CliffSongs

  Swingtown   Swingtown was the place to be seen. Swingtown was the unstoppable machine. Swingtown was maybe a little unclean, Swingtown was the place to careen.   Swingtown; scandalous reputation. Swingtown; notorious temptation. Swingtown, find your flirtation. Swingtown accepts all application.   They don’t dance in Swingtown anymore, The dance hall is closed, And they burned the store. You can still go, but what a snore, They don’t dance in Swingtown anymore.   Now the story on Swingtown gets a little hazy, Things in Swingtown got a little crazy. Things in Swingtown were always a little racy, Swingtown policing was always a little lazy.   Swingtown; overnite sensation. Swingtown; snakebite your libation. Swingtown; no streetlight salvation. Swingtown; overnight cremation.   They don’t dance in Swingtown anymore, The dance hall is closed, And they burned the store. You can still go, but w...

  Blind and Blind   From out of the wasteland where tainted water flows, From out of the wasteland a blinded man rose. And the blinded man spake as if with authority, And the blinded man spake of all the things he could not see. And he recalled of him all the sights he had never seen, And spake against all, and even color he would demean. And the people listened, although his speech was hollow, And those of some discontent among them began to follow.   And they followed, though he could not see, Followed him feverishly. Followed without inquiry, They followed – and they did not see.   They followed the blinded man to lands barren and cold, They followed because he said the sun had been stole. They followed and many fell by the way, They followed and he said they were strong enough to stay.   And they followed, though he could not see, Followed him feverishly. Followed without inquiry, They followed – and they did n...

  From Somewhere   Once there was a man from somewhere, The greedy and the foolish he could snare. He could tell them literally anything, He told them he was their everything. He gathered him religious fanatics, And courted him fringe lunatics. And got them all to set him so high, And got them to let him suck them dry.   But some in even the smallest town, They don’t let the deal go down. From the people hear the sound, The march against the tyrant bound.   Now this man that came from somewhere, Did as he liked without a care. Flouting convention and law alike, Threatening all with fisted strike. And the foolish and the greedy agreed, His acknowledgement their greatest need. Stupidly accepting their suffering, Stupidly allowing him to become king.   But some in even the smallest town, They won’t let the deal go down. From the people hear the sound, The march against the tyrant bound.   Worse become...

    The Time of We   And they think we have lost the cause, And they think they can shred the laws, And they think they hold all the keys, And they think they can hold we.   And they think we won’t march on the towers, And they think we won’t march on the powers, And they think we are little more than debris, And they think they can ignore we.   And the time has come around again, And we must take down the crown again. And it’s time again that they must see, There is nothing so mighty as we.   And they think we do not count the cost, And they think that we have already lost, And they think that we do not see, And they never counted on we.   And the time has come around again, And we must take down the crown again. And it’s time again that they must see, There is nothing so mighty as we.   And they don’t think we’ll march again, And they don’t think we’ll march on them. And they don’t think ...

  Backroom Love Affair   Here is the story of you sycophant kooks: It would be funny, except for the nukes. Comic book villains, who voted for them? We want no part of your inane mayhem   Threats to the left and threats to the right, Pretense and nonsense, then back from a fight. Soft fattened mice pretending to roar, But the tigers are prowling and they’re keeping score.   Over and over and underperform, None of this stuff comes near to a norm. Stupid or blind or basically lazy, Why are you caving to and serving crazy?   Overindulged and unqualified, Lay out a million bucks and you’re inside. No matter that your resume is inflated, There is love for the uneducated.   No more fear of making any retraction, You are an integral part of a bigger distraction. You have no qualms as you watch the rapine, Deny, deny, deny, and you’ll get away clean.   Over and over and underperform, None of this stuff co...

  Living Past   The shaded past lurks because, Telling tales of never was, Slicing through me with silken claws, The shaded past lurks because.   A past only partly lived, Memory filtered through a faulted sieve. Scars sheared by a shielding shiv, Sins accomplished, who can forgive?   The shaded past lurks because, Telling tales of never was, Slicing through me with silken claws, The shaded past lurks because.   Remembrance a muddled palette, Fading faces, forgotten debt. Still ascend from the depths yet, Do we ever truly forget?   The shaded past lurks because, Telling tales of never was, Slicing through me with silken claws, The shaded past lurks because. Recollection clenching my jaw, Uncertainty in what I saw. Murky depths too like a maw, How long will memory gnaw?   The shaded past lurks because, Telling tales of never was, Slicing through me with silken claws, The shaded past lur...

  Technical Foul   How did the signal go awry? Point the finger at the other guy! Responsibility need not apply, If confusion you amplify.   Investigators on the prowl. Newspapers begin to howl. Don’t give in, throw in the towel, It was just a technical foul.   Never mind why the wisemen scowl, Keep shoveling shit with a bear-sized trowel, Feel the tightening grip in your bowel, While you commit to your technical foul.   Don’t worry, your job is fine, Just say it was all by design. Or that there are new guidelines, Or you were hacked by him sometime.   It’s all less than what it seems: Who knows what F-18 means? Let them bitch and moan and growl, Simply a technical foul.   Never mind why the wisemen scowl, Keep shoveling shit with a bear-sized trowel, Feel the tightening grip in your bowel, While you commit to your technical foul.   Cliff Lake 3/27/2025 Copyright © Clifford Lake 202...

  Found and Lost   There is a place, not entirely earthbound, Where the energy alive surrounds, Even in the darkness found, Where even the lowly are crowned.   There is a night, full of some earthly light, Where evil will dare not blight. Where you may escape plunder and plight, Where even the smallest wield might.   And I lived under the deepest dream, In a world of shimmering sheen, Maybe somewhere in between, Somewhere more than daydream, I saw it long ago… Return me to where I have been.   There was a day, when it was never gray, When I rolled a century away, Where one slept guarded by moonray, With a word no more cares to weigh.   I was pulled away by the human race, A lifetime I can almost embrace. Why abandon such grace? I can find my way back if I but see a trace.   And I lived under the deepest dream, In a world of shimmering sheen, Maybe somewhere in between, Somewhere more than ...

  Tuesday, In the Year of the Plague   Adrift I am in information, Canard concocted without cessation. Am I drowning in misconception, Or in the more turbulent deception.   The ship careens: I am thrown. The lies are paid, the truth on loan. And how to brave the cruel cyclone, How far away is certainty blown?   Fact buried beneath the wave, How many left that we must save? Sharks in the water, legitimacy bleeds, Know they will give no quarter, what of our needs?   How do we with the storm contend, What reality are we to suspend? Acidic lies rain without end, Beneath these waters will we descend?   Honesty’s lifeboat under duress, How do we paddle out of this mess? Can the ship be righted out of distress? Who will answer the SOS?   Abandoned we are in heavy seas, Afloat and unmoored in oily sleaze, Tossed by storm more like disease, Gods swept away we might appease.   Off course, backs...

  Confusioneers   For goodness sake, state secret mistake, How many blunders does it take? Think you’re gonna put them to the screw? They got a little shimmy-shake for you.   Think you caught them by the shorters, The idiot policies, conflicting orders. Watch them squirm out in front of their peers: The Dance of the Confusioneers.   The white lie here, Hey look over there! You know they screwed up, But now you don’t know where. Just know they’ll ramp up all your fears, The slippery Dance of the Confusioneers.   Panama, Canada, and Greenland, What’s with all of this threatening freewheelin’? I got my suspicions someone’s double-dealin’, They ain’t savin’ shit; they’re just stealin’.   Pander grander, sneak out some slander, Get everyone lost as your words meander. Create some smoke with a bunch of smears, Strike up the band for the Confusioneers.   The deflection here, Who is that there! You ...

  Mixed Signal   Open the information stream, It is as bad as what it seems. It looks like this crop’s been creamed, Signals sent on widest beam.   Drink to a pretended war, Take your shot and then one more. Signal the upcoming score, Discuss it all through an open door.   Appreciate the signal spread. Approximate within the thread. Apprehension, fear, and dread, Apply liberally to the head.   Drinks all around! Be of good cheer! The signal’s long and loud and clear! Nothing to lose! Nothing to fear, This side of the Atlantic’s clear!   Drink up men, it’s said and done. Drink up while the tale is spun. The signal went; it’s all good fun, Drink up before we’re overrun!   The signal sent so good and strong, Signal sent where it don’t belong. Signal sent and it’s so wrong, Signal got you in this song.   Signals beaming through the night, Signals beamed before the fight. Signal sent a...

  Desserts   Robber baron, liar, fiend, Destruction path smiling careens. Adderall or ketamine, Twisty promise from these are gleaned.   Drug-addled and ego-bound, Self-proclamation gains the crown. Grab it all and run aground, Scuttle the ship and let us drown.   It’s going wrong and getting worse, Time to empty the bloated purse. Hit them where most it hurts, They are earned these just desserts.   Sycophants and worshippers, Unimmune from forfeiture. Gardener and carpenter, Shield yourself from extortioner.   Close the doors, go to ground, No more interest to compound. Barter, trade, that will confound, If it’s gone, it can’t be found.   It’s going wrong and getting worse, Time to empty the bloated purse. Hit them where most it hurts, They are earned these just desserts.   Cheater, coward, scoundrel, thief, They would have you suspend belief. Undermining without relief, Instal...

  Letter to a Red Hat   Complaining that you are the small guy. That you have been made to crawl by. That you have been made to stall dry. Congratulations, you are the fall guy.   Gathered together in sweaty throng, Making you believe that you belong. Look at you find out you’re wrong, Look at you find your way into this song.   They turn their backs and walk away. Baring the fang at the weakest prey. I want to know what’s the takeaway? Welcome to the new squeeze play.   When did it go inside out? When did you begin to doubt? When will you begin to shout? You think you’re getting a bailout?   They turn their backs and walk away. Baring the fang at the weakest prey. I want to know what’s the takeaway? Welcome to the new squeeze play. Things you’re needing that they crash, Things you believe in that they trash. You made a choice that was much too rash, You made the choice, they get the cash.   ...

  Timewhine   Locks and clocks unwound with a rusted key, A life stripped of sensibility, Hours and minutes strewn in debris, The timeline slipped from reality.   Madnesses in place of what might be, Waking to incomprehensibility. Shifting seconds foul infinity, Inside the mirage no guarantee.   Fading in and out of time, Dreams and visions not wholly mine. Scenes and schemes to which I am driven, Tapestries and fragments to live in.   Navigating firmament fantasy, Spending moments in eternity. Mapping illusion continuously, Temporal dissolution starts at three.   Fading in and out of time, Dreams and visions not wholly mine. Scenes and schemes to which I am driven, Tapestries and fragments to live in.   Life and time carved from uncertainty, No trust remains in authenticity. Where in time is actuality? Make sense of our present’s invalidity.   Fading in and out of time, Dreams and ...

  Lifesong   We sang under starlight long ago, Sang trees to green, and breezes blow. We sang health into our earth, We sang of life and of rebirth.   But some would sing of iron and fire, Finding glory in man-made pyre. Then light faded, or became a glare, A darklight burning soiled air.   Sing into the west, sing to the east, Sing for the trees, sing for the beasts! Sing it to the south, sing to the north, Sing and bring creation forth! We are the singers, we are the song, We can sing the light again if we are strong!   The world into a darkness fell, Result of the broken spell. Our earth will remain this way, Until we find words from yesterday.   Take heart children, be it night or day, For those willing, there is a way. For those who listen, it comes at last: The song still whispers in the grass.   Sing into the west, sing to the east, Sing for the trees, sing for the beasts! Sing it to ...

  Stormcall   Thunderheads breach the horizon, Lightning stabs giving warning. Hear the winds in their uprising, The storm is at the door by morning.   The blundering is all crash and clank, The plundering, who makes bank? Feebly fronting before us all, Forecasting their practiced fall.   A tightened grip forged from steal, You signed the papers; this is the deal. The time is past for feigned surprise, The weather’s bad, the gales will rise.   Thunderheads breach the horizon, Lightning stabs giving warning. Hear the winds in their uprising, The storm is at the door by morning.   Gathering the fringed supporters: Marching minions awaiting orders. Whipping them to breaking strain, Come what may, they will bring pain.   Claiming witness, judge and jury, Saving the forces for the fury. Every day a new perform, Thinking they’ll outlast the storm.   Thunderheads breach the horizon, Lightn...

  Adrift   The mornings that faded to their noon, Nights unwound without a moon. Living like I were immune, Memories too casually strewn.   I know I should get in gear, But where I’ll get to remains unclear. And I continue to ride this sphere, Not really knowing how I got here.   And the days that flew by too fast, And the nights that didn’t ever last, And I find that time isn’t so vast, And here I am, and I never asked.   So much has passed I did not intend. So many twists I cannot unbend. So much time that was misspent. Still, I seem so far from an end.   Sitting here, everywhere to go. Full of the knowledge of I don’t know. What will the dice on the next throw? What strange wind will next blow?   And the days that flew by too fast, And the nights that didn’t ever last, And I find that time isn’t so vast, And here I am, and I never asked.   Cliff Lake 3/12/2025 Copyright © Cliffor...

  Stalwart   “Yakitty yak.” they blather at you. Yakitty yak is the best they can do. They talk and finagle and spew, But you’re still in the trenches when they are through.   Is their truth between the lies? Is it greed that squints their eyes? Is it merely a win they prize? What brute lurks beneath the smiling guise?   Will you be forced against the wall? With no support to prevent the fall? Will you be pierced beneath the screw? The first one you count on is you.   At your abilities they will hew, And do anything to alter your view, And remove any fact you thought you knew, To keep their hands unsoiled while they do the dirty to you.   With their plan will you align? What steals through their design? Have you fallen for the line? Have you read the small print before you sign?   Will you be forced against the wall? With no support to prevent the fall? Will you be pierced beneath the screw? T...

  Voices of Then   Wood and stone, and blood and bone, We do not walk this earth alone. Ancient voices speak from the trees, Or murmur in the deepest seas. On the winded mountains tall, Do you not hear them at all? Telling of the world when young, Of the romance between moon and sun, How they chase and are never done. Of the ease of new children, Who took to themselves power then. Of the glitter of gold that made them blind, Turned them cold, made them unkind. Listen to the hollow wind sad! Listen as it tells of men gone mad: How they turned on creatures once named brother How they came to believe there is the other. Do you hear the land groan underfoot? Are you so captivated by your output, That these voices you will not hear, That you cover your eyes, stop up your ear? Bone and blood and stone and wood, I would speak the ancient tongues if I could, And teach you to sing with the trees, To learn of far lands from the breeze....

Heartweight   The heavy heart, Its weight so burdened, Graying the day, Graying a life.   The crowded mind, Listening hard loudly hears, It speaks louder, Weighting the heart.   The deafened ears, Choosing their noise, Filtering day, fearing night, They crowd the mind.   The staring eyes, Seeing forward, Unbelieving the action, Deferring to ears.   The suffering soul, Intuiting more, Overshouted by eyes and ears and mind, It speaks to the heart.   The heavy heart, Its weight so burdened, Graying the day, Graying a life.   The suffering soul, Intuiting more, Overshouted by eyes and ears and mind, It speaks to the heart.   The heavy heart, Its weight so burdened, Graying the day, Graying a life.   Cliff Lake 3/7/2025 Copyright © Clifford Lake 2025