CliffSongs

  6 October: Lantern Jack Goes On The Hunt   Lantern Jack was having a panic attack: Someone had run off with his cat in a sack. Lantern Jack swore he’d get Hellcat back, And persecute the perpetrator of the hijack.   Lantern Jack headed out the back, He could barely make out some traces in the track. Past tombstones and moonstones and a rotting haystack, Jack soon spied a shuttered up shack.   Lantern Jack had to hang back: No telling what was hiding intent on attack, Jack was prepared to take on a whole pack, If it meant that Hellcat wouldn’t end as a snack.   Lantern Jack crept up on the sorry shack, And peered through a window just open a crack. There was no one inside that he could give a whack, Just some broken furniture and one lumpy sack.   The empty room took Jack quite aback: He thought he’d find some ghoul inside talking smack. Instead, he found webs and dust and fading bric-a-brac, And ancient Mo...

  A Strangulation   The incessant need of the crowd: A succubus you sought out. Insatiable in demand, The audience that smothers.   The slow strangulation of popularity.   A vacuum of you, You gave willingly. Doled out for the suffocating return, How much of you is left?   Slowly strangled by popularity.   Give and give and give some more! Is it still genuine? You give and still they hunger, When did you cease to win?   You are strangling in popularity.   Hollow, you got hollow, Who can say what will follow? You started the cycle – And now you can’t get off.   Strangling yourself with popularity.   What do the numbers add up to? Do you gain just to gain? What have you got upon review? You’ll leave it behind just the same…   The doors that never stop knocking, The answers you cannot give. The vortex that you created, You fell in and can’t swim.   Thi...

  1 October: Shadowframe   1 October has come again, The strange time is risen. Weirdness gripping you and your friends, Darkshine in the eyes where it has deeply been.   There lies the question of some secret flame, A participation in a hidden game, A wolfish joy as October came, And a beckoning to the shadowframe.   And so we slide into the shadowframe, Where you lose yourself someplace without name Where on you strange places its claim, Lost between reason and real, (It’s all the same) This is you in the shadowframe.   Do you dance the moon alone, Felt perchance in blood and bone, A happenstance of some unknown, A fevered trance on firestone.   And so you slide into the shadowframe, Where you find yourself without a name Where on you wild places its claim, Lost between reason and real, (It’s all the same) This is you in the shadowframe.   This yearly harvest heralds winter: A collecting...

  A Moment in Texture   The texture of the moment Lost in the sweep of hours. To exist within a time That cannot be held, But is relinquished To mere memory And the regret of inevitability. Another dumpy specimen Swimming upstream against the regimen, I watch the moment Rushing to remembrance, And settles with the impermanence of life Subject to recall without notice.   And the world went on without me.   Another day and More facts to rearrange, Doesn’t it all seem a little strange, This sticky web; This life we’re anchored of… All that input for the same old output, Nudging existence onward, Until we exist no longer, And our trace is washed away, At the end of the day It was just another day, And we made it after all.   And the world goes on around us.   Sometimes the shadows pass my door, A pale parade in pantomime, A partial pageant painted. Ghosts in daylight, Lost to the night....

  Darkday 2026   What is this pounding? Those deep, drear beats resounding? War drums beating so constant, Or the growing chorus of dissent?   What is this reeking? What grave offences are creaking? Newly risen criminology, Ruination sans apology.   And the days drag on And the will wears down. And the light’s most gone, And I am near drowned…   What is this reaping? What is this malfeasance creeping? Payola to the open pocket, So fast you cannot clock it.   What is this stealing? Out in the open double-dealing. You’d think it made no sense: Leadership without conscience.   And the days drag on And the will wears down. And the light’s most gone, And the dark surrounds…   What pallid light lingers? Is there hope in this gloom? Give me flint and tinder, Let the light back in the room!   What is this fleecing? Who mans this grift unceasing? Some decrepit unaware, Lon...

  One Four Three, Two Four Five   A viewpoint through intensity, Synapses fired in new complexity. Pinwheels; bike wheels, they sound the same, Cycling always: sing the refrain. The walkthrough of a total amaze: A respite from ordinary days. So long now, a spark in the past, We never knew how, how long it would last.   One four three, two four five, Just a few hours to survive. Wandering out on the deep dive. One for three and two for five, Some are grateful and still alive.   Shining shards of darkness salted, Left in wholeness exalted. Dim-remembered revelation, Savored, selected from the vibration. The spin-through of totality’s maze: A respite from ordinary days. Strip this society’s flaccid mask, Seeking answers you did not ask.   One four three, two four five, Just a few hours to arrive. Wandering out on the deep drive. One for three and two for five, Some are grateful and still alive.   ...

  It’s Lake Ontario   Google Maps has made the incredibly imbecilic decision to allow a toddler’s temper tantrum to rename a shared resource, namely Lake Ontario to “Lake America” and display that idiocy on any Google map within the United States. I get it, they’re big, and unwieldy, and probably uncaring and too self-absorbed to correct and just won’t listen to we ordinary folk… Or…   You can submit your feelings about this nonsense in a number of ways. Allow me to copy Google’s own instructions detailing how you may tell them to cut the crap:   “You can send general product feedback or report app bugs in Google Maps by tapping your profile picture and choosing Help & feedback . On Mobile (Android, iPhone, & iPad) Open the Google Maps app. Tap your profile picture or initial in the top right corner. Select Help & feedback . Tap Send product feedback . Type your ideas or issues, then tap Send . Tip: ...

  Miss Information   The smiles, the guiles, The recording all the while. The wiles, the friendly style, The gathering of the exploit file.   The cocked aim, the locked frame, The shaping of the long game. The proclaim, the defame, The seeking of the shocked shame.   The long and fruitless quest, Between what is known and what is guessed. Speaking what in secret what was confessed, And in speaking, fail the test.   The bargain burn, the chastise churn, What is the sought-after return? The adverse affirm, the coached confirm, Who is the now turned worm?   The long and fruitless quest, Between what is known and what is guessed. Speaking what in secret what was confessed, And in speaking, fail the test. The faulty thread, the falsely led, The fealty never said. The furor spread, the facts shed, The fantasy found instead.   The safety shred, the belief bled, The allegations lie ahead. Lies i...

  The Legacy   A legacy to stand for all time, A legacy of your own find, A legacy of your own mind, A legacy of the wrong kind…   Hear me child as I tell the story Of a brute who chased his glory Under false pretense and the backroom deal, Through power grab and outright steal.   Hear me now as I mean to show, What your frail ego will never know: Of the falling down and the frequent fail, Hear me now as I tell your tale…   A legacy to stand in time, A legacy of your own find, A legacy of your own mind, A legacy of the wrong kind…   Will they remember what you defaced? Will they remember your frowny face? Will they remember how you were clowned? Is your legacy what you have torn down?   What do you think you leave behind? In your criminality too entwined. Daily someone takes pains to remind: In the files you’re enshrined.   A legacy to stand for all time, A legacy of your own find, ...

  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...

  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...

  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...

  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

  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. ...

  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 ...

  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...

  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...

  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...

  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...

  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. ...

  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...

  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 ...

  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...

  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...

  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?   ...

  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...