CliffSongs

  Red Sails Red sails founder, And are lost again. Red sails foundered, And lost remain.   Self-stranded on islands of lunacy, They sail forth, feigning impunity. They revel in mindless hostility, And slavish rally round toxicity.   Standing still watch on crumbling pier, Ward off the rotted frigate sailing too near. Toward our fortress does it steer, Red sails bringing twilight have come here.   Red sails founder, And are lost again. Red sails grounded, And lost remain.   Surrounded by enemies perceived in dark dream, They launch their persuasions and their deceiving schemes. Furiously and ever chasing filthing failure, Anchored eternally to a long-lost sailor.   Pockets too deep to empty were sought, In the self-made maelstrom they’re caught. How many hands lost to the watery grave? How did they not see the oncoming wave?   The cannon’s gone rusted, And the powder is wet. The main mast...

  30 October: Arachne in the Eaves   She spins, she spins, So carefully she weaves. Have a care that you fall in, You will never leave.   Delicate and deadly, A delicious disaster. She sidles indirectly, Silk wrappings that come after.   Time is marked below her breast, Redly against the black. If you find you are her guest, There is no going back.   She spins, she spins, So carefully she weaves. Have a care that you fall in, You will never leave.   She lives within a silken home, And waits within her parlor. Heed the warning of this poem, Or be added to her larder. Watch as a suitor arrives, Attracted to her thread… Do not ask if he survives, He’s already lost his head.   She spins, she spins, So carefully she weaves. Have a care that you fall in, You will never leave.   Watchful with so many eyes, Pass her by with care. More dinner for her brood she spies, Be wary of h...

  29 October: Queen in the Dark   Why does she dance just in darkness? Where the shadows stand tall, When the trees have gone gaunt, And memory goes small? Why does she dance the darkness?   The bitter light of bright morning, Alarm sharply shouting shrill. A dawn arriving without warning, Causes the first of daytimes’ chill.   Sunlight that crawls across pale flesh, Provides no warmth to be had. Bound to some forever quest, Will she dance, or just go mad?   Why does she dance just in darkness? Where the shadows stand tall, When the trees have gone gaunt, And memory goes small? Why does she dance the darkness?   Through hustling hordes passing unseen, Unease left in her wake. Disturbing remembrance of some lost queen, Sorrows a life they would forsake.   Few will mark where she has trod, Answers no call nor fervent amen, No imprint she leaves upon the sod, The burning thirst rises again. ...

  Black Bile Strut   Creature of venom, a walking putrescence, Chaos arrives and remains in your presence. A disaster in flesh since you were a child, A disease in the spirit, no redemption on file.   The villains’ vapors escaping your smile, Promises, promises, fingers crossed all the while, Evidence you’re consumed of something vile, Just when was your first taste of the black bile?   Black bile in the vein, Black bile on the brain. As long as you gain, It isn’t your pain, Don’t you ever restrain? We see it so plain: Black bile in the brain, And you don’t mind the stain.   Poisoned and putrid, and just that side of sane, What crawling evil courses your brain? Swimming those streams of least resistance, They propose schemes at your insistence.   They look askance while all you defile, Afraid they take a chance on exile. You’ve taken the inch and you want the mile, If they but once flinch, drown them...

  Herald   The messengers go by many paths, This urgency must be met. The enemy approaches in his wrath, But our doom is not yet set.   Our ally is many leagues away, Does he know our plight? Our enemy may between lay, But hope now rides this night.   So, ride you herald, ride! Bear your dispatch for your king! Ride, you herald, ride! Though evil tiding you bring. The aggressor has a thirsty spear, The oppressor will not mere rest here, So ride herald, death draws too near, O ride, herald! Ride!   Through hidden lanes and forests old, The messengers ride out, To speak of oath to uphold, And put raider to rout.   Swift and silent they must ride, Before the foe can make assail. They speed ahead of evil tide, They must win through; they dare not fail!   So, ride you herald, ride! Bear your dispatch for your king! Ride, you herald, ride! Though evil tiding you bring. The aggressor has a ...

  A Strangulation   The incessant need of the crowd: A succubus you sought out. Insatiable in demand, The audience that smothers.   The slow strangulation of popularity.   A vacuum of you, You gave willingly. Doled out for the suffocating return, How much of you is left?   Slowly strangled by popularity.   Give and give and give some more! Is it still genuine? You give and still they hunger, When did you cease to win?   You are strangling in popularity.   Hollow, you got hollow, Who can say what will follow? You started the cycle – And now you can’t get off.   Strangling yourself with popularity.   What do the numbers add up to? Do you gain just to gain? What have you got upon review? You’ll leave it behind just the same…   The doors that never stop knocking, The answers you cannot give. The vortex that you created, You fell in and can’t swim.   Thi...

  1 October: Shadowframe   1 October has come again, The strange time is risen. Weirdness gripping you and your friends, Darkshine in the eyes where it has deeply been.   There lies the question of some secret flame, A participation in a hidden game, A wolfish joy as October came, And a beckoning to the shadowframe.   And so we slide into the shadowframe, Where you lose yourself someplace without name Where on you strange places its claim, Lost between reason and real, (It’s all the same) This is you in the shadowframe.   Do you dance the moon alone, Felt perchance in blood and bone, A happenstance of some unknown, A fevered trance on firestone.   And so you slide into the shadowframe, Where you find yourself without a name Where on you wild places its claim, Lost between reason and real, (It’s all the same) This is you in the shadowframe.   This yearly harvest heralds winter: A collecting...

  Darkday 2026   What is this pounding? Those deep, drear beats resounding? War drums beating so constant, Or the growing chorus of dissent?   What is this reeking? What grave offences are creaking? Newly risen criminology, Ruination sans apology.   And the days drag on And the will wears down. And the light’s most gone, And I am near drowned…   What is this reaping? What is this malfeasance creeping? Payola to the open pocket, So fast you cannot clock it.   What is this stealing? Out in the open double-dealing. You’d think it made no sense: Leadership without conscience.   And the days drag on And the will wears down. And the light’s most gone, And the dark surrounds…   What pallid light lingers? Is there hope in this gloom? Give me flint and tinder, Let the light back in the room!   What is this fleecing? Who mans this grift unceasing? Some decrepit unaware, Lon...

  One Four Three, Two Four Five   A viewpoint through intensity, Synapses fired in new complexity. Pinwheels; bike wheels, they sound the same, Cycling always: sing the refrain. The walkthrough of a total amaze: A respite from ordinary days. So long now, a spark in the past, We never knew how, how long it would last.   One four three, two four five, Just a few hours to survive. Wandering out on the deep dive. One for three and two for five, Some are grateful and still alive.   Shining shards of darkness salted, Left in wholeness exalted. Dim-remembered revelation, Savored, selected from the vibration. The spin-through of totality’s maze: A respite from ordinary days. Strip this society’s flaccid mask, Seeking answers you did not ask.   One four three, two four five, Just a few hours to arrive. Wandering out on the deep drive. One for three and two for five, Some are grateful and still alive.   ...

  Miss Information   The smiles, the guiles, The recording all the while. The wiles, the friendly style, The gathering of the exploit file.   The cocked aim, the locked frame, The shaping of the long game. The proclaim, the defame, The seeking of the shocked shame.   The long and fruitless quest, Between what is known and what is guessed. Speaking what in secret what was confessed, And in speaking, fail the test.   The bargain burn, the chastise churn, What is the sought-after return? The adverse affirm, the coached confirm, Who is the now turned worm?   The long and fruitless quest, Between what is known and what is guessed. Speaking what in secret what was confessed, And in speaking, fail the test. The faulty thread, the falsely led, The fealty never said. The furor spread, the facts shed, The fantasy found instead.   The safety shred, the belief bled, The allegations lie ahead. Lies i...

  The Legacy   A legacy to stand for all time, A legacy of your own find, A legacy of your own mind, A legacy of the wrong kind…   Hear me child as I tell the story Of a brute who chased his glory Under false pretense and the backroom deal, Through power grab and outright steal.   Hear me now as I mean to show, What your frail ego will never know: Of the falling down and the frequent fail, Hear me now as I tell your tale…   A legacy to stand in time, A legacy of your own find, A legacy of your own mind, A legacy of the wrong kind…   Will they remember what you defaced? Will they remember your frowny face? Will they remember how you were clowned? Is your legacy what you have torn down?   What do you think you leave behind? In your criminality too entwined. Daily someone takes pains to remind: In the files you’re enshrined.   A legacy to stand for all time, A legacy of your own find, ...

  Lonely Turn   The lonely rock slowly turns, Its crowded face slowly burns. For peace and plenty the lowly yearn, As the elevated play their unconcern. Stars above stare blankly cold and stern, At a lonely rock that slowly turns.   Points of light in darkness wheeling, They hold their knowledge unrevealing. No knowing what they’re concealing, Unwarm, distant and unfeeling.   The lonely rock slowly burns, In uncrowded space it slowly turns. The elevated play out their unconcern, For peace and plenty the lowly yearn. Stars above stare blankly cold and stern, At a lonely rock that slowly burns.   Sun and moon dare to grace the sky, Light our struggles but don’t say why. Though our every effort may go awry, They merely watch this rock from on high.   Specks on a rock that daily yearn, Heavens that shine in unconcern. Elevated laugh from heights unearned, As beneath them tribulation churns. No chance f...

  Twisted Ink   The legends float down the long ago, Bone marrow memory breezes blow. Tales twisted by manipulative ink: Ancient truth shrouded indistinct.   They mechanized the magic and we lost, They monetized the magic at cost. Warnings couched in old fable Myth the paid-for label.   Now we search for visions in the dust, Or through prophecy covered in rust. Chasing oracle because we must, Hoping to catch a vision in the dust.   Tribes described experience, Scribes guided by expedience. Ancient knowledge thrown away, So much less is known today.   Cataclysm and impending doom, Catastrophe unknown looms. Perils survived we forgot, Retold by seers we count for naught.   So we search for visions in the dust, Or through prophecy covered in rust. Chasing oracle because we must, Hoping to catch a vision in the dust.   Discount the olden ways, Mistrust the ancient days. Millenia that ...

  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 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...