Copping the Disguise

By Cliff Lake

 

Copping the Disguise

 

Cop the disguise,

Terrorize.

 

The smiles into eye unentered,

Poison penmanship dripping gratitude barbed,

Shared experience of shared invention,

Doubled faces birthed of troubled graces.

Manipulators manage,

Missed messages mangled,

Mixed messes meddled,

Maimers most malevolent.

 

Cop the disguise,

Terrorize.

 

Led astray by one’s own lead,

The path accelerates,

Going inward,

Getting nowhere.

Fly, you fools!

Choose your misdirection!

Onward, onward!

Where have you gone to?

Where are you now?

Who are you now?

You’ll never tell.

 

Cop the disguise.

 

Choose your form,

What will you do when the label comes off?

Unmoored association,

Unmasked aberration,

Unhinged accumulation,

And above all:

Constant customization.

Can you still hide behind the shine

When the chrome has got too soft?

 

Terrorize.

 

Presume, present, placate.

Practice pretend poise:

Everything improbable becomes fact,

Or the impossible to get back on track,

Before the smoke clears,

Go on the attack!

Institution intrusion,

Let the dogs out,

You need confusion.

They raise a ghost,

And you’re tied to the whipping post.

 

Cop the disguise,

Fantasize.

 

Fading flowers scentless,

Petals curling,

Lifeless at the cutting,

An offering of the temporary

To the transiently loyal.

Gathering birds similar,

Held with the unwarming wing,

Only to find that they are you.

They tear at the disguise,

Demanding finalize.

 

Cop the disguise,

Still recognized.

 

Cliff Lake 8/8/2025

Copyright © Clifford Lake 2025

Location: 1100 S Ocean Blvd, Palm Beach, FL 33480, USA

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