CliffSongs

  The Broken Promise   The broken promise: This is what we are, The broken promise. We held ourselves so high, But that was only our estimation – Now we swim with our sewage. Our systems aren’t just breaking, They are not just being degraded, They are being savaged, They are being inverted upon themselves, And perverted against us, All of us. We are the broken promise: A beacon pledged, Now stained in red, And glaring orange. A light that shines not for humanity, But that illumes our inequities, Our inadequacies, Our failure. We are the fading spark, Creating our own ash, To be blown about, By an ever more despairing wind. We are the ray that could have been, That should have been, That is no more. We are the broken promise: A voice against the din of oppression, A call to betterment, An exclamation of hope, and of fervor, A roar against madness and degradation, But we are become a screech, An expression of ...

  Served   The comfortable betrayal, The heavily feathered nest. The approval of the faithful, The lack of the people’s best. The mocking of the learned, The unconsciously averted eye, The loyalty perverted, The conscience no longer nigh.   Servant of the people, Do you serve yourself first? When all is said and done, Have you done your worst? Servant of the people, Serving up deceit, After all the spins you’ve spun, How will you keep your seat?   The conditional nay-say-all, The denials when too pressed. The need to downplay all, The needs gone unaddressed. The accusal of the watchful, The refusal to meet the eye. The obeisance to the fraudful, The allegiance to the lie.   Servant of the people, Do you serve yourself first? When all is said and done, Have you done your worst? Servant of the people, Serving up deceit, After all the spins you’ve spun, How will you keep your seat?   T...

  Exodus   Selections on the shelf going small, No one left to make the haul. Piles of unused drywall, Masked men have answered the call.   Alligator alley prison wall, Florida man on the ball. Veggie absent from the stall, Wallets empty and still in thrall.   The unherded bovine, Unfinished roof short of skyline. The fruit rotting on the vine - They say the exodus is going fine.   Commodities going unpacked, What’s left found on the racks? Pallets unmoved on the tarmac, Leaving the grocery with the empty sack…   Forests left to burn black, Trails too overgrown to track. Hotel luxury gone unstacked, Which of you takes up the slack?   The unherded bovine, Unfinished roof short of skyline. The fruit rotting on the vine - They say the exodus is going fine.   Isn’t this what was voted for? Isn’t this what was in store? It’s getting worse, some call for more, Shortsightedness galore....

  Dragon in the Garden   It was born in the land of queens, Its ruin should have been foreseen. A reptile sired by the vile, It makes good use of the corrupt machine.   There is a dragon behind the garden wall, And it claims not to be a dragon at all. But it belches and it burns, And steps on anything it considers small. There is a dragon in the castle keep, A dragon who is burrowing in deep. And it thrashes and it crashes, And it burns your land around you while you sleep.   It crawled Gotham, waste in its wake, Offered less a deal than a take. A love of wrong far too strong, On the make as long as you stake.   There is a dragon behind the garden wall, And it claims not to be a dragon at all. But it belches and it burns, And steps on anything it considers small. There is a dragon in the castle keep, A dragon who is burrowing in deep. And it thrashes and it crashes, And it burns your land around you while y...

  Shade   The pulses, The ones and zeroes, They echo across a creation as intangible as breath, Their reality is the product of arrangement, Constructs that disappear, dissolve, disengage, With the flick of a switch, Or the whim of a nature uncontrollable. What real phantom will you embrace? What impalpable rock sets your feet? What two-dimensional figure do you reach for? Only the glare of the screen answers. Words. Words, words and words. Colors and sounds from any distance unresolved, The flat plane observed, Lifeless, Though it resembles animation. Without a mouth of its own, It consumes. There is no reality here: What is meant to be seen is seen, What is meant to be heard is spoken. Words. Words, words and words. They are but a shade of the speaker, Insubstantial as the breath required to speak, What is seen is meant to be seen – Reality has more bruises. Imperfections hidden by pretty phrase, Implications misr...

  Beast   The chest is now no longer unbeaten, The hulking imbecile is pacified, For now… Only for now. But the ego hungers, There is no satiation. No reward is large enough, No praise loud enough, No blood hot enough to satisfy, “More” is the only answer it hears now. The beast is ravenous, The animal is rabid, The creature rages, And still it is uncaged. It will not be tamed, It cannot be tamed, It will rain itself upon the world as acid and fire, And still it is uncaged. It has revealed itself: It is lunacy embodied, It is a careening carnivore, It is demonic and unmanageable, And it is eyeing a terrible weapon: It wishes to release hell, And all of us know this. It must not be allowed. Yet, The safeguards have been gnawed upon, The controls are weakened, The buffers assailed, And it senses its moment… It must not be allowed. It has wished its entire existence to be feared – Now is as good a time as any f...

  Storytimes   He didn’t say what he didn’t say, But he says it every day. Storytime in the middle of life.   He doesn’t say what he did, He didn’t say what’s on the vid. Storytime in the middle of life.   Watch it go down every day, Watch it go down, but what’s the play? Storytime in the middle of life.   You saw what you saw But what’s the story? They tell you it’s cheap allegory. You heard what you heard, But they claim it ain’t real, You saw what you saw, so what’s the deal? Storytime in the middle of life.   He said that he plays the cards dealt, She said that he said something else. Storytime in the middle of life.   They say other things they didn’t say, They never say what they didn’t say. Storytime in the middle of life.   They told each other, but not you, They told each other and the rumor grew, Storytime in the middle of life.   You hear what you hear, But what’...

  The Not King   See that smirking arrogance, Unfettered by intelligence, Now is shedding all pretense, At acting within license.   Gaudy, fraudy birthday display, Pissing the tax dollars away. Protests ruthlessly warned away, Dictator engaging in cliché.   Schedule honoring unearned, Faking support for which it yearns. Self-celebration as world burns, An ego-stroke the main concern.   Marching madness in the brain, “Me, me, me”, constant refrain. Decrepitude, the showing strain, Ineptitude or just insane.   Watch it shirking diligence, Watch it racking up expense. Anything not praise is offense, Feeding on malevolence.   Cliff Lake 6/14/2025 Copyright © Clifford Lake 2025

  March of the National Fraud   Desperation the new sensation, Distractions without cessation. Shifty grifty carried on, Violence the new hypnotic song.   Fever fantasy TV star: Make California an abattoir. Who follows derailed train car, Now that you’ve fallen way too far?   Power play, don’t look away, Robbery in the light of day. Immigraton, false negation, Polls sinking, such frustration.   Fever fantasy gone bizarre: Make California an abattoir. Who will follow your fallen star, Now that you’ve taken a step too far?   Bogus bill, border shill, Undermine the people’s will. Guard deployed, so much noise, Emptied tills by little boys.   Fever fantasy super-tsar: Make California an abattoir. Who will favor your memoir, Now that you have gone so far?   Here we are, you can’t ignore! Tax the rich and not the poor! This ain’t what we voted for, Tax the rich and feed the poor. ...

  Days and Days   Day after day what has you compelled? Day after day what madness endures itself? Day after day what nuisances into you melt? Day after day what peace is from you withheld?   Trouble, trouble, sometimes it’s double, Again you pick yourself up from the rubble. From without the palace or hovel, Reality will pierce the bubble.   It’s no use just getting by if that’s all you plan to do. It’s no use living the lie if that’s all you know how to do. It’s no use getting high if that’s all that gets you through, It’s no use asking “Why?” when the answer is you.   What is the little program for today? On which little outcome do you prey? Which little unplanned thing causes dismay? How can you stand such disarray?   What little thing has you all affray? Every little thing has the means to go astray. Remember what Frank would say: There is always more trouble every day.   It’s no use just getti...

  Spell Check   Brash moves in the public eye. Rash moves all undisguised. Ass moves based on old lies. Suckers are born every minute, Some believe they can still win it.   All this fraud is in plain sight, Unless the news refuse to light. Disaster no longer a “might”, Are we left to swallow spite? Criminals infest the towers, Indiscrete, they flex their powers. Time is short, this is their hour, Your checks and balances they scour.   Draining even those called friends, Impudently serving their own ends. Severing ties with no thought to mend. Daily they tally the score, All they have and wanting more. Ignoring any uproar, Nakedly grifting galore.   Validity is of no concern: Abandon all, let them burn. Nimbly fascinate then spurn. Imitate what’s deemed lofty, Trashy copies always off-key. Yearning always, always faulty.   How long can they rob the coffers? Unreliably still making offers, Bu...

  Midnight Pockets   What dark enclave meets? Gathered for unholy chore. What misdeeds performed here? They leave their souls at the door.   What sigil marks them? What profane stain is scored? They vote from their purses, Greed is given the floor.   Mammon wakes them, Mammon stakes them, Mammon breaks them, Mammon takes them.   Guarded whispers, winking eyes, Craving leaks from every pore. Their every want now revealed, To whom is their fealty swore?   Mammon shakes them, Mammon makes them, Mammon breaks them, Mammon takes them. Cash spilling out from the bedroom drawer, Accounts sky-high and set to soar, Having it all and wanting more, Honest men disappear in vapor.   Witching hour vote done, Choices counted and paid for. Crooked smile on demon’s son, Knowing what is next in store…   Mammon wakes them, Mammon stakes them, Mammon breaks them, Mammon takes them.  ...

  Relics Remix   Relics stolen from unspeakable eons, Misunderstood, Misrepresented, Misused. Curated control. Marvels of unadmitted civilization, Mysteries adorned in ritual, Explanation buried beneath conceived canon, Manuscripts long tainted, Mistakes made in millennia, Necessitating mandate, Guilts absolved in the text. Hear the holy men declare themselves! There is no doubt of them, Given the endless repetition… Miracles long past lose their potency, Though reaffirmed often in blood. Ancient words ring hollow Until twisted properly, Revealing new truths, Born from greed, And justified with slaughter. Now are the relics repurposed, Repolished, Held aloft for new reverence, And a better violence. Let the credos ring out! Let us misinterpret the scrolls In our own image! For bloodletting is sacred, If one reads between the lines. Therefore, let us choose carefully, And reimagine all To suit our present nee...

  AI Man   The AI man followed me shopping When I went out to buy some bread. I asked him what his name was, “Ubiquitous”, was what he said. The AI man followed me home, Followed right into bed. I asked him what he was doing, “Have a nice day.” was what he said. The AI man was there in the morning, When I first lifted my head. I asked where he came from, “Have you bought product?” was what he said. The AI man was at the restaurant, I asked if he wished to be fed. He looked past the wait staff, “Try the roast beef.” was what he said. The AI man trailed me to the ATM, But I went inside instead. I was making a small deposit, “Try the fried crypto.” he said. The AI man was the polling place, He had arrived ahead. He told me not to bother, “I made your choice for you.” he said. The AI man follows me everywhere now, No matter how far I’ve fled. Why is he into everything now? “Do not look behind the curtain.” he’s said. ...

  Sightseers   Lunatic fanatics, The sacred insane… Dreaming their pictures, Awake they remain. Raving prophetic, Existing arcane. Do we cure their aesthetic – Or attend their refrain?   Maniac reader, Soothsayer and seer – Occupying worlds, Misunderstood here. Clairvoyant divine, In unearthly frontier, Do we evade their madness, Should we not lend an ear?   Worlds within the world: Some are allowed to see, Time enfolded into time, So many whens they must be. Voices beyond the curtain call, Or beneath unseen canopy. Voices madmen enthrall, Now burdened with prophecy.   Oracle absurd, The auger unsound, Forecaster irrational, Or predictor profound? Sorcerer crazed, Intrusive thought spellbound, Do we medicate them silent, Do we search for common ground?   Worlds within the world: Some are allowed to see, Time enfolded into time, So many whens they must be. Voices beyond the c...

  Spinners   We are spun on solid ground, Set on this whirling world we’re found. Giddy thoughts and feelings abound, Through this dizzy dance we pound.   Fixed we are in the eternal spin, We can’t get back to where we’ve been. We missed something, but I don’t know when – Take us back to the beginning again.   What secrets told by whistling gale? What might be read in starry trail? Was something said, when did we fail? Through time we’re sped, and on we sail.   Fixed we are in the eternal spin, We can’t get back to where we’ve been. We missed something, but I don’t know when – Take us back to the beginning again.   Twisted, shifted, Lightyears drifted. Will our dizzy Ever be lifted? Spun and spun, Thoughts overdone. Is there respite? Maybe none. Dizzy, daft, deluded, Are we alone? Is that concluded? Are we purposely excluded?  Revolutions breakneck pace, Our speeded gyrations race. T...

  Speed of Blight   What have we done with our curious mind? Machine metal madness so unrefined. Harder and faster – we are so inclined, We see our disaster when looking behind.   Digging for answers, increasing the pace: Leaving   detritus all over the place. In arrogant pride forgetting our grace, With ourselves we collide, instead of embrace.   Sought information, The final clue. Investigation, Suspicious brew. No hesitation, Motor on through. The devastation, Hindsight review.   The clanking and groaning of a race that’s gone mad. The lessened bemoaning of beauty once had. A noble pursuit gone militant bad, Industry jackboot wears the earth all unclad.   Sought information, The final clue. Investigation, Suspicious brew. No hesitation, Motor on through. The devastation, Hindsight review.   What have we done? Obscured the sun. Wisdom outrun, Are we already undone? ...

  In the Water   An undercurrent, a change in the air, No more complaining, bring it to them there. Lying recurrent, unlegal heir, Injustice staining, no more will we bear.   Blood in the water, poets in the street. Mr. Big in the corner feeling the heat. Led to the slaughter, no easy meat – Blood in the water, get on your feet.   Overrun parlor, chairs all askew, Cooking up poison, lost in the stew. Illiterate holler, drunk on the brew, Costing them poise and coming unglued.   Blood in the water, people taking the streets. Mr. Big giving orders, all indiscrete. Documents all reordered, snarling deceit, Blood in the water, keep on your feet.   No more hypnotize trance, No more tales can they advance. No more ill circumstance, We want an even score, this is our chance.   Blood in the water, get out in the streets! Mr. Big in disorder, he can’t compete. This time’s made to order, throw off the dea...

  Torment Consent   Striking swiftly from the outside, Restraint from steady hand wrested and pried, Horror laughing while ill news betides: The marching madness that no longer hides.   The dull acceptance, the bended knee, The fading reluctance for all to see. The base discordance: that is the key, No counter-performance; tacit agree.   Harsh undercurrent Roils and churns. It’s waited long, It takes its turn. Claiming all It’s never earned – Now it smolders, Soon it burns.   The sickly praising: craven applied. Wrong rearranging taken in stride. Bad paraphrasing: unwilling bride, When all is blazing, who steps aside?   Harsh undercurrent Roils and churns. It’s waited long, It takes its turn. Claiming all It’s never earned – Now it smolders, Soon it burns.   Who put us on this course we’ve plied? A fall that’s sold as if a ride. How much farther can we slide? What resistance ha...