It would be nice to have a system

It would be nice to have a system

that might last more than a day

a week perhaps

I’m being cynical

I am unable to do anything

the same way more

than whatever I did

before what I do now

I can go back through years and

name the great mistakes

Why did I think I could be Harlan Howard without

moving back to Nashville

Why did I not insist on

finding a true publisher before I started

rifling great songs

into a hole with no bottom

Why did I get demos done

when my raw stuff was better

And that’s songwriting

Among all of the things I’ve done and do

I’ll never learn

I fancy myself on

a great hegira that will lead

where Kenneth Burke once said

the Grecian Urn will take us

Yes I care more for teleology than

lunch

or even success

It is what keeps me going

even in the face of nonstop

insult and the collapse of the world

Oh a system would be fine

but if you’ve ever gambled

well you know the truth

They do not mainly work

Though Oscar’s Grind once did for several years

but only in one place.

Too many things to say

a song goes

You don’t want to hear