CliffSongs

  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...

  Crimson Feed   Conceal carry and the unsafe playground, An army presence and the threat of lockdown. Lady Liberty, more blood on her gown, And yet more life senselessly cut down.   How much more can we stand of this turmoil? How many more lives will we watch despoiled? How many too soon relieved of their toil? How many have been taken on this fevered soil?   Raise up another funeral mound! With crimson we feed this thirsty ground. Into this sod so many have bled. Are we to always water in red?   Just one more neighbor fed too much bile. Just one more neighbor turned into hostile. Sentence exacted by private trial, Just one more body thrown onto the pile.   Raise up another funeral mound! With crimson we feed this thirsty ground. Into this sod so many have bled. Are we to always water in red?   Fanning the flames, gas on the fire! Dance by the light of the funeral pyre! More rhetoric, raise tem...

  Endurance   Riches in dreams that I have never held, To have lasting beauty unparalleled. Thinking of wars and battles unfought, Hearts I heard beating that remain uncaught.   Islands and mountains remain unvisited, Raises and gazes remain unsolicited. All of these settings have their allure, All are mere fantasies that I endure.   Perception shifting as the infirm sands, Dreams slipping through my wanting hands. Lord help me to find a cure, For all of  the fantasies that I endure.   Striding across fantastical lands, Curing the world’s hurts with a wave of the hand, Learning all knowledge over all time spanned, Worlds I created overbearingly grand.   Retreats assembled from the thinnest of thread, Retreats I would rather reside in instead. Is escaping life’s sadness such a crazy detour, Or is fantasy a madness that I must endure?   Perception shifting as the infirm sands, Dreams slipping t...

  Uncivil   Fully loaded trash detail, Gratifying an ego frail. Hidey-hole scaredy-cat alpha male, Under the bronze he gets ever more pale.   Cornered in the most uncomfortable seat, Plans and aims more indiscrete, Scandals buried by marching feet, I hear Ohio on repeat.   How do you start the civil war? How do you justify breaking down my door? Are you so hungry for violence and gore? How do you start a civil war?   The dashed tales of hoped-for fiction, Living mannequin reveals more friction. Unscramble age addled mumbled diction, Understudy hoping for eviction.   How do you start the civil war? How do you justify breaking down my door? Are you hiding what came before? How do you start a civil war?   Lessening impunity for the too coy, Lessening immunity to enjoy. Thin ice proposal for deploy, Parading the massive decoy.   How do you start the civil war? How do you justify breakin...

  Gun Thing   There you sit – the would-be king, Soaking up praises from the underling. Law and justice you would hamstring, All you care about is the cha-ching.   You don’t care who your chaos stings, As long as there are people worshiping. When the rifle barrel is done smoking, You dare to tell us, “It’s not a gun thing.”   The gun thing, You think it’s such a small thing, And we know you know about a small thing. The gun thing, It’s not such a small thing, And we know that you will continue to do nothing.   This script your base finds appealing, Maybe they’ll forget what you’re covering. Will you find a way to blame the left wing? What would you do if it were your offspring?   What shit at the wall will you now fling? To what outmoded law will you still cling? Another bloodbath – you haven’t learned anything, All you can come up is, “It’s not a gun thing”?   The gun thing, You think it’s su...

Toy Soldiers   Intelligence man Lost in a fallen empire. Does what he can, Redrawing maps is his desire.   A megalomaniac With something to prove. He is shifting his maps, And his toy soldiers move.   Missiles fly from town to town, Destruction that rains on down. He wants to wear ungiven crown, Toy soldiers hit the ground.   Blood spills the desert sand, Madmen in ancient feud. Genocide near at hand, Human lives devalued.   Move toward occupation, Unsafe in hospital gown. No mere desolation, Famine now the loudest sound.   Missiles fly from town to town, Destruction that rains on down. He wants to wear ungiven crown, Toy soldiers hit the ground.   “Cleanse the land” the claimed prize, Fear the streets if you are browned. Revive all the old lies, Unwanted skins now outbound.   Chicago, Chicago! Will sidewalks combat boots pound? How long will this ill wind blow? Thinks...

  The Faceless Men   They obey complicit order: Operation by color sorted. Rules of engagement get broader, Excuses made for old hates fodder.   Guns in the street no accident, Victims chosen for their accent. No badges signal their intent – Don’t bother asking the faceless men.   Faceless men in the street and then, People dragged off to secret den. Some are workers, some are friends, Disappeared by the faceless men.   Big black car going too far, Occupants that don’t say who they are. Not enough grabbed; lower the bar, Fascism’s course right on par.   All of this rank offence is meant, Explained away by precedent. Stoke rage and fear: the mind is bent, The cure offered are faceless men.   Faceless men in the street and then, People dragged off to secret den. Some are workers, some are friends, Disappeared by the faceless men.   Patrol the streets like prison guard, Featureless to ...

Dirty   Dirty thought It clogs my head. Much more grimy Than what you’ve read. Out in public The soiled pants. Of the public, The spoiled chance. Dirty stories That fill the air, I’m more stained than that, And you should care. Dirty, dirty, My motives murky, I see you all At my mercy.   Dirty above and dirty below – I’ll do ya dirty Wherever I go. There’s no use in being coy: Every move The dirty ploy – Call me the unreal McCoy, I am a dirty boy.   Dirty games from Dirty play, I’ll get dirt on you, And want disarray. Dirty deed In the back room. I’m more filthy Than you assume. Dirty all night, Dirty all day, Treat this land Like my ashtray. Wallow, wallow, Dirty ones follow. Just how much Will they swallow?   Dirty above and dirty below – I’ll do ya dirty Wherever I go. There’s no use in being coy: Every move The dirty ploy – Does my manner annoy? I am a dirty bo...

  Song of Stone   She groans. Beneath your feet, deep in her bones, Her cries on sour winds are blown, Poison on every street is sown, The blame most dour is well known, She groans.   Alone. Far from warming father thrown, Flung through freezing space she’s flown, Unseeing eyes on her face have grown, Out here singing her song of stone, Alone…   She sings her pain, With every bone. This longest sorrow, This mother’s moan. Does she call, Does she disown? Have you heard – The Song of Stone?   Bear on, She’s sung to her moon so long, Singing of millennia gone. How many nights, how many dawns? How thinly is her patience drawn? Bears on.   Belong. The multitude of beings throng. Their instinct lives in the song, How did man get so headstrong, How do we hear the tune so wrong, Belong.   She sings her pain, With every bone. This longest sorrow, This mother’s moan. Does she c...

  Belief Brief   You found comfort in the chaos crew, Gave meaning to your misconstrue. You let your reason come unglued, You let yourself be roughly wooed. Fantasy fiends you would have slew, How you narrowed your own view. You took the bait right on cue, How did it circle back to you?   They cobbled up the secret sign, Invented history to pine. Painted for you ragged decline, Dazzled you with new design. Set beasts to freely malign, Reminded they are not your kind. Gave you codes to nightly untwine, And what you read between the lines.   What do you perceive, What have you conceived? Do you live the dreams that you have weaved? Do you really believe What you want to believe, Or do you believe that you believe?   Complication, complication, This no longer a flirtation. Complication, consternation, This is you as a causation. Fantasy enacted damnation, A nightmare of your formation. Frustration, m...

  Readying   I have spoken of wars long ago, But some knowledge I put aside – Now there is more that you should know, For we will again be sorely tried.   The black steeds and blacker brand, Axe and sword and pike and pole, To come against our sleepy land, And leave no inhabitant whole.   The ancient enemy returns, Trial and misery carried. We must face this calm and stern: Innocents are sorely harried.   Gloved hand, curled fist is unhidden, Oiled words spake by split tongue, Tribulation follows unbidden – Too long have our bows lain unstrung!   In dense wood or in hidden hill, Some are bonded with secret seal, They recognize they old ill, They polish shield and sharpen steel!   The token you too must now bear, The foe would have these, our demesnes! Together son we will now fare, He gathers his war machines.   I have taught you rod, fist and steel, Your arrow flies from deadly eye...

  Conundrum   A puzzle I set before you: Why did this time go so astray? Who was elevated against odds: Crawling creatures that dark the day. Bums and rogues and criminals, Slopped their way up and hope to stay. See them prancing before you, Oblivious of their decay.   A conundrum some fail to see, Too beholden to iniquity. These uncomforting truths they must flee, The enigma ages ungracefully.   The lies that put them where they are, Their power maintained through hearsay. See them lined up against you, Arranged in tidy disarray. They remain envious of The things they cannot take away: Love, and light, and laughter, Saved up for a rainy day.   The conundrum fits too closely, Too beholden to iniquity. These uncomforting truths they must flee, The enigma ages ungracefully.   The query is already in your mind – It becomes clearer every day. Is it really such a mystery, Why it on our minds so we...

  Cold River (Psalm for a Dictator)   Cold river running, Hot-blooded gunning, Cold-hearted cunning, There’s a cold river running.   A cold river is running through humanity, A love of hate built into the machinery. The empires built on inconstancy, Grand efforts cover for the discrepancies. Allow the nurture of degeneracy, And promote all the favored conspiracy. Disallow all claim of illegitimacy, Row the cold river running through humanity.   Cold river running, Hot-blooded gunning, Cold-hearted cunning, There’s a cold river running.   Pursuing genocidal insanity, While they are pursuing their mark on history. Disregarding description of infamy, Known as infamous is still a legacy. Require their wants met in immediacy, Serving themselves only; this dire fantasy. Consequences met with their hilarity: Flooding a cold river through humanity.   Cold river running, Hot-blooded gunning, Cold-hear...

  Dry Tides   Roaming sands across millennia thrum, Dry tides swallowing wisdom. Structures re-found in the wind, Did we begin again?   Failing towers, subdued walls, Do riddled texts describe the falls? Lost yesterdays gone dim, Have we begun again?   All that was known is unknown, All that was is not, All that was seen is unshown: Empire gone to naught. Tales lost beneath the waves of time, Peering into lost lore, Sing again forgotten rhyme: All of this has gone before.   Boulevards run beneath the seas, Statue peers but does not see. Broken spires unkissed by sun, Altar’s fires long undone.   Symbol and sacrament we cannot scry, Rehome upon the past not knowing why. Shallow praise of how far we’ve come: The gods we raise are just redone.   All that was known is unknown, All that was is not, All that was seen is unshown: Empire gone to naught. Tales lost beneath the waves of time, ...

  Sweet Suppression   Now don’t get the wrong impression, Or cave to base suggestion, What is this odd obsession, We must cease this weird procession.   Let us proceed with discretion, Nor make any true progression, Just move forward with aggression, And wield some sweet suppression.   A little sweet, sweet suppression, It’s like a discrete confession. How long ‘til complete repression? Have a taste of that sweet suppression.   We’ll get some House intercession, Get them to interrupt their session, Tell the base to try decompression, As we deny any transgression.   We are losing our self-possession. Engaging in wild self-expression, How do we manage repossession? We can start with sweet suppression.   A little sweet, sweet suppression, It’s like some discrete oppression. How long ‘til complete repression? Have a taste of that sweet suppression.   Avoid all questions, Make no concess...

  Moments   Sunshine sparkle, one drop of dew, Temporary jewel, and many-hued. The winged chorus now greets the dawn, Will you stop to listen or hurry on? Too soon for traffic, or working noise, This juncture static, the instant is poised… To move off is tragic, distraction annoys, Such simple magic nature employs.   Take any moment in your embrace, Or simply choose to sit and wait, For the moment to happen to you. Such precious seconds lasting too few, Capture the moment and the moment is you.   The first flake falls, silence surrounds, Such is the first of winter’s sounds. Gray sky above, a shiver below, Escaping inside should the wind blow. Crystalline drift without a noise, To remember these seconds can be a choice. To move off is tragic, distraction annoys, Such simple magic nature employs.   Take such a moment in your embrace, Or simply choose to sit and wait, For the moment to happen to you. Such p...

  Flounder   See the story evolution, Minions thrown into confusion. Produce yet more illusion, Guiding to the wrong conclusion.   See the lying expounder: Speaking to the echo sounders. Convoluting canard confounder, Wailing, flailing, see him flounder.   Flip-flop! The questions never stop, Find another frantic fantasy to shop. Hard stop! See more info drop. Gotta squash this story chop-chop!   Minions waiting, details mutating, What result from this conflating? Restructuring and restating – No one believes; so frustrating.   Fire one, defame the other, Too many outlets to smother! Around this one topic they hover, What else will they uncover?   Flip-flop! The questions never stop, Find another frantic fantasy to shop. Hard stop! See more info drop. Gotta squash this story chop-chop!   Just a regular guy, Telling a regular lie, This time you won’t get by, It’s going to...