CliffSongs

  The Wreck of the Old 47   The morning meeting convenes, The accolades are sung. Just another day Behind the wrecking ball. He’s being lied to, And accepts anyway. He looks run down, So he takes all the money, To convince himself he’s not drowning. He gazes at his good time buddies, As they look at what he’s done. Nothing seems to change, While the house stays shut down, And none of them will tell him, That he’s been such a fool. “SNAP!”, he cackles, “Let them eat crypto!”, he says, Guarding his own pile manically. “Let them eat ICE tear gas!” He gazes around the room, Waiting on the expected harumphs. “Harumph!”, they bark, “Harumph!” The assistant vampire steps forward, “The cozening will continue!”, it declares, Convincing no one further. They know what’s at stake, And none wish to be tied to the whipping post, Nor chained and bound. Yeah, Sometimes they feel like… It’s dying, The support they had feels like...

  Goin' Fission   The chest is sorely bruised: A constant, If erratic thumping, Renders soft flesh tenderized, While the stone beneath feels nothing, But the fear of consequence.   The mouth is open, The mouth is always open. It is the loudest in the room. It is always the loudest in the room. Hear it praise itself! Someone has to…   The hands are mismatched: One is blotchy purple, And when it isn’t, It is Covergirl pink. Both reach for the money, All the money.   The eyes are blinded by gaudy paint, They fail to see the damage it wreaks. They do not read figures they do not like. They see enemies in every corner. They do not see ramifications. They only see dollar signs.   The ears do not register. They hear no entreaties, They heed no advice. They are full of what the mouth has said, They listen that only, And are deaf to anyone without deep pockets.   The brain is sodden. It...

            October 26 Lantern Jack Cuts a Rug   Lantern Jack was frowning his pumpkin mug, He felt all year he was much too snug. Lantern Jack needed some way to unplug: He and Hellcat at the Mash would cut a rug.   It was the Mash, it was the Monster Mash, Old Jacko planned to make a splash. But to the tailor they had to dash: After all year they looked like trash.   The tailor’s shop was on Dreary Lane, You can only reach it by Blaine the Train. The truth is Blaine is a pain. Going by Blaine may be insane.   Jackie and Hellcat climbed aboard, Dreary Lane Blaine headed toward. On the way Blaine got bored, Pedal to the metal, Blaine was floored.   Blaine had a need: a need for speed. Blaine had another need: A once and final deed. Neither Jack nor Hellcat had agreed.   Lantern Jack thought the speed a strain, Hellcat looked on with disdain. Soon they would p...

  October 25      Shadow   Lightning-struck, It yet lives, Once vibrant, Green and giving, Now shattered, Twisted, broken, Harmed. A misshapen remnant, Clinging to a life near end, Still sustained, Bolstered and buoyed by Something…   October arrives. The season marks changes: Thinning airs, Longer echoes, Lengthened shadows. One falls starkly black: A grasping image perhaps, Spindly and somehow substantive, A screaming imprint without sound, A sooted portraiture of agonized form, An effigy not quite lifeless, A likeness of pained being.   Hurrying passersby do not cross this mar, Unthinking, they step around, Taking to gutter or grass, Uneasy avoidance. Nor do they heed its appearance, To look is to fall, A known accounted in primal instinct, The mind will not acknowledge: Such aberrations lead only to reason unhinged, Then lost. Still, For some, There is a dim call...

The Future of the Past   Gold glaring vulgar, Petty opulence to surround. No show of strength this, Merely garish self-congratulation, Just a harking back to a bitter history, Long lost to infamy. Ah, what one wishes! What dreams fondled! Think you to recreate a past You were no part of? It has already been, It is dimly remembered. It was discarded as unwieldy, Unworthy, Unwanted… So have you become. You tie yourself to visons dispensed with, Dreams of glory tasted by the few. And what of that? You see yourself of their number, Land snatchers and self-titular that they were. They too saw themselves superior, They too thought themselves beyond reproof. What matters that you run roughshod? All have been beneath you, So you are informed By the lackeys you have bought. Those trampled underfoot have long paved your way. You look to your apologists, Craven and grasping at your leavings, How much longer Can they explain away ...

    A Broken House   A broken house Shows what rots inside.   Because he loves the hate.   Because they love to hate.   Because of their love of hate.   What wreckage are we to endure? More walls have come down, More destruction in this land. And too near – An empty House, Closed for disrepair. One wonders at the timing…   What wreckage we are to endure! Metaphor springs to life, Trades the red hat for the hard hat, Keeps the hard heart. Make complaint to your local congressman, He needs something to do. And what of the broken thing behind the rubble? He revels in the complaint! Why? Because he loves the hate.   What wreckage are we to endure? Institutions torn asunder, Or starved of their resources. Their needy have no recourse But to clamor outside closed door. Too late – The delegates are sent home, And no one gets anything. But at least they are satisfied in knowi...

October 17         Mist   Wavering twilight indistinct, Animate hazes closely linked. Rising fog as thick as ink, Carry you to folly’s brink.   Shunted to unwanted tryst, Too bewildered to resist. Coherence here has been dismissed, Lost now in October mist.   Not here is found confusion’s cure, In the mist unreasons lure. October mists so demure, October mists obscure.   What is seen is not seen, What is heard that has not been? What in autumn mists may teem? What may slip through swaying seam?   Insubstantial wavered twilight, Welcome to uncertain sight. Here unreason to take over, Lost in the mists of October.   Not here is found delusion’s cure, In the mist unreason’s spoor. October mists so demure, October mists obscure.   Is that the haze so softly calling? Into the maze you softly falling. Something in your senses shifts, A succumbing to the drift. ...

         October 14 Here There Be Monsters         (Only Cowards)   Hulking louts breeding unrest, Sowing chaos at overlord’s behest. Armored, armed rabid beasts, Upon the populace unleashed.   Marching mindless manic brain cases. Combat booted zombie disgraces. They make our streets unsafe places, These monsters have no faces.   They havoc with covered faces, Of themselves they wish no traces. Making our streets unsafe places: Only cowards won’t show their faces.   Bred to protect over-rich ghouls, Violent cosplay makes racists drool. Copycatting Adolph’s worst art, Frankensteined together from rotten parts.   Marching mindless manic brain cases. Combat booted zombie disgraces. They make our streets unsafe places, These monsters won’t show their faces.   They havoc with covered faces, Of themselves they wish no traces. Making our s...

  October 13       Twilight   What can be said of October twilight, Its thinning air, Its moon rising bolder? What can be said of the sounds That carry there, Of a song sung far older?   What has been said of the evening mists, Curling so soft Tendrils that almost catch? What has been said of the farther door, To this plane to waft, Who is lifting the latch?   In twilight we fly, In twilight we sigh, This is the no time, Reason defies. In twilight we try, In twilight we fly, This is the flow time, Kiss reason goodbye.   What can be told of drying leaves whisper, Language they speak, You once knew long ago? Who would dare mention the spine’s tingle-shiver, Forgotten warning, Of the things you don’t know?   What has been whispered of fey sound Come too sharp now, No clear sources to avow? What has been written of footfall behind you, A stranger, some danger, T...

October 12       Air   Daybreak dawns bedewed: Mists rise and curl, Briefly though, Then, Sink slowly into lawns gone brittle, Or settle on overnight laces spun, Twinkling gems that fade with the rising sun. The far cry of the passing trains linger longer, Forlorn cries distant, Heralds of harvest, Grain and coal, And lumber and travelers destined elsewhere. Morning’s dins play more insistent, Preparing for the long rest ahead.   Summer’s hazes have given way to crisp cerulean, Such clarity is required by the fleeing geese. Traffic hums louder, Rather, More distinct, Clanks and clatter separate, Rendered each to their own space. So too are children’s calls more lucid, The dogs bark more sharp, The wailing sirens more pierced to the ear.   In the night, The stars shimmer clearer, More rough-edged as newly plucked jewels. The bat calls come sharper, Fare farther, Unimpeded by sluggi...

  Rations   Steps to ease the existence:     (in no particular order)   You may steal when prices are high. You may denigrate all that you don’t understand. You may cheat if you can’t win. You may deny knowledge you did not already have. You may lie if that’s easier. You may avoid responsibility that causes you discomfort. You may violence when:     you think they think they’re better than you,     you had a bad day,     you have a better deity,     they’re in the way,     they won’t do the,     they won’t give you the,     they don’t listen,     they’re stupid,     the lies aren’t working,     they aren’t your tribe,     reasons. You may idolize whatever is mildly popular right now. You may extramarital if you are really in love this time. You may ego when everyone else is a loser. You may sloth if som...

  Fail Slow   Indulged. Coddled and caressed, All accepted, All demanded, All unearned. The tale of your sins Trails behind, A shadow, Grown larger than you. All devious, All denied, All deserved. What record reveals? Placate the masses with distortions and still, Fail slow.   Fail slow, How low will you go? This is the row You chose to hoe. We drink our health, As you reap what you sow, And stand and watch, As you fail slow.   Pieces fall, The puzzles firms, Define the edges first. Murky picture, Shows abandoned promises, Marks broken enterprise, Lensed often, Still imprecise, The tale woven dark, Without regret, Whispered of in gutters, And in greasy privacy, Must not be told open, But walls have ears, And you fail slow.   Fail slow, How low will you go? This is the row You chose to hoe. We drink our health, As you reap what you sow, And stand and watch, As you fa...

  Sorry Christian   O sorry Christian, Worshipping your church, Abandoning Jesus, How far you stray.   Sorry Christian, How you love to hate, Preaching against those you know not, Their customs strange. Their clothing may fit different, Their food be peculiar, Their tongues may be a difficult hear. Do they seem garish? Do you find them unwanted? Sorry, Christian, Your brother may not always look like you.   You sorry Christian, What makes your cathedrals so great? They stand higher than your works. Your prayers speak louder than your deeds, Your purses impede your morals. You walk with Mammon, And he with you. You value value, How can you thread the needle’s eye? Sorry, Christian, Poor treasure you have stored.   Lo, sorry Christian, Will you follow Peter then, Blade too ready to hand? Would you send the unbeliever Christward early? How you celebrate blood! How fierce in your belief! But t...

  October 1 The Woods   There are old places. Older than what surrounds them, yes. Feral and willful places, Untamed and untouched, One does not attempt these woods under this moon. One does not tempt these woods under this moon. Here the veils are thinnest, Here the crossings are not so difficult. The entry opens rarely, Seasonally, And ever back through eons. An entry that opens now… It has come through.   It bides its time, For the season returns once more. A slow hunter, A creature of consummate patience, Inexorable. And for some, Inevitable. One does not tempt these woods. Not under this moon.   This is a mire. This is a maze. This is a mistake. There is a collector here. A gatherer, An unrelenting connoisseur. It can wait, It has cycled many times, And more times before that. It can wait.   Many traps it baits, It has learned much in its wheel, It has forgotten not a trifle. ...