CliffSongs

  Cold Wind   I heard it whistling through the bare trees, A cold wind rising and stealing my ease. A greedy gale to bring me to my knees, How to stand against the wind in times such as these?   There’s a wind blowin’ through the world, And it freezes my heart. A cold thoughtless wind blowin’. Tearin’ my soul apart.   I saw it blow down the men we once did trust, Blowin’ away all good things with every new gust. I saw it blow too hard to adjust A blast so cold and heartless turning all to dust   There’s a wind blowin’ through the world, And it freezes my brain. A cold thoughtless wind blowin’. Nothing will ever be the same.   Who can stand against the whirlwind, Who remains true? Where is it we find shelter, Have we become too few?   I felt the wind blowin’ through my bones, A colder wind than I have ever known. I felt the wind and I heard the earth moan, I feel the wind everywhere and nowhere...

  Stuck   I always know when the cycle starts again because We get a new Steve. Ron was trying to slow particles down. He wanted to observe the moment of change. The moment the particle does something else. When he turned the apparatus on – It created what he calls a “temporal inversion”. We didn’t know at first because Ron says we’re in the eye. It’s a field effect he says. We don’t know how far it goes. We just know more things keep coming in: Cars, birds, animals, people, Steves. The Steves are becoming a problem. They all claim to be First Steve. I don’t think that matters, I don’t think it’s going to matter at all for long… Let me tell you about the Steves: They… HE went out for grub. Came back with pizza and grinders and beer. Four days later he came back again – Pizza, grinders, beer. Only he was still here. But now there were two Steves. Ron said that two Steves were better than one, ha ha. And then he came back a...

  Get It?   You don’t get a flying car. Imagine the independence you would have! The ability to go anywhere! Anytime! All the time. We can’t have that. You know we can’t have that.   You don’t get free healthcare. Imagine the serenity you would have! The lack of stress! The relief from financial worry! All the time. You can’t have that. You know you can’t have that.   You don’t get honest journalism. Imagine the information you would have! The ability to make an informed choice! The lack of manipulation! All the time. We can’t have that. You know we can’t have that.   You don’t get freedom from fear. Imagine the well-being you would have! The ability to take pleasure in life! The comfort and the peace of mind! All the time. You can’t have that. You know you can’t have that.   You don’t get a flying car…   Cliff Lake 1/9/2025 Copyright © Clifford Lake 2025

  Now What, Friends?   “Now what?” He says to no one, To everyone. “Now what?” Life is suddenly an empty bucket, Filled with impossibility, Just waiting to be enacted. Wild plans proposed, Wild deeds performed, Wildmen with their hands on the wheel. Do you know what sane is? Do you know what sane is anymore? That may no longer matter. Isn’t that funny? Doesn’t that just kill you? And when? So… Now what? Are we to allow crazy To be redefined As the daily? That’s what we’re being fed, That’s what they want us to swallow, That’s what we’re to be thankful for. A new breed of crazy, A New Wild West, Gunned up and grinning. And we’ll be protected from ourselves, right? And protected from the imaginary, That they’re just dying to make real, So that the killing can begin. So that they can make a killing. And if a few of our corpses, Fall in the course of it, You’d best believe, That it’s an acceptable loss, Lo...

  Terrible Time Again   Well, It’s Terrible Time again. You didn’t really think Anything was going to change Did you? Oh, I know he told you You’d get to be in charge of something, Anything, Something… You would get to exact revenge On people who haven’t done anything to you, That everything was going to get better For the people you narrowly approve of, And those that you don’t will get shipped off To the garbage countries, Or worse… But… Now you get to be involved with three wars at once, Foreigners will get visas for the best jobs, The market you go to Is already printing higher priced stickers, A guy from South Africa is calling the shots, And you’ve suddenly realized Who was telling lies all along, And how much shit they’re talking now. Yup, It’s Terrible Time again. Only this time around, You aren’t being laughed at – You just see a lot of shaking heads, As they walk away. And what you really don’t get I...

  Forever   When is the end? When is the end for you? Do some of us die when we finally confess all our sins? Do some die when they can sin no more? At the end, Which of those matter? Entropy is forever. All things speed toward their final dissolution. Do you think to slow-walk life? Every of your moments passes immediate, Even a photograph fades. Memory may do so faster, Or live so closely to your now That you do not see the opportunities For what they are. Every day is another one where you might change everything. There is no knowing whether that will be so, Or will not. There is no knowing that you will continue, Or that you will not. Entropy is forever. It is behind you chasing, It is before you waiting. Inescapable as the march of time, Universal and pervasive. Do you wish to slow the day? Then take notice of the little things: Every instant contains its detail, Every minute its small story. Let these fill you...

  Winterfire   Lacy, Deadly, Cold and ubiquitous, The crystalline sheen heavy. Beauteous weight, Scintillated danger, Hard as the tyrant’s heart, And as fragile as that ego. This is the winterfire, Bitter and brilliant. Lo, when the sun sparks it, His distant heat only serves the refreeze, A melting reprieve may take days! Impermanent jewels dazzle, Glinting on tree and wire, They cause the falling of the weakest – Gravity is the law. On the wind, One hears the creaks and snaps, A testament to accumulation. On the lawn, All is fixed in place, A tribute in precipitation. This twinkling fragility, This hidden gloss, This burnished hazard, This is the winterfire, Beautiful and perilous, A warning, And a gift, One may look and marvel, But navigation is impossible. This is the winterfire. Today, This is life.   Cliff Lake 1/4/2025 Copyright © Clifford Lake 2024

  Down By the Sea   Singing songs down by the sea, Of lovers lost and misery. Remains she there so lonely, Singing songs down by the sea.   A beauty fair, forever bound On barren peninsula found. Pale of hair, and skin so browned, More than one man she did astound.   With stringed shells her head is crowned, About her bodice more are wound. Long reclined on sandy mound, More than one man she did confound.   Singing songs down by the sea, Of lovers lost and misery. Remains she there so lonely, Singing songs down by the sea.   She sings her songs, hypnotic sound, Mesmerizing melodies compound. More than one man she bid come round. More than one man ran aground.   Now they see her inviting gowned, Now do they their love propound. Now do cries of distress abound, More than one man has she drowned.   Singing songs down by the sea, Of lovers lost and misery. Remains she there so lonely,...

  Nothing Left   You ate my empathy. Skilled ineptitude Allowed you to choose which lies Suited you best. You had your chance. You could have turned from the lies. But what was said Was what you wanted to hear. You chose to opt in. Now you are pissed off That the lies you wanted, Spoken by the man That has one of the worst records At being a human Lied to you. All you needed to do Was not ignore the evidence, Apparently That was too easy, The candy was too sweet. Now you must suffer The toothache you chose. The toothache you chose for everyone, Being selfish, And intentionally ignorant. You ate my empathy.   Cliff Lake 1/2/2025 Copyright © Clifford Lake 2025

  Gains   What gains May be had by the common, As we gaze upon the year Thrust at us? An impossibility Of forward momentum With the piles of gold in our way. Toadish figures squat heavy on their lucre, Soft in the belly, Soft in the mind, Hard in the heart. Their disdain Is spoken in their every utterance, For all of their talk centers internally. Yet they have use for you, citizen, As they acquire And fail to release their plunder, They count on you and me, To buy product, And swell their coffers. O glad expenditure! Adorn me in plastic! Swaddle me in cheap synthetics! I am your GMO groupie! For I am promised better healthcare – Soon… Two weeks away, From the last two weeks… I am promised all the things! Until it becomes less profitable. I am the common, And maybe I matter.   Cliff Lake 1/1/2025 Copyright © Clifford Lake 2025