CliffSongs

  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...

  Contest   Long dark and fear at the edges, He barely remembers the name. The sharp sword and ancient pledges, None but he left to quench the flame.   Sorcelor’s word and promise made, He must travel the unclean way. Grace deferred and the bounty paid, Of the final price, who can say?   Cold-hearted and a colder life, He chosen for the lack of heir. Bold martyr, he will face the strife, Though none maybe to mark him there.   Infernal rage, risen to burn, Who better to face reddened scourge? Last of his kind, his resolve stern, Will he earn the funeral dirge?   The foe before him, grown too bold, His reckoning draws to him near. No woe deters him, grown too cold, Battle beckoning without fear.   Icy veined, and his sword in hand, Red fury seems an overmatch. The burning bane, he makes his stand, What fee can his achievement catch?   The fiery clash, they now meet, Neither will stall...

  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. ...

  Shots Fired   Shots fired, The assault begun, War in the streets of America. Pale house of Pennsylvania Avenue: You have given murder a pass, This bloodstain Cannot be covered in orange paint. You have made yourselves known, You have chosen.   Where can this path lead? You believe you can hide behind shameful action, Your shame is known, Your crimes shadow every move, You took the largest stage, And all eyes are on you.   Shots fired, The offensive launched, War on the populace of America. Homeland Insecurity, The lie is too bold, The murder too plain, You are too complicit, You display your colors, You have chosen.   Where does this road lead? You believe you can invert the story, The facts are known, The cameras captured every move, You lie at every stage, Too many eyes have been opened.   Shots fired, The onslaught commenced, War on the core of America. Correspondence and com...

  The Animal Cornered   An animal is cornered. It snarls and claws, Its defense is reflexive and desperate: The animal is cornered.   Is capture inevitable? It retreats to darker holes, Or to hide behind obscuring items, It will not abide capture…   The animal lashes out. It savages what is within reach, It tears at more as it rages, The animal is lashing out.   What damage may ensue? What thoughtless carnage supplied? The moment is the matter, Consequence is never considered.   The animal begins to rave. Illness long conquered its senses, All that is left is fear and fury, The animal is raving.   Survival of the torment it imagines is paramount, Reality is of its own design. Perspective is long lost, Fight or flight is what remains.   An animal is cornered. It bites and mauls, Its defense is reflexive and desperate: The animal is cornered.   What may tame the brute? ...

  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...

  Stain   What once was tarnished Is now stained. What pride is there In petty aggression? What has been verified Beyond savage greed? How do we hold freedom aloft With our heel planted on the neck? What oily advantage have we procured? What ego has been stroked? What wickedness steered from? What wickedness performed? A spotty reputation Is now smeared with blood. Have we gained security? Or are we now more suspect? “We…” I do not recall sanctioning this aggression. I do not remember an appeal to Congress. “We.” Are we to be punished, Rebuked, Scorned, For the ambitions And the fears, Of one man, Soiled in spirit, Soiled in his very clothes. What pride is there in that? Will we accept his stain? Who among us has earned that mark? Who will willingly wear it? Who among us Has so little regard for themselves That they will allow the crimes of one man To brand us all? Our nation was tarnished, Yes, No...

  Course Correction.   A corrupt regime, Authoritarian and abusive. State media control and Crimes against humanity. Suspect elections, Opposition crushed out of hand. External political interference, Economic hardship in-country. A despot remaining in power Through means nefarious, Condemned by International Court, Are we to ignore all this? We must do what we do!   The good part is: Russia has oil.   So much that is wrong, We have the power to correct! How can they stand against our might? A mighty eagle are we that we may swoop in, Remove the tyrant, Make that far country our own! We will free the masses from oppressive rule! We will calm the waters disturbed! We will raise our banners high, We will drill deeply because:   Russia has oil.   Let the world rejoice! We will assert our justice! We will manage the situation! We will make ourselves known! We will step on some toes! Who w...

  The Price of a Meal   The dusted day drags, The parched pastures pass, Their parched people peer, None come this way, Yet he is now among them.   They will not accept him: He is Outside, He is Outland, He cannot know their troubles, None that have not lived them may.   They would drive him, Were it not for his bearing, Were it not for his sigil, And the weapons he carries – Those speak to worse troubles yet.   He seeks the inn, Little more than a brew-sell, Thought it speaks of lodge. He will be overcharged. He will be overcharged by all. Until.   It has not been a fortnight That the messenger arrived. Messenger, ha! A child! Sent by whom she would not say, She was not pressed for it, The fear on her spoke clear.   They had come: Rovers, rogues and robbers, Long were they tracked, Their path too uneven, Their targets too well chosen.   Flush with ill gain, They mel...

  Turning Again   Now to the turning again: Artificial, Out of sync, The rhythm interrupted. We speak of beginnings, Of renewal, But the night is already relinquishing it’s hold… We miss the mark, We defy the pattern, We try impose our will on a natural order That ignores our puny attempt. It is only us that meet the seasons thus. Papered calculation, The days grow longer without our input, It has already begun. That is the true beginning, There is the renewal underway: Just days past, But we measure from a farther point,  And gain nothing. We celebrate vigorously our erstwhile computation, But the dark is already fading, The light is already strengthened, And we had no part in that. What is it then that we honor? Numbers only. Are we so fearful of this cosmos That we must ignore what always occurs In spite of our paltry pursuit of control? The tides still roll. The winds still pass us by. The moon waxes an...

  Fade   The magic wrested from the very ground, Malformed now and made to serve. What twisted malevolence conceives thus? What fractured discernment machines so?   The air clouds and thickens. The soil strains, forced to obedience. The waters oil and slime, Our legacy plotted in entropy. Who has stolen the enchantments? Some lingers, Fading, Fading. Is it recaptured in neon? Is it constrained to the ever-present auto-tune? Feeble imitations! Spirited away, Buried deep in leaden vaults, Concreted bunkers, Or hauled to high desert, Where the dunes swallow indiscriminate.   The magic annexed from the very ground! Malformed now and made to serve. What twisted malevolence conceives thus? What fractured discernment machines so?   An iridescence of existence sequestered. Why is not proper query. Who is easily guessed. When is now. How is the question. If one learns the how, The un-how becomes known....

  Luxury   What shall we say of the little luxuries? Not so much, Or everything, Though they matter not Outside of the personal demesne. Which have you taken up, Misunderstood but precious? What small tickle do you keep? Not some ravishing obsession, Expensive and selfish, But that private spark, Closely guarded, Indulged in, Having little import in the wide scheme, But valued just the same. What secret vanity have you, Or, What fixture gives you the modest delight, Yours alone, Winked at by the peer, Fostered by the loving. Some bauble, An entertainment, The hobby, Or the favored spot in the sun… Such as these May provide more rest Than a harsh chemical, Or too much acquiescence To unwieldy demand. So many of the very powerful Wear so sour the countenance: Satisfaction will never be theirs. Do not weep for them, That is the dream they purchased. Yet you may find contentment, yes? That piece of music, ...

  Influenca   They’re out there, Really out there… They critique the critic. They ruminate. They buzzard the news cycle. They fringe. They associate themselves with the infamous To create their own celebrity. They are hangers-on, Deniers of compatriotry, They are third-from-the-left, They are there. Click-baiters and namedroppers, Leeches of the electronic sort. They fester. They roil. They cogitate in wild supposition. They discuss. They detail. They leave out the salient. Infamy is their road, Notoriety their vehicle, Speculation their destination. Opinion distributors. Conspiracy providers. See them elucidate! Hear them decode! They illustrate their notions bravely! They expound assumptions in the face of logic! Courageous confusers. Contriving consultants. Who are we to provide fact? Don’t we know that their livelihood is at stake? How unjust it is to employ critical thinking When unjustifiable imagini...

  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...

  Before Akallabêth   The manuscript, an ancient tongue, The balance of nature is hung. The hourglass, the sands run thin, The warning unheard in machine din.   In candlelight the message clears: A tale of absent light for years. When monsters reared and trees were felled, Arda betrayed, the light was quelled.   An iron crown, a ring in stone, The Faithful weep, wander alone. Jewels by the mighty dark worn, Twisted heart kindled, blood oath sworn.   Who can move within the unlight? Who can undarken the dead night? Who makes claim with stolen right? What vengeance mars jewels burning bright?   The trees are wounded, their light is gone, Within the jewels their light lives on. But lies live in their maker’s breast, Away from Aman he now pressed.   Jealousy, greed, and now revenge, So much on other skill now depends. Their kin, the water folk defy, There by the Sea their bodies lie.   Fr...

  The Meet   Lurching through forest, spirit strewn, I chanced upon her: Woman Moon. Silver-fragile, hard as the night, Beckoned, led me to ancient rite.   An obscured path, the hidden glen, A rabbit warren, foxes den. Many creatures were gathered nigh, Observed this man with measured eye.   No fear here, nor cause for alarm, Austere Moon guards; keeps them from harm. Here hidden in primeval defile, Brought hence to answer to trial.   Then Woman Moon put forth the call: “Here stands Man, to rise or fall!” “Am I, just one man, to answer for all?” “One man may serve this protocol.”   Then far off some bell did chime, And we were separated from Time, Then Woman Moon spoke with hardened shine, Telling the tale of Mankind’s crime.   Long she spoke in forever night, Of pine and oak and creatures plight. Long I listened, and much heard, ‘Til she fixed her gaze on me: “Speak your word.”   I s...

  Rebuke   Not a day gone, Nor yet in the grave, The murdered lie cold, Yet your words run colder And thus Your cruelty is assured. Your shame spills over, Though you hold none of your own. Short-timer, there is much you could yet do, Besides mourning strictly over you. How brazen your lip service! You mourn your own renown, And place the blame Squarely where it must lie: With the victim, With the victim. What derangement grips you? Too often do you name yourself – Ever you claim fevered oppression Even as the invective flies from your lips, And the orders are made against those Who scry your sin. How many more can you repulse Before you stand alone? Your pursuit of isolation is too evident, May you be granted your boon, And be the victim, Be the victim. The lies no longer cover   Your expanding ass, The deflections you cast No longer obscure a revealing past. Teflon wears when scraped often, And you ha...

  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. ...

  President’s Piece   Waste that pleasure craft, big boy! Hit them again, Because they can’t get away. Football plastic peace prize present, Tanker grab confirms its worth. Not so noble the pursuit, Not so noble a look, Cast away that noble dream. Resolute desk warrior, Bruise a hand again! The only visible battle scar. What spurs you on these days? Is credibility such a great loss? Then take the fight home to sweet Chicago, To Portland, To the Golden State, A show of force painted in orange goo. Who can afford such peace? Who can afford anything? A commander in chief too asleep to brief, Up all night in the media trenches, Unsocial, And untruthed. Your battle is with reality: Your public takes hits in the wallet, so, You advise austerity, Claiming it is prosperity, Sabotaging your verity. When you war with the truth of everything, Of everyone, How will you find peace? How will we? Peace president, Leave us ...