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Muddied Waters

By Cliff Lake
  Muddied Waters   He muddies the waters, He muddles the minds. He offers them what they desire With the empty hand. He proffers the fist When the pocket needs priming. He is congenial when convenient, He is spiteful when spied. A stalwart when opportune, He is firmly in his corner. He deflects from the main thrust When the corner becomes too tight. He muddies the waters, He meddles the minds. He speaks in spirals Intent on descent. He proposes the unreachable With his fingers crossed. He sings the praises of the praisers, He spurns the reports of the real. He margins the market, He marks the marks. He deviates the documents, He nevers the news. He muddies the waters, He messes the masses. He maligns modesty, He is misshapen morality. He practices the unthinkable, He thinks he isn’t caught. He shaves the points, He starves the hopeful. He hungers the hallelujah, He hides the history. He hallows the hateful...
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Lonely Turn

By Cliff Lake
  Lonely Turn   The lonely rock slowly turns, Its crowded face slowly burns. For peace and plenty the lowly yearn, As the elevated play their unconcern. Stars above stare blankly cold and stern, At a lonely rock that slowly turns.   Points of light in darkness wheeling, They hold their knowledge unrevealing. No knowing what they’re concealing, Unwarm, distant and unfeeling.   The lonely rock slowly burns, In uncrowded space it slowly turns. The elevated play out their unconcern, For peace and plenty the lowly yearn. Stars above stare blankly cold and stern, At a lonely rock that slowly burns.   Sun and moon dare to grace the sky, Light our struggles but don’t say why. Though our every effort may go awry, They merely watch this rock from on high.   Specks on a rock that daily yearn, Heavens that shine in unconcern. Elevated laugh from heights unearned, As beneath them tribulation churns. No chance f...
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Location: Wichita, KS, USA
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The Daily Reap

By Cliff Lake
  The Daily Reap   Red dreams howl in a twilight we did not ask for. Promise fulfilled claiming lives. Marching goons welcomed by morons unaware they are listed also. Daily chaos daily reap. Bibles raised opposite the gun hand. Pulpits praise the reddened tide. Lawless lawmen perform in concert. Justice flees her skirts undone. Daily disarray daily reap. Pledges lied for eager sup. Contracts signed to be ignored. Roving eye staring blankly. Covered ear hears praise only. Twisted tongue truths accidentally. Margin multitudes miss the message. Daily discord daily reap. Costly bread choking masses. Hobbled peoples forsaken legacy. Vanity project mildewed by morning. Cash conscription for golden tomb. Daily snarl daily reap. Untruth spoken sold for profit. Nightmare molded newly taught. Historic fumble fashioned as win. Character cratered callously championed. Illegal lega...
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Location: Wichita, KS, USA
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hours

By Cliff Lake
  hours   white noise and the scream of the undone and plans and plans and planning and   the hours grow long and long   memory stains motion motion mourns motive motive mars memory and the hours grow long   white noise clouds and does not release remainders reminders remainders rolling rolling rolling roiling remaining and the hours grow long and no witness but the undone   the hours hang on and the reminders remain and the undone reminds remains reflects regrets and the white noise rises rejects remains and the hours grow long and long   long and long   The hours grow long   Cliff Lake 7/4/2026 Copyright © Clifford Lake 2026
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Location: Wichita, KS, USA
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As Advertised

By Cliff Lake
  As Advertised   You consume promises. Hip-hop candy bar hallucination. Soda pop dream time. Chewing gum reverie. Melt away the pounds production. Electric automobile vacation vision. Employee-only pricing available to all. So many promises. The years-long-going-out-of-business-sale. The miracle health benefit. The get out of jail free card lawyer. The accident payment action. The lower than low everyday prices. Consume the promises. The quality assurance. The 3-year warranty. The free delivery. The no-salesman-will-contact-you. The internet-only offer. The digital coupon. The spending to save. The younger-looking-you. The 5% cash-back. Eat that promise. The lifetime guarantee. The subscripted discount. The After-Christmas sale. The Valentine’s sale. The President’s Day sale. The Memorial Day sale. The Mother’s Day sale. The Father’s Day sale. The Back-to-School. July Fourth. Labor Day. Columbus Day. ...
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Twisted Ink

By Cliff Lake
  Twisted Ink   The legends float down the long ago, Bone marrow memory breezes blow. Tales twisted by manipulative ink: Ancient truth shrouded indistinct.   They mechanized the magic and we lost, They monetized the magic at cost. Warnings couched in old fable Myth the paid-for label.   Now we search for visions in the dust, Or through prophecy covered in rust. Chasing oracle because we must, Hoping to catch a vision in the dust.   Tribes described experience, Scribes guided by expedience. Ancient knowledge thrown away, So much less is known today.   Cataclysm and impending doom, Catastrophe unknown looms. Perils survived we forgot, Retold by seers we count for naught.   So we search for visions in the dust, Or through prophecy covered in rust. Chasing oracle because we must, Hoping to catch a vision in the dust.   Discount the olden ways, Mistrust the ancient days. Millenia that ...
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Location: Wichita, KS, USA
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Circles

By Cliff Lake
  Circles   Brightly colored robes that fade when seen, Full feasts in an empty canteen. Flashing entertainments gone routine, One after the other scripted scene.   Overlord of the endless dune, Walled away in a stone cocoon. And day after day the repeated rune, And no one to read but a silent moon.   And he calls upon a deity’s name To curse a sky that will not rain, And though he shouts from night to noon, There is none to hear but the silent moon.   Monotonous days dully stark, Hoary haze in the glaring dark. Shifty sands the only landmark, Repeat always the endless arc.   Walled away, he is marooned, A king perhaps or some tycoon. And he thinks of no one else to impugn, Than the unhearing disc of the silent moon.   And he calls upon a deity’s name To curse a sky that will not rain, And though he shouts from night to noon, There is none to hear but the silent moon.   Riches that he...
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Location: Wichita, KS, USA
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Spell Checked

By Cliff Lake
  Spell Checked   Dark mage older than his name, Dark pages soiled and stained. Dark pronouncements misspoken, Dark demand without token.   Shaking hands, the potion marred, Items too precious to discard. The spell is spoken without regard – Nothing remains but broken shard.   Wanderer between the veils, Lost in time, Lost in miscue. Conjuror conscripted to travail, Lost and entwined, Lost to taboo.   Lost in invalid comprehension. Lost to voodoo suspension. Lost to misjudged intention, Accursed and lost between dimension.   Cast adrift, the spell endures, Sorcerer in arcane detour. A suffering that remains obscure, An existence of the unmoored…   Wanderer between the veils, Lost in time, Lost in miscue. Conjuror conscripted to travail, Lost and entwined, Lost to taboo.   Drifting, drifting, Lost in dark unshifting. Spinning, spinning, No end nor beginning. Falling, fa...
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Location: Wichita, KS, USA
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In Time

By Cliff Lake
  In Time   If we were moved away in Time, how would we know? Are we carried along in cosmic flow? Forward we fly as some wayward wind blows: Sometimes it speeds, sometimes too slow. When did our fluid history go into this tailspin? Were we flung by some rascal djinn? Some hole opened and we fell in. Is there no single moment we can pin?   Somewhere, somehow we jumped the track, And now there is no going back.   What cackling maniac pulled a lever? Who shunted us onto the path of return never? Now we travel some alternate wherever, Spinning in some psycho cycle forever. Now we are blown across Time as a weightless feather: Some fool severed the tenuous tether, And all that’s ahead is ever stormier weather, Like it or not we are in this together.   Fallen into the deepening crack. And now there is no going back.   Now we wander this shuddering space, Out in Time and out of place, With nothing against wh...
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Location: Wichita, KS, USA
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Pigeon Parade

By Cliff Lake
  Pigeon Parade   See the pigeons parade before your eyes, Begin the tax-free enterprise. You watch them stumble in the dark, How long does it take to make your mark?   Slick talk, schtick walk, get them to gawk, You’ll be gone before they take stock. Line ‘em up and knock them down, You just might be the worst game in town.   Long game, insane, It’s a wonder anyone Knows your real name. No shame, bad strain, It’s a wonder anyone Allows you to maintain.   Is there to be a public offer? Is there to be a peek into the coffer? Prepare the distracting display: You do best when they look the other way.   Shuffle them up, where is the queen? You are the best they have never seen. Keep them guessing and you keep them in play. Keep them impressed and you keep them prey.   Long game, insane, It’s a wonder anyone Knows your real name. No shame, bad strain, It’s a wonder anyone Allows you to main...
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Location: 1100 S Ocean Blvd, Palm Beach, FL 33480, USA
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The Grey Company

By Cliff Lake
  The Grey Company   Grey cloaked, grey eyed, Toward doom they ride. To the West the fell beast flies, And thus fear and Shadow rise.   Forth! you Ranger! And no courage lack! From the Dark Tower nine ride in black. Soon even the safest lands are overrun, And all minds bent to the One.   Forth! you Ranger! The sun shines still! Against the Shadow you must pit your will. Now the darkest path will you roam, And yet the Evenstar shall call you home.   Grey cloaked, grey eyed, Toward doom they ride. To the West the fell beast flies, And thus fear and Shadow rise. Grey cloaked, grey eyed, To battle they ride! Ever the Shadow they pursue, Grey Company hard and true.   Forth! you Ranger! Traitor makes his plan! On the stern face of the rock you stand. Soon the Grey Company arrive, Among the Dead you will soon stride.   Forth! you Ranger! The black ships sail! Under the Shadow the sun will pale. ...
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Location: Wichita, KS, USA
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Bullets and Bread

By Cliff Lake
  Bullets and Bread   Nightly the great one took to his bed. He did not sleep there but proclaimed instead. About persecution and new bloodshed, And the guns started firing and no one was fed. And the news guy asked as the war spread, “What is going on inside your head?” And to the newsman he smiled and he said, “See how we exchange bullets for bread.”   Oil and water, Prayer and war. Getting bled dry at the grocery store. Pride and fear, Secrets and more. Who knows what’s next in store? Home and hearth, Worry and dread. Where have the brutish boots tread? Grease and gore, Awake and brain-dead: They would exchange bullets for bread.   Daily the great one is pried from his bed, Taken to the great hall, he’ll sleep there instead. There the cowardly circle his head, While to him only the best lies are fed. Down the poison primrose path he is led, That he may open his eyes and lose the thread. But should the peo...
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Location: Washington, DC, USA
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The Benefits of the Doubt

By Cliff Lake
  The Benefits of the Doubt   Everything is a lie. That’s the bottom line. Everything is a lie. Every word, Every move, Every choice. Everything is a lie. But what is he afforded? The benefit of the doubt. Who benefits? Certainly not you. Certainly not me. “He doesn’t know what words mean.” An easy out. “He has dementia.” A soft cell. “He doesn’t read well.” “He isn’t intelligent.” “He gets worse every day.” And he slips through the cracks. Again. He slips through the cracks. Everything is a lie. I doubt the benefits. I doubt the performance. An adjudicated liar. A thief. A pretender. An escape artist. You’re buying it. I don’t. Is he crazy? Like the fox, as they say. How better to get the soft cell? Cultivate sympathy. No bunker bullet here friends, No, This fella has chosen the house option. Everything is a lie. You know this. You’ve said this. And then you give him the benefit. He isn’t ...
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Location: 1100 S Ocean Blvd, Palm Beach, FL 33480, USA
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The Rain Again

By Cliff Lake
  The Rain Again   Does the ocean need the rain? Does not the river fill it again? What lesson is learned from repeated pain? Does the ocean need the rain?   Consider this and explain: The miller does not sow the grain, It is delivered to be ground again. And yet the wheat does not complain. Nor does anything constrain, Nor does the wheat refrain, It simply grows without disdain, And we consider this mundane.   Consider man in the same vein: Unchecked power without restrain, Only interested in more gain, And the ever growing domain, Acquired by the more forceful campaign, And mowing down what he can’t contain. Into the ground the soaking bloodstain, And the wheat is fed and grows again.   Does the ocean need the rain? Does not the river fill it again? What more need it obtain? What lesson is not learned from repeated pain? Are not the sky and the sea but remote twain? Is it something beyond explain? W...
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Location: Wichita, KS, USA
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The Better

By Cliff Lake
  The Better   Sitting in the high seat I am closer to the sun. The lofty perch I occupy Affords me so much fun. I hear your moaning squabbles, But nothing gets me done, Like the smell of counted money And the sound of the gun.   I sit so much higher On my overstuffed billfold. I am the seller and the buyer, And you are what’s been sold. Try to survive me if you’re able, But may I make this statement bold: If there’s no food on the table, There’s no way it can get cold.   Don’t judge me, I am better than you. Can’t budge me, What do you plan to do? Don’t grudge me, I am one of the few Granted all that I can ask, Don’t judge me, I am better than you.   I need not fear the newsroom, They’re here in my pocket. Likewise the courtroom supreme: The good old shadow docket. And what about the departments-in-law? I’ve got them on lock-it. And if I need some chaos stirred up, There’s the man with th...
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Location: 1100 S Ocean Blvd, Palm Beach, FL 33480, USA
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Detached

By Cliff Lake
  Detached   The constant companion, The final fadeaway. The surprise abandon, No more dark in the day.   A loss insubstantial, A trailing sorely missed. So silently cancelled, The loss of the tryst.   My shadow has left me, I know not the cause. My shadow has left me, Under the sun all on my own. My shadow has left me And I am not who I was. My shadow has left me, And I am alone.   Eyeless gray reflection, Or shade sinister underfoot. Some unknown dissection, Something has come unhooked.   My dark silent accomplice, How far have you run? I am unmoored without compass, Unaccompanied under sun.   My shadow has left me, I know not the cause. My shadow has left me, Under the sun all on my own. My shadow has left me And I am not who I was. My shadow has left me, And I am alone.   Did I behave badly, Why was I disowned? Can nobody save me, Must I walk alone?   ...
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Location: Wichita, KS, USA
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Dreamy

By Cliff Lake
  Dreamy   One-trick mirror and the long reflection, See myself clearer in vivisection. Fearing an interior misdetection Always getting nearer where the dark dreams beckon.   And here I am again, Found at the dark dream dead-end. Here I am again, Impossible to unattend. Here I am again, Less and less to recommend, More and more to apprehend, Dark dreams beckon like a friend – And here I am again.   The long forbidden corridor, Not quite so hidden as before, Forgotten horror kept in store, I am my own conspirator.   And here I am again, Found at the dark dream dead-end. Here I am again, Impossible to unattend. Here I am again, Less and less to recommend, More and more to apprehend, Dark dreams beckon like a friend – And here I am again.   With what do I contend? What reality to unbend? Some fantasy to amend, Hallucinations to defend, Or self-delusion that I tend. Still downward I desce...
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Location: Wichita, KS, USA
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The Café of Discipline

By Cliff Lake
  The Café of Discipline   Straight on, straight on, How else to greet the impossible dawn? Is it not enough to carry on In the Café of Discipline?   Enter friend, you’ve time to spend, All your fears we’ll soon transcend, Prepare for your unknown dividend, In the Café of Discipline.   Step in, step in, Where to begin? Come in, come in, Be filled to the brim, Check in, check in, Find yourself all unpinned, In the Café of Discipline.   More than a now and then, This hospitality we extend, Allow normality to upend In the Café of discipline.   We’ve sights and slights, remain upright, Requires quite the merest bite, We are gonna get you right, In the Café of Discipline.   Step in, step in, Where to begin? Come in, come in, Be filled to the brim, Check in, check in, Find yourself all unpinned, In the Café of Discipline.   Where are you going? You’re already here. What are ...
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Location: Wichita, KS, USA
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Clarity

By Cliff Lake
  Clarity   The silent screaming darkness, Tunnel in, tunnel in. A release of the harness, The welcome spiraling. Clear-eyed and hungering, Shake off the cloying calm. Insensible encumbering, Release reason’s embalm.   The hesitation When you speak my name. I am no sensation, I seek the madness that you claim. What is this trepidation, I strain against contain - If I somehow don’t go crazy I will go insane.   The numbing shouting input, The silence of their eyes. The closeted output, The piercing in disguise. The poison in the comfort, The meaning in their ends, The scrabbling for more dirt, The nightmares one defends.   The hesitation When you speak my name. I am no sensation, I seek the madness that you claim. What is this trepidation, I strain against contain - If I somehow don’t go crazy I will go insane.   Echoes in the new dawn, Remnants of the night. Demons of a new spawn...
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Location: Wichita, KS, USA
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The Real Fake News Fortnite Edition

By Cliff Lake
  The Real Fake News Fortnite Edition   Noting some rust on a personal vehicle, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has begun what he calls “a war on oxidation” in which he is calling for “excess oxygen removed from air and water which will also help prevent drowning in certain cases.”   RFK Jr. is also pressuring the FDA to investigate milk because of “invasive chemicals such as calcium and also vitamin D which seems to be causing a higher incidence of unwed mothers.”   President Trump today cancelled a dentist appointment as he “has many activities and golf tees to attend.”   Lauren Boebert cancelled her attendance at a local Colorado children’s event where her son Tyler was to be Master of Ceremonies claiming, “He won’t be Master of anything; this family has had enough trouble with that sort of thing in public.”   Speaker of the House Mike Johnson was asked directly if Donald Trump was the Messiah returned. “I ha...
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Location: Washington, DC, USA
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Rosy

By Cliff Lake
  Rosy   In his opulence he sat, He had never wanted for a thing. Allowing himself to grow fat, A child that had been made a king.   He sat at his table grand His ministers spoke of the people’s woe. Yet he would but survey his land, He needed not be vexed so.   Blindly their court will stumble on, Wearing their shades of rosy hue. Someday the walls will tumble down, And they’ll wonder how they never knew.   Never had he done deeds bad, A just and noble ruler he would proclaim. If only they had already had, There would be naught they could complain.   And so the king took comfort, And then another bite, He would continue as he had done, For he knew folk grumbled but out of spite.   So blindly this court stumbles on, Darkening their shades in rosy hue. Soon the walls will tumble down, How is it that they never knew?   Beyond the walls the people groaned, They could buy no meat nor ev...
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Location: 1100 S Ocean Blvd, Palm Beach, FL 33480, USA
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Shinytown

By Cliff Lake
  Shinytown   There is a road that ends up almost nowhere, Around the next curve, beyond the sun’s glare. Is it a secret enclave or merely a safe snare? Not much is heard from those who have gone there.   Tales have been told here, yes, once or thrice: Of sugar and spice and everything nice. Abandon all anxiety and take our advice: Allow yourself the embrace of the velvet vice.   Shinytown! So far off the beaten track! Don’t forget your sandals, Don’t forget your backpack! Shinytown! Once you’re in you will never look back, Shinytown is the original switchback.   Lay your cares in the provided ditchway, Enter at your own speed no matter which way. Here it’s always find your own niche day, And maybe for the sales pitch, stay.   No altered allegiances you need to attend, No adjusted arrangements you need to amend. Just access the appropriate alleyway and You’re not prepared for what’s around the next ben...
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Location: Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, 18300 W Alameda Pkwy, Morrison, CO 80465, USA
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Near End

By Cliff Lake
  Near End   It is now very nearly the end, As down your rocky road you weary wend: Fallback positions you dear defend, Searching stony faces for a final friend.   The seeds of ruin spread in manure deep, Living off the backs of others, your return is cheap. You fear the judgement you will final reap, As off the precipices you created you leap.   Why don’t you remember where you came from? How will you answer the beat of your funeral drum? Your day of reckoning is approaching chum, Do you hear the beat of your funeral drum?   You show up in state in your soiled gown, While watching all your webs come unwound. See how your world goes upside-down, What an unwieldy fate you have found.   All of your plans go un-gelling, Every day more enemies need felling. Everything seems like it’s going helling, And yet you’re still the cat that needs belling.   Why don’t you remember where you came from? How will ...
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Location: Washington, DC, USA
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Flow

By Cliff Lake
  Flow   A standing stone, or just bare bone, A shadow beneath the trees. A fleeting song, we are not long, Merely faint notes on the breeze.   The rivers of time flow between the stars, Where are the islands of those streams? Though it seems in life we travel far, We may be merely our own dreams.   So, hurry, don’t worry as you scurry, Try to keep gaining in the chase! So, hasten, outpace them and outrace them, As the eons amass, we have but this brief taste.   Time erodes and thus leaves its mark. We so fumbling and eager in the dark. How will we manage the days we are given? We not so mighty under the infinite heavens.   We are moments that ripple barely leaving a trace. Years consume monuments, they erase the face. These aging hands, where does the time go? Nothing withstands the inescapable flow. Then hurry, don’t worry as you scurry, Try to leave a mark in this space! So, hasten, keep pace then a...
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Location: Wichita, KS, USA
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Winner

By Cliff Lake
  Winner   What cold win have you got to now? Why does uneasiness still furrow your brow? How did the undercutting not work out as planned? Why has the victory left you this unmanned?   What are you chasing that never strayed? Was it yourself that you outplayed? What did you claim that would not belong? Was the knife at your back yours all along?   Who is inflamed with all your betraying? That is the shame of all your preying. Success you claim, but it’s loss you’re displaying, There is no game if you’re the only one playing.   What was gained at the end of day, Was it too little, will you not say? Are your actions too demeaning to defend? Was there ever a meaning to the end?   Why did the everything go sideways to the plan? You were the comic playing the straight man. How did the whole everything go so wrong? You were the fox in the chicken coop all along.   Who is inflamed with all your betraying?...
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Location: Wichita, KS, USA
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Grapemine

By Cliff Lake
  Grapemine   Poison: The sweet perpetration. The societal sensation. A personal levitation. Poison ever the chronic conflation.   Venom: Some fearless flotation, Word of mouth mutation, Involved though no invitation, Your involuntary integration.   Prattle, tattle, What matter whose life is rattled? Chatter, ratter, Severed reputation on a silver platter. Hearsay, near-say, A small matter of peer-slay. Defame, inflame, The bodies lie shattered in the gossip game.   Scandal: Trade in titillation, Maybe fabrication, Some outright creation, Or oversimplification.   Rumor: Character assassination, Infamy without citation, Aspersion through fixation, Influence castration.   Prattle, tattle, What matter whose life is rattled? Chatter, ratter, Severed reputation on a silver platter. Hearsay, near-say, A small matter of peer-slay. Defame, inflame, The bodies lie shattered in t...
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