CliffSongs

  Law and Disorder   They assemble outside the bench, These carrion crows eager, Squawking their ugly cries, In service to the vulture silenced, Who would have them, At the next meal. Once they proudly stood, Behind shield and service, And honor bound in blue… Now they believe in the law, That is unto themselves, And may be discarded at need. Mouthing argument contrary to evidence, Alleging ideas unsupported by statute, Must we trust these yet, To legislate in good faith? These servile, Underlings to a base delinquent, These are to establish just rule? They are an oxymoron in practice. They reveal their desire: Lawless authority, Reckless domination, Tyranny. So, they defend the brute, That they wish they could be. Cowards all. They speak against the laws, Their party once praised before all else, And become transparent, Easily seen, No more smoke, Just the mirrors, That reflect their duplicity. They assemble outsi

  The Evercycle   Amassed in the imperfect void, Imperfect, for they are within. They await the evercycle, And their return.   Their slow confinement shall cease, And they shall descend on Man, With promise of ancient terror – Retribution for daring to live.   Gods they were, and gods they are, Cast out or cast aside, What does it matter? Here in the endless reaches they have hated.   Here the evercycle turns, As it does in all Creation, And though they have naught of patience, Still, they have waited.   How their imps have slipped the curtain, They know not, Nor have they occasion to care, It is enough to see the disruption.   They have seen that turmoil, The anticipated spiraling descent, The apathy of Man, As the Faithful have grown few.   For they have been watching, O, they have watched long and long. And they calculate the weaknesses, And they make plan.   The evercycle turns, And the barrier will be thru

  Congratulations, Hannibal Lecter!   Congratulations, Dr. Lecter, We wish you all the best. You truly are the best selecter, To choose a dinner guest.   And what about the mighty Sauron? His praises we will sing! Even though less water trickles, To make his bathtub Ring.   Let’s not forget dead Cthulhu, He’s dead and dreaming still. Probably he died of cancer, From dangerous windmills.   We must honor Dracula, With great impunity! Being that he’s dead already, He’s got immunity!   And don’t we just love Pennywise? One of Maine’s greatest prides. He can help us to surmise, There’s good people on both sides.   Yes, let us celebrate these mighty ones, And how strong they make us look! We take pride they’re on our side… Whadda ya mean they’re just from books?   Cliff Lake 5/14/2024 Copyright © Clifford Lake 2024

  Rogues   They gather secluded, To plot and end, Tyranny they had hand in enacting, Now too grievous, Too pervasive, And becoming bloody. Rogues they are, But valiant enough, When the wolves are howling, Too close to the fences. Little trust is found among them, Or might be in wholesome times, But ravers are in the Ministry, And the maniac holds court, So, enmity is put aside: Comrades in desperation. Now they speak on dangerous things, Plans and contingencies, Tactics and strategies, Proposals, schemes, methods, Tricks, if needed. All the while, Hoping tenuous trust, Is not prelude to treachery. For these times have taught, That fear may turn any acquaintance, Into a rat bent on survival, Or a viper intent on advancement. So here is the uneasy tryst, Where there is hope, That no one gets screwed. The conclave ends, No handshakes here, The steady eye is more secure. They slip into the night, So that they may sav

  Conspire Required   No one really knows just how I feel inside. Half my information is twisted and cockeyed. My psyche evaluation I think I can confide: Tried to feed my brain worm but it’s gone and died.   I’m feeling so much better since I quit sniffing glue. I’m feeling so much smarter since I joined the queue. I feel my understanding has now really grew, After I quit bothering to think things through and through.   What I really need is conspiracy! I’ll never know that ignorance is feeding me. Can’t understand what you say to me, Government control and my gun makes three, What we need in here is conspiracy.   If I don’t understand it, then there is some big plan, By the men in black; it’s so goddam underhand. Which new products should be secretly banned, And do I still need to keep my testicles tanned?   So much information that I need to ignore, So many covert pamphlets in my underwear drawer. Am I the only one that really knows

  Wormy   Bobby Junior does not try to hide, Gleefully he does confide, About the worm that got inside, Where it starved and then it died.   O Bobby K, will you eat some more? Will into your brain they bore? What tales will you have in store? These yarns you spin we just adore!   Bobby K, sounding so wormy. Conspiracies going all squirmy. Might be due for taxidermy. Bobby K has gotten wormy.   Marjorie stances so infirm: Cannot see beyond the short-term. Speaker Johnson reconfirmed, Marjorie is just a worm.   The House moves on appliances, In support of their oil alliances. Never mind the warning of sciences, The energy worms squirming defiances.   House Gop, acting so wormy. Conspiracies going all squirmy. Might be due for taxidermy. The House GOP has gotten wormy.   Cliff Lake 5/9/2024 Copyright © Clifford Lake 2024

  The Venomist   She seethes. A poisoned flower, Her homage lures the unsuspecting. Yet she seethes. Sly eyed beneath the adulation, The plotting roils, A simmer of ego long damaged. The royal “We” injected, She brooks no challenge, To assumed authority. An elevation appropriated, Rising on the warmest airs. And she seethes. Conflated argument proposed, The double-down follows quickly. A verification errored often, The miscued validation, Volume is a requisite, Restate, rehash, replay: Irritation on offense. Insecurity sharpens her fangs, Venoms carefully curated, Delivered, Then the outraged retreat, Princess of victimization. No flower then, but viper, The ambush attack dependent on camouflage, On the disarming word. Litigant-in-waiting, Making pretty noises, And coiling for the strike. She seethes… Watch your ass.   Cliff Lake 5/8/2024 Copyright © Clifford Lake 2024

  Quid Pro No   Hello Mr. Johnson, we hear from you again, We wondered where you might have been. And what really what went on when, You visited the Palm Beach playpen.   It really looked like you did not stoop low, That you would not simply cave and follow. But it seems like all the rest you’re a domino, You got yourself involved in a quid pro quo.   Down to Dimlyworld did you go, For some give and take we shouldn’t know, Grant a little bill just for show, Then close ranks: the quid pro quo.   Holding the defendant on high, We see now how you comply. To usher in Church and State you try, And knowingly watch democracy die.   So now your hand you early show, Your chips are thrown, all in you go. You claim the light, but choose shadow, Is this just for spite, your quid pro quo?   Down to Dimlyworld did you go, For some give and take we shouldn’t know, Grant a little bill just for show, Then close ranks: the quid pro quo.   C

  Shiny   He did not often wonder, At the sum of his life, There was no need, He accumulated. Once, he collected friends, But promises are cheap, Or are not meant to be kept, Or are simply forgotten, And circumstance intervenes. His friends grew less, or, Grew away, or, Were less than friendly. Such is life, Such is time, And who can explain either? So, He accumulated. He acquired things. Many were of value, Others were of memory redolent, Unmarketable, And yet dear. Uncatalogued, They suffered permanent arrangement, Suffuse with subjective situation, Patterned for only one recognition, Yet not disorderly. Crowded collection, It was tended. His days became a shuffle of cleaning, A dustman in dotage. There were moments. Memories lit by a sunbeam, Times of a deepening past illuminated. Then, On a day, He let go, Passing into the long sleep. Not many days after, He was found among his clutter. Everything w