The Reckoning

By Cliff Lake

 The Reckoning

 

You want to punish them

For wanting to punish you

For not getting away with your crimes.

But not everyone was involved

And some are hanging onto

Values you once represented

Long ago voiced

By champions who died in their defense.

But now are tongues divided

Unchorused and atonal

A payment for choosing too many

Of the worst set out for offer.

Loyalties to clans

Or to causes born of rottenness

Stains of known offenses

Marking a brood of infamy

Desperate to remain uncalled

To prosecutor’s review.

These are the fruits

Of an ugly seeding

A harvest of callous regard

Of norms and propriety.

Now would you corral

The hyenas you set loose

Thinking you had a ringmaster

With a ready whip hand.

You bought this nightmare

With what integrity you may have had

You laid it down

In favor of a fever and a fog

You thought to perpetrate

On a nation that is waking up

Just in time.

The fractures and the friction

You are attempting to mend

Were put there knowingly

Willingly

And kept alive

By your own words and deeds.

And I bet you don’t even know it.

 

Cliff Lake 1/4/2023

Copyright © Clifford Lake 2023

Location: Washington, DC, USA

Comments

Anonymous said…
Excellent, innovative phrasing and right-on content

Especially “A harvest of callous regard’ , a beautifully turned phrase!
January 5, 2023 at 6:54 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

One Thousand Horsemen

By Cliff Lake
  One Thousand Horsemen   The call of an ally, A friend of old: “We ask your aid! Will you be bold?”   “Ancient terrors, Assail once more! Will you honor The oaths we swore?”   One thousand horsemen answer the call,   One thousand horsemen riding tall. One thousand horsemen, they prepare. One thousand horsemen, forth they fare.   “We have no word, Are we not heard? Are we forgot? Do you come not?”   “The terror hails, Our people quail! We are beset, Will you come yet?”   One thousand horsemen upon the hill, One thousand horsemen, duty they fill. One thousand horsemen make the climb. One thousand horsemen, are they in time?   “What do we hear? Is succor near? Have you arrived? Will we survive?”   “Hail faithful friend! Fear not an end! Our hope has come, Sound the war drum!”   One thousand horsemen, banners raised! One thousand horsemen, unafraid! ...
Read more

The Edge

By Cliff Lake
  The Edge   Out on the edge… This is where we exist, A precipice, A future unseen and unknowable, An edge we constantly walk. Here on the edge, We step forward blindly, Though we tell ourselves That we have planned well, But the future, Has no regard, For the mere mortal. Walking the edge, We may not see, What falls lie before us, What chasms may claim us, Nor how deeply they lurk. But know this: We have the strength, To climb out of darkness, If we but dare the edge again. Fear not brother! You are your own savior, If you but make the merest try. Do not despair sister! The unlooked-for hand, Will reach for you yet! Remember: From the bottom, The only way is up. Forward is the only motion, Time is allowed, In this frame we inhabit. It is the step to the side, That carries you down, Out here on the edge…   Straight ahead then - The path is before you.   Cliff Lake 2/24/2024 Copyrigh...
Read more

Used Up 'n Dried Up

By Cliff Lake
  Used Up ‘n Dried Up   You scurried away from your ancestral home, Let’s face it boy, you’re out there on loan. Your markers cashed in, no more favors to call, Winds of change blowing cold, house of cards to fall. Livin’ in a hotel, bumming dollars from the poor, Sellin’ your Chinese trinkets, maybe try it door to door. Your hands in everyone’s pockets, no more spare change for you, Keep on beggin’ at the dockets, that is what’s left to do.   “You’re on your own, kid.” That’s what they said. “You’re used up ‘n dried up; you’re bled.” “You’re out on the street, you’ve used up your cred.” “You’re on your own, kid.” That’s what I said.   Oh, how you fell hard for that dictator, A long-time, well-known master baiter. He always had you pegged as some petty clown, Just look at how he has jerked you around.   “You’re on your own, kid.” That’s what he said. “You’re used up ‘n dried up; you’re bled.” “Look at this crooked path t...
Read more