CliffSongs

  Circles   Brightly colored robes that fade when seen, Full feasts in an empty canteen. Flashing entertainments gone routine, One after the other scripted scene.   Overlord of the endless dune, Walled away in a stone cocoon. And day after day the repeated rune, And no one to read but a silent moon.   And he calls upon a deity’s name To curse a sky that will not rain, And though he shouts from night to noon, There is none to hear but the silent moon.   Monotonous days dully stark, Hoary haze in the glaring dark. Shifty sands the only landmark, Repeat always the endless arc.   Walled away, he is marooned, A king perhaps or some tycoon. And he thinks of no one else to impugn, Than the unhearing disc of the silent moon.   And he calls upon a deity’s name To curse a sky that will not rain, And though he shouts from night to noon, There is none to hear but the silent moon.   Riches that he...

  Spell Checked   Dark mage older than his name, Dark pages soiled and stained. Dark pronouncements misspoken, Dark demand without token.   Shaking hands, the potion marred, Items too precious to discard. The spell is spoken without regard – Nothing remains but broken shard.   Wanderer between the veils, Lost in time, Lost in miscue. Conjuror conscripted to travail, Lost and entwined, Lost to taboo.   Lost in invalid comprehension. Lost to voodoo suspension. Lost to misjudged intention, Accursed and lost between dimension.   Cast adrift, the spell endures, Sorcerer in arcane detour. A suffering that remains obscure, An existence of the unmoored…   Wanderer between the veils, Lost in time, Lost in miscue. Conjuror conscripted to travail, Lost and entwined, Lost to taboo.   Drifting, drifting, Lost in dark unshifting. Spinning, spinning, No end nor beginning. Falling, fa...

  In Time   If we were moved away in Time, how would we know? Are we carried along in cosmic flow? Forward we fly as some wayward wind blows: Sometimes it speeds, sometimes too slow. When did our fluid history go into this tailspin? Were we flung by some rascal djinn? Some hole opened and we fell in. Is there no single moment we can pin?   Somewhere, somehow we jumped the track, And now there is no going back.   What cackling maniac pulled a lever? Who shunted us onto the path of return never? Now we travel some alternate wherever, Spinning in some psycho cycle forever. Now we are blown across Time as a weightless feather: Some fool severed the tenuous tether, And all that’s ahead is ever stormier weather, Like it or not we are in this together.   Fallen into the deepening crack. And now there is no going back.   Now we wander this shuddering space, Out in Time and out of place, With nothing against wh...

  Pigeon Parade   See the pigeons parade before your eyes, Begin the tax-free enterprise. You watch them stumble in the dark, How long does it take to make your mark?   Slick talk, schtick walk, get them to gawk, You’ll be gone before they take stock. Line ‘em up and knock them down, You just might be the worst game in town.   Long game, insane, It’s a wonder anyone Knows your real name. No shame, bad strain, It’s a wonder anyone Allows you to maintain.   Is there to be a public offer? Is there to be a peek into the coffer? Prepare the distracting display: You do best when they look the other way.   Shuffle them up, where is the queen? You are the best they have never seen. Keep them guessing and you keep them in play. Keep them impressed and you keep them prey.   Long game, insane, It’s a wonder anyone Knows your real name. No shame, bad strain, It’s a wonder anyone Allows you to main...

  The Grey Company   Grey cloaked, grey eyed, Toward doom they ride. To the West the fell beast flies, And thus fear and Shadow rise.   Forth! you Ranger! And no courage lack! From the Dark Tower nine ride in black. Soon even the safest lands are overrun, And all minds bent to the One.   Forth! you Ranger! The sun shines still! Against the Shadow you must pit your will. Now the darkest path will you roam, And yet the Evenstar shall call you home.   Grey cloaked, grey eyed, Toward doom they ride. To the West the fell beast flies, And thus fear and Shadow rise. Grey cloaked, grey eyed, To battle they ride! Ever the Shadow they pursue, Grey Company hard and true.   Forth! you Ranger! Traitor makes his plan! On the stern face of the rock you stand. Soon the Grey Company arrive, Among the Dead you will soon stride.   Forth! you Ranger! The black ships sail! Under the Shadow the sun will pale. ...

  Bullets and Bread   Nightly the great one took to his bed. He did not sleep there but proclaimed instead. About persecution and new bloodshed, And the guns started firing and no one was fed. And the news guy asked as the war spread, “What is going on inside your head?” And to the newsman he smiled and he said, “See how we exchange bullets for bread.”   Oil and water, Prayer and war. Getting bled dry at the grocery store. Pride and fear, Secrets and more. Who knows what’s next in store? Home and hearth, Worry and dread. Where have the brutish boots tread? Grease and gore, Awake and brain-dead: They would exchange bullets for bread.   Daily the great one is pried from his bed, Taken to the great hall, he’ll sleep there instead. There the cowardly circle his head, While to him only the best lies are fed. Down the poison primrose path he is led, That he may open his eyes and lose the thread. But should the peo...

  The Benefits of the Doubt   Everything is a lie. That’s the bottom line. Everything is a lie. Every word, Every move, Every choice. Everything is a lie. But what is he afforded? The benefit of the doubt. Who benefits? Certainly not you. Certainly not me. “He doesn’t know what words mean.” An easy out. “He has dementia.” A soft cell. “He doesn’t read well.” “He isn’t intelligent.” “He gets worse every day.” And he slips through the cracks. Again. He slips through the cracks. Everything is a lie. I doubt the benefits. I doubt the performance. An adjudicated liar. A thief. A pretender. An escape artist. You’re buying it. I don’t. Is he crazy? Like the fox, as they say. How better to get the soft cell? Cultivate sympathy. No bunker bullet here friends, No, This fella has chosen the house option. Everything is a lie. You know this. You’ve said this. And then you give him the benefit. He isn’t ...

  The Rain Again   Does the ocean need the rain? Does not the river fill it again? What lesson is learned from repeated pain? Does the ocean need the rain?   Consider this and explain: The miller does not sow the grain, It is delivered to be ground again. And yet the wheat does not complain. Nor does anything constrain, Nor does the wheat refrain, It simply grows without disdain, And we consider this mundane.   Consider man in the same vein: Unchecked power without restrain, Only interested in more gain, And the ever growing domain, Acquired by the more forceful campaign, And mowing down what he can’t contain. Into the ground the soaking bloodstain, And the wheat is fed and grows again.   Does the ocean need the rain? Does not the river fill it again? What more need it obtain? What lesson is not learned from repeated pain? Are not the sky and the sea but remote twain? Is it something beyond explain? W...

  The Better   Sitting in the high seat I am closer to the sun. The lofty perch I occupy Affords me so much fun. I hear your moaning squabbles, But nothing gets me done, Like the smell of counted money And the sound of the gun.   I sit so much higher On my overstuffed billfold. I am the seller and the buyer, And you are what’s been sold. Try to survive me if you’re able, But may I make this statement bold: If there’s no food on the table, There’s no way it can get cold.   Don’t judge me, I am better than you. Can’t budge me, What do you plan to do? Don’t grudge me, I am one of the few Granted all that I can ask, Don’t judge me, I am better than you.   I need not fear the newsroom, They’re here in my pocket. Likewise the courtroom supreme: The good old shadow docket. And what about the departments-in-law? I’ve got them on lock-it. And if I need some chaos stirred up, There’s the man with th...