CliffSongs

  Washington Goose Step   They lie, prevaricate, distort the facts, No time to govern, covering tracks. Bombastic babbling, targeted backs, Façade crumbles, black hearts bleed through the cracks.   Who still believes the sharpened tooth smiles? Who still believes in 4D chess wiles? Who still treads water in his talking point bile? Who still believes that he ain’t in the files?   Who stands there secretly on the run? Whose daily moves are always set on stun? Who gives the orders behind criminal guns? We need all of this over and done!   They ain’t never satisfied with what they’ve got: Sticky fingers inserted into every pot. Content to contaminate all with their rot, And tell all of us to be happy with our lot.   Who still believes that man ain’t a child? Who still believes that Vlad ain’t on speed dial? Who still believes he doesn’t want to hear “Heil!” Who still believes that he ain’t in the files?  ...

  In the Fire-Fens   Only a fool walks the fire-fens. Out there where the senses end. Some never return again, From a foolish night in the fire-fens.   This tale begins where it should end: A brave lad found at loose ends. An unwise wager made with friends: A dare to brave the fire-fens.   One night only he should spend, One night in the fire-fens. With warm regard these fellows send, With what fate would he contend?   Sometimes a fool tries the fire-fens, That vie with the senses of men. Some are known to return again, After the night in the fire-fens.   Bravely forth our lad intends. Bravely to the fire-fens. Therein he finds what not was kenned: The very spirit of the fire-fens.   Fire-red tresses she did tend, And soul-deep eyes that beckoned. Then all time seemed to suspend, And the lad was lost to the fire-fens.   Not some fool walks the fire-fens. Out here where senses conten...

  Murder and Policy   Faceless men that claim provoked, Another life has been revoked. Immediate, the White House spoke: Immediate mirrors and smoke.   Might this be just as they’re saying? Washington-approved slaying? Before this goes any further, Mr. Trump, you sanctioned murder?   No more rights for you and me: They ain’t right, and you ain’t free. This is exactly as you see: Murder is the policy.   What could prompt such fevered will? The truth will out, the poison pill. When they get close, you know the drill: See Jeffery’s ghost, state sponsored kill.   Who needs their intention masked? Who’s afraid we’ll see their past? This must be discussed further, Donald Trump, you sanction murder.   No more rights for you and me: They ain’t right, and you ain’t free. This is exactly as you see: Murder is the policy.   Who will cover for past sin? The complicit go all in. Unrighteous an...

  Bugs Meets the ICE Patrol   Uneducated, untrained and on the loose, Making their violence from any excuse. Fathead’s failures got him turning up the juice, Who signed up for these terms of abuse?   Let the icy stand where they are, Let’s confront them with the bizarre: Will they find a glitter bomb too far? And it seems fart spray soaks into Kevlar.   When they show up Can you hear the circus music play? Clown all of these clowns, Get them out of our way. Humor is greater than hate On any old day, Our smiles and our laughter Will win the day.   Want to un-camo a goon? How about some paint in a water balloon? They think they are so immune, Let’s see how they like being lampooned.   Maybe let the air from a tire, Maybe some dog shit in a bag on fire. Sign them all Wile E. Esquire, Turn their efforts comically haywire.   When they show up Can you hear the circus music play? Clown all of t...

  Republic Retrospection   Fading Fuhrer map selection, Minions try to slow defection. Old guard tries to skew detection, And bury unwise misdirection.   Today’s gesture of deception: Kosplay Kommandant projection: The brave bullies need protection! Another day of infection.   Is this how the Republic dies: With shocked silence and open eyes? Will you wave goodbye where the eagle flies? Is this how the Republic dies?   And the marching boys once so proud, All are masked, aren’t seen out loud. Oath-breakers, life-takers in shroud, False immunity they’re endowed.   Lady Justice scales corroded, The House minister that has toaded. Too long was this foreboded: The Lawless’ guns are now loaded.   Is this how the Republic dies: With shocked silence and open eyes? Will you wave goodbye as the eagle flies? Is this how the Republic dies?   Brutal boys disguising. Criminals comprising. Anne...

  High Seat   I am stupid and pliable, I’m a little insane. I am corrupt and I’m liable, I get off on your pain. I make praise to dear leader, Look at him dewy-eyed, I throw him crayons for his reader, And repeat his hooey lies.   Just swallow our defenses, Do not trust your own senses, We are allowed these offenses, Say the robes on supreme benches. I am human incomplete, I am yet so hard to beat, I am a gimp that’s sitting In a Cabinet seat.   Well, I am a gimp in a Cabinet seat, I aim to see you stay under our feet. We don’t care if you all hit the street, We’ll take it all; you’ll take a backseat.   I am a toy and I’m a tool, My mind is not my own. I am a ploy and I am cruel, I will burn this your home. Have benefits been disrupted, For me there’s no effect. It’s just that I’m corrupted, And our foot is on your neck.   We say things so ridiculous, That you are getting so sick of us. ...

  Dreamless   Where do you go in deepest night? What phantasms there in your sight? What horrors found when your mind takes flight? What fears grip you in nightly rite?   Into darkness you descend, A hole that you can never mend. Into a darkness you descend, The place where you cannot pretend. Into your dark you descend, Dread the only dividend. Into the dark you descend, Where the empty never ends.   What you’ve stolen you must preserve, But you have been closely observed. It all just gets on your last nerve – The destination you deserve:   Into darkness you descend, A hole that you can never mend. Into a darkness you descend, The place where you cannot pretend. Into your dark you descend, Dread the only dividend. Into the dark you descend, Where the empty never ends.   In the belly of the beast you’ve ridden high, In the belly of the beast you’ve gotten by. In the belly of the beast do the ru...

  Black Pages   119 black pages Detail the sin. 119 black pages, Where to begin?   Pictures of pictures, they disappear. What is hidden becoming clear. Why deflect if there’s nothing to fear? Time of reckoning getting near.   Open the files wild and raw! Watch the DOJ break the law. Will we ever see what they saw: The ever-concealed fatal flaw!   119 black pages: They hide the lack of moral gauges. 119 black pages: The coverup still rages! 119 black pages: Prop up the shaking stages. 119 black pages: Within are sin’s wages.   Treating the populace as peasants, Robbing so many of innocence. People are no objects one can fence; Why do we still allow his putrid presence?   119 black pages: They hide the lack of moral gauges. 119 black pages: The coverup still rages! 119 black pages: Prop up the shaking stages. 119 black pages: Within are sin’s wages.   Running one half st...

  Station   Another turn bound to this domain, Trodding ever this worn terrain. Pressed to this existence we barely explain, How do we escape this contain?   Will we ride the circles of wild tides? Out beyond where the stars collide? What dream further have you supplied? We should all so limitlessly glide.   And when will you take the farther flight? Where does the adventure truly begin? Will you travel deeper than night? Your beginning doesn’t have to end.   Are we conscripted to rock and soil? Are we restricted to firmament’s toil? In all our petty arguments embroiled, We remain our strictest foil.   Can we not sail a lighter breeze? Are there not more ethereal seas? Must we endure this fleshly freeze? Do we all within us hold the keys?   And when will you take the farther flight? Where does the adventure truly begin? Will you travel deeper than night? Your beginning doesn’t have to end. ...

  Temporal Blitz   Darkness, darkness, doom and gloom, So many mistakes to blend. Who put the riffraff in this room? What have you left to lend?   What is the meaning of the meaning? When did it begin to trend? Is there actuality in seeming? What is this nowhere that you’ve been?   And you step through the doorway, That you may change your mind. And maybe you leave and/or stay, And all else is left behind.   So you steal the clock from the near wall: No more messages to send. Another means to appeal the clear fall: Another where to attend.   Can you step beyond the fire? Are their dealings yet to mend? Are you still within the dire? Are there fissures yet to defend?   So, you step through the doorway, There you may change your mind. And maybe you leave and/or stay, And all else is left behind.   Run the game, that is the way, It’s only reality that bends. Hail Mary play after the ...

  Somnolence   Here I imagine away the day, Less partaking than watching the fray. Head in the clouds, on the ground my feet stay, Have I really fled so far astray?   Waking hour influenced by moon’s gleam, Dare I trust in this consciousness stream? Or do I believe all is as it seems? Lost in the dark of a dream.   And who can say What it all really means? Is it all merely chance, Is it preconceived scenes? Scrambling through life From extreme to extreme, Can we get it right In the dark of the dream?   I wander past the unseeing eyes, My real self is my disguise. What happens when the circuits fry? An avatar can never cry.   Where will they find their self-esteem? Milk the motherboard for its cream. You will not hear the diodes scream, Tumble into the dark of the dream.   And who can say What it all really means? Is it all merely chance, Is it preconceived scenes? Scrambling through ...

  Over and Over   The backroom is empty, Cigars all smoked. They slipped past supposed sentry, This is the tail end of the joke.   Just a little behind and Casey’s at bat, Who is going to even the score? Promises from an empty hat, The manager has closed the store.   And did you think you would get some aid? Maybe it was just for fun. Where were you when the deal was made? They lie in the sun. There they lie and give you some shade, Over before it begun.   It isn’t over until they say it’s over, But it’s over now. And still, they bask in the clover, And you’re behind the plow.   There you sit on the sidelines, Wondering when you’ve won. But you’ve been sold down the pipeline, Over before it begun.   And did you think you would get paid? Maybe it was just for fun. Where were you when the deal was made? They lie in the sun. There they lie and give you some shade, Over before it begun. ...

  Lights, Camera, Inaction   TV doctor flapping gums at the podium, All present disregarding the odium. Camelot cruiser looking on from the side, Bolstering pharma cooks he also derides.   Big office medical disruption, Another sleepy time interruption. Whale head witchdoctor flees the scene, Tune out the drama like it’s never been.   Face the camera, Close the eyes. Nothing is happening, Deny and deny. Face the camera, Turn out the lights. Drift away In your forever twilight.   Irony in the Office Oval, Pay to play and be sure to grovel. Feed the rich and cook the poor, Get your picture taken with the cosplay Fuhrer.   Medical aid, but it’s all pretense, Tone-deaf admin on defense. Purchased devotion put on display, Commotion happens and just look away.   Face the camera, Close the eyes. Nothing is happening, Deny and deny. Face the camera, Turn out the lights. Drift away In y...

  Red Horizon   Red horizon, Sounding drum. Fires lit, Night has come.   Greed of tyrant, Arms prepare. Take up your shield, Oaths to swear.   The marching horde, It won’t relent. The bell is rung, A message sent.   Sound alarm, The rider found. Time has flown, Comes the hellhound.   What treasure does the enemy yearn? Nothing is left when all has burned.   The worm within, Treason crawls. Secret session, Reason falls.   Counsels heard, Found forthright. Provision stocked, Desperate flight.   What treasure does the enemy yearn? Nothing is left when all has burned. The night is long, and we mourn the sun, Here we stand and we will not run.   Rusted armor, Faithful sword. Defenders poised, Sing battle chord.   Farm and dell, Shield and lance. Guard it well, Dark advance.   The night is long, and we mourn the sun, Here we stand an...

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...

  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...

  The Ride   The sound of hooves resounding strong, To whom these speeding steeds belong? They run, they rush, going headlong, These pounding hooves resounding strong.   Their riders headed for the fray, Clothed they are in dark array. Their steel is bright, their cloaks are gray, These riders headed for the fray.   In dark they ride, And dark the call, In dark they ride, Protecting all, In dark they ride, Before the fall, In dark they ride, They heed the call.   They travel the reddened-sky night, Approach battle at morning light. Never swerving from their flight, Travelling reddened-sky night.   Bow and spear and swinging sword, No surrender they accord. Challenge they the coming horde, With bow and spear and swinging sword.   In dark they ride, And dark the call, In dark they ride, Protecting all, In dark they ride, Before the fall, In dark they ride, They heed the call. ...

  Watch and Pen   Tick, tick, tick, The time ticks away. What was given becomes taken, What was known is wronged, What was had is gone, What time we had has passed. Tick, tick, tick, The hour has grown much too late.   So slow the changes, The coming short-changes, The rearranges, Meaning to estrange us. What is the takeaway? What will they take today? Who will stop the decay? What am I allowed to say?   Drip, drip, drip, The ink drips away. What was written becomes unwritten, What was said is unsaid, What was there is gone, What we had is no more. Drip, drip, drip, There is no more ink on that page.   So slow the changes, The coming short-changes, The rearranges, Meaning to estrange us. What is the takeaway? What will they take today? Who will stop the decay? What am I allowed to say?   Chip, chip, chip, They keep chipping away. What was stable becomes unstable, What was soli...