home purchase think of higher things instrumentation

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1. the engineer

rough mood
beautiful morning
in lieu
of mourning
     i embrace
     all this decay

how is the
dream unraveling?
been having
soft traveling
     saw the picture
     knew you'd been there

aftermath
recurring
framework
unfolding
     could you be
     the engineer?


2. am i dreaming now?

astronomer
     or piano tuner
ride with me
     through that brick wall sooner
          or later

like a ghost
     we pass through
time zones
     with a random cuckoo

through the glass
     with a squealing sound
say hello
     am i dreaming now?

cut the wires
     that hold us down
float away
     homeward bound


3. it all comes down

there is a depth behind the eyes
that only comes from reflection

in bold relief, untold release
sweetly circumvent perfection

right to the heart, clean to the quick
see this life in section

i have a pool in the head
of elegant misapprehension

     it all evaporates
     before my vacant stare
     a blurry afterimage
     hanging in the air

          then it all comes down...
          it all comes down
          to the way she moves

static beauty doesn't move me
like the line drawn by the tilting of her head

she speaks a melody directly
to part of me i thought of as dead

waves in slo-mo shake me in
sympathetic mimicry

the bitter taste in my mouth
anchors the sound in memory

     i turn away, you talk to me
     but i'm not there
     encircled by the curve
     she traces in the air

          then it all comes down...
          it all comes down
          to the way she moves


4. homunculus

why not you
why not me
     another boom
     and be set free
ripped from the head
lines cannot be crossed
     we know just how
     we like our cookies tossed
a sell-abrasion
with the cracker fire
     cracklin' rat racing
     on the fastest wire
buy it here
light it now
     celebrate the mite
     upon your brow

     do you see god as cosmic
     homunculus?
          an agent of apparent
          arbitrariness
     see your god as cosmic
     homunculus
          and consent to parental
          arbitrariness

the old one-two
for the bourgeoisis
     with a bigger screen
     you can really see
sharper lines
crisp flesh tones
     you'll want to reach out
     and touch the bones
you'll want to eat
you'll want to drive
     to get your honey
     fresh from the hive
a busy worker
to be fulfilled
     put a buzz on
     there's time to kill

Major Matt Mason
taught me what to show
     simulated progress
     simulacra are go
we have cognition
empto ergo sum
     question absorbancy
     'n book the king a room
anthropomorphic prince appalled
victory was his
     but there's no business at all
     like the ol' prole biz
can't say no to the lure
of the bother and fuss
     "we have met the enemy
     and he is us"*


5. indirect behavior

if you could be persuaded
if you can bear the brunt
of my indirect behavior
and barelt detectable stunts

it wouldn't be the first time
i barged in on the throes of doubt
but the last thing i want to do now
is to freak you out

if my explicitly simplistic
missive missed the mark
you can come down now, i'll find another
tree up which to bark

if i built a bridge, a door, a backyard
installation for my heart
could you cross, walk through, admire
and not be torn apart

for lighting candles in the rain
fodder for the arts
carry that torch, tool, the trick is
not minding that it smarts


6. a touch on the nose

i didn't know a touch on the nose
could tell me so much
n'est plus la mem chose
there's and old book
that needs to be closed
you could write a new one
and i would trust
you to be bold

     i hear what you're saying
     now i wanna see your lips move
     did i hear you praying
     for the gentle ones?

now there's a righteous storm
brewing inside you
the breeze is warm
on my ear a caress
great humble dreams
walking into the morning
joy unbounded
still, without form


7. you don't drive me crazy

is something missing
if you don't drive me crazy?

in the throes
     of irrational craving
i don't want
     to give in, but i'm caving
why the heck not
     tied in a heart string
i know i shouldn't
     be doing the right thing

shaving fairies
     with Occam's razor
falling into
     a pit of favor
sacrifice or
     imbalance hormonal
what does a guy
     have to do to be normal?

you can be stripped
     of your inalienable rights
hovering threat
     if the oddball is too bright
drugs to help you
     fit in, be productive
bigger patterns
     must not be deducted


8. rarefaction

momentum
square of
velocity
thrown together
diffraction reveals
inner structure
a deep fraction
tunnel through
rarefaction

simplest question
interlocking
a clue
rotating
forthcoming
upwelling
spherical wave
compression and
rarefaction

frere jacque ensues
are you sleeping?
global pillow
sound refracting
listen, sinking
to the core
expanding
in seven directions
rarefaction


9. think of higher things

slip into the old routine
clicking whirring thought machine
40 years to turn the tide
bright idea on a dark slide

     think of higher
     think of higher things

casting a pall over old so long
casting call for the part so wrong
casting light through the Sturm und Drang
casting doubt on the whole shebang

life is sweet but sometimes
indigestible
in pursuit of a dream, sometimes we're
insufferable
true to yourself and/or truly
incorrigible
making a stand on moral ground
indefensible

eyed with suspicion, eyed with lust
vied for position, violated trust
face was saved, butt was covered
shit went down while the angels hovered


10. foolish angel of fear

where are you hiding
my foolish angel of fear?
treading on the slippery will
human trials of freedom pill

why are you laughing
my dour harbinger of doom?
hounding seven basking seals
slipping on banana peels

who are you teaching
my lone doppelganger of pep?
public hanging at the mall
half again is twice as small

how are you paying
my glittering rocker of pride?
give your shoes for industry
hold an old time thrashing bee

when will you get there
my beatnik messiah of shame?
half developed coffee crush
conflationary theory pushed

what are you made of
my little boy bullseye of trust?
badger guts and gecko feet
marinated in defeat

now are you lusting
my dogged nose-grinder of care?
hanging out the pirate sheet
ululating in the street


11. celebrate the bittersweet

celebrate the bittersweet
because the cold's not pain
and the pain's not cold

can you let go
of the suffering
that built your soul

tell me true
and i'll be true
to what i don't know

     shiver down my spine
     muscular contractions
     generating heat

celebrate the bittersweet
because the cold's not pain
and the pain's not cold

     i'm crushing this illusion
     i'm calling in the keepers
     it's all energy

celebrate the bittersweet
because the cold's not pain
and the pain's not cold


12. all scattered

dissolution & fertility
bluster & tranquility
disappointment & new liberty
distraction & possibility
     all blown away
     all scattered

wonder & incredulity
hopefulness & delusion
randomness & uniformity
definition & conclusion
     all blown away
     all scattered

gender & sexuality
symmetry & duality
importance & necessity
voila! & open sesame
     all blown away
     all scattered

critique & parody
gravity & levity
haunting & memory
orbit & escape
     all blown away
     all scattered

the old familiar alien
exit as we enter
paradise & utopia
there is no more center
     all blown away
     all scattered




          all words (c)2004 Adam Griffen     [*Walt Kelly]