute

but it had to go

washed away with the water

cooked away by the sun

I can’t tell if it was good

if I lost the fine one

this is fine but not like that

Not like marble or wine

I know it so well now

the two kinds of fine

and I lied when I said

things were all better since

all those long conversations

when I was up against

it was there for a minute

I might get it back

learn how to pick my moment

learn when to attack

what