CliffSongs

  Paralysis   Motionless, he rises from his early morning bed. Stagnant, he cannot get outside the inertia in his head. It’s all the same, the day’s refrain, the things that he has said, He just maintains and makes no gains and goes to work instead.   Static, she moves the day, her deepest thoughts ask, “Why?” Passive is the way today, but it’s not enough to cry. Stationary as she buys the things that will never fill her life, Immobile as the system pulls the strings, apathy dulls the knife.   Paralysis! The days have all gone gray. Paralysis! Unchanging in their array. Paralysis! We’re gripped in unending maw. The fog won’t lift, and so we drift, As time continues to gnaw, Paralysis has got us all in its decaying craw.   Drowsing, we plod through years, faithfully at our jobs. Rousing, we see the same in the mass of nodding mobs. As sheep we’re driven, supporting thankless snobs, Our true selves now slowly riven...

  Ten Minutes ‘Til Tuesday   Well it’s ten minutes ‘til Tuesday and, Monday’s pull is too strong. My eyes won’t barely close and, My mind roars on and on. Just what was it that she said? Why did I take so long? It’s ten minutes ‘til Tuesday and, I’m stuck here on Monday’s song.   It’s still… Ten minutes ‘til Tuesday and, Monday won’t move along. Lyin’ here awake in bed, I know I’ll greet the dawn. So many things I could have said, Why can’t I just move along? It’s ten minutes ‘til Tuesday and Monday just takes too long.   It’s ten minutes ‘til Tuesday… Why won’t Monday just be gone?   Cliff Lake 11/28/2017      Copyright © Clifford Lake 2017

Behind Beauty   Behind beauty always a shadow lies; Darkness exists even in the fullness of day. Glory pretends its virtue, Growth exists not without consumption. Above the blaze is always smoke, Is truth born out of hatred? The exhortations of men sound hollowly, Is love born out of fear? Charm and wit projected falsely, A pretty smile may hide envy and spite. All must die so that all can live, Only entropy is steadfast. Comeliness has its price: Today’s grace is tomorrow’s decay. All will end – such is creation’s only promise, Now is the moment you live in – make it count. Behind beauty always a shadow lies; Darkness exists even in the fullness of day. Fear not the shadow of the uncertain tomorrows, There is the light of today; Let it warm you while it lasts. Cliff Lake 1/2/17 Copyright © 2017 Clifford Lake

  Keep The Dream   Keep the dream in front of you. For heart and soul, you must stay true, Let your nightmares fade with the dew, And keep your dreams in front of you.   So many things seem out of reach, At times the world your mind may breach. And your hopes evil will try to leech, So, this one thing I must now teach:   Keep the dream in front of you. For heart and soul, you must stay true, Let your nightmares fade with the dew, And keep your dreams in front of you.   Gold and jewels can hardly shine, Next to the colors of a pure mind. Abandon hope and I’m sure you’ll find, Without your dreams you’re truly blind.   Keep the dream in front of you. For heart and soul, you must stay true, Let your nightmares fade with the dew, And keep your dreams in front of you.   This world may seem as if it’s full of hate. It can’t get through if you close that gate. Reclaim your light; it’s not too late, Fo...

Falling Down ( Same pace and feel as Hypnotized by Fleetwood Mac )   There’s a drunken man Sittin’ in the corner, He’s got no prospects before him, He’s just sittin’ there gettin’ older. He’s not talkin’ to no one, He just orders another round. His luck’s not gonna be lookin’ up – ‘Cuz he’s not done fallin’ down.   He’s not movin’ on. He’s not gaining grace. He’s not catching up; He’s not keeping pace. He’s not doing much more than hanging around. He’s not learning any lessons because he’s much too busy Because he’s falling down.   She watches from a different life, He left her with so long ago. She tries to understand it, but, Some people just learn slow. He left her with enough pieces For her to gain some ground, But soon he was behind her, A voice that keeps getting fainter... As he slowly keeps falling down.   He’s not movin’ on. He’s not gaining grace. He’s not catching up; He’s not keeping pace. ...

  Unlost and Found   Whispers in the marketplace, Truths cannot be hidden from enlightened ears, From informed eyes. Do doubts rise there? They may be quenched by quiet confidence, By experience told that’s not forgotten.   Enigmas in the everyplace, Authenticity unlooked for that finds you. Veracity sees veracity; the principled recognize. Whispers in the marketplace, Knowledge is everywhere. Take it, it’s yours.   Cliff Lake 7/23/2022 Copyright © Clifford Lake 2022

  Lost     When you’re lost Do you always know that you are? You see a light Is it yours? You stumble and grasp But promise is fleeting Or not given at all. “Never” is as inconsequential as “always” Only change is eternal. You are lost. Are you to find yourself? Or must someone find you? Will either serve? Will both? How can you find the answers When you don’t know what the questions are? And how do you stop asking?   Cliff Lake 11/12/2014 Copyright © Clifford Lake 2014

  When It’s Gray   When it’s gray, You do not sample the light. You are not betrayed in the dark, Shapes are formless, their meaning indistinct, When it’s gray seduction is too close.   When it’s gray All the edges are blurred. You may not reach for support, Anything can be a blade, When it’s gray the unexpected can cut twice as deep.   When it’s gray Movement has no meaning. There is no forward, You cannot go back. When it’s gray no direction is better than any other.   Cliff Lake 12/21/2014 ©Copyright Clifford Lake 2014

  Walk   You walk and the direction is unclear. Backwards is not an option, Time moves in one direction. You walk and you may move with someone, You may be alone, Stasis is impossible, Time does not allow. You must walk, You are alive. Not all decisions are yours to conceive. In the end, you can only put one foot in front of the other. Though you stumble when doing so, Forward is the only way to go, The past is already gone. So stumble bravely, Time is the healer, And forward is the only direction available.   Cliff Lake 11/15/2014 © Copyright Clifford Lake 2014

  Half     Half a life, Half a love, Half a hope, Half a dream, And in the end, You have to scream.   You cannot have what you barely see, You cannot hold with inconstancy. There is no hope where there is no truth, You can’t hold smoke with nail and tooth. It’s a half a life when you live a lie, And lonely tears are the ones you cry.   Half a life, Half a love, Half a hope, Half a dream, Can’t find an end; You chose the theme.   You cannot love when you can’t forget, A shit-stained passion you now regret. A promise made in soiled sorrow, Rots any promise of a bright tomorrow. Your future rutted by karma’s wheel, Your present crawls with the dirty deal.   Half a life, Half a love, Half a hope, Half a dream, There is no end, It’s so unclean.   Half is here, Half is gone, Half of all, Half of none. And in the end, You’re half undone.   Cliff Lake 8/8/15 C...

  The Loser   There he sits in front of the box, hypnotized by a fate he created. Who has abandoned him? Loyalty was always a one-way street. One by one they fall; inch by inch closes the inevitable. “Why me?!?” he wonders, “Losing is for suckers!” he reminds, Still the box makes noises he does not want to hear. He cannot look away; the room feels smaller, filling with his odors: feces and sweat. Some things are familiar…   There he sits in front of the box, heated by words that cannot be, yet still are spoken. Who has he abandoned? They must stand by him still; loyalty is all! One by one they fail; inch by inch come the lawmakers. “Who are THEY?!?” he shouts, “I am always the winner!” he details, Still the box tells secrets no one was meant to hear. He will not look away; the room is hotter, filling with emotions he does not acknowledge: fear and doubt. They are getting too familiar…   Still, he sits in front of the box, inflamed ...

  Stained in Red   You, Republican, when will you understand the chosen color of the GOP is red?   Red.   It is the stain of your party. It is the color of the blood on your hands. Why wasn’t Sandy Hook enough? Why? What wasn’t learned from Columbine? What blinds you to a lesson played out over and over? A lesson in blood. Did you think the Harvest Festival was meant to reap bodies? Do you think that now?   The chosen color of the Grand Old Party is red.   Red.   It pervades your party. It is the color of the blood of children staining your hands. Why is it you cannot honor the dead of Parkland? WHY? What have you learned from your precious NRA? Is it that in time one can learn not to be shocked? Do you think the count of bodies is not yet enough? Do you think their deaths serve the greater good? Do you think at all? Do you feel?   The chosen color of the Republican Party is red. ...

  Notes From Four July 2022   The guns are blazing in Highland Park and it’s not even noon. But let’s protect those SA 2 rights all out of proportion to prudence, Because there’s varmints after the chickens sometimes, And prairie dogs need shredded in South Dakota.   How dare you distress me with your freedom?   The religious Right have taken control of the highest court in the land. And the violated woman, maybe her daughter are forced to carry through, Based on incomplete understanding of a book 2000 years old. Yet somehow violence borne is the Word of God.   How dare you regress them with your freedom?   Or the printed page is somehow the only influence of your children? Are you so weak that your own actions do not leave some impression? That your words, your deeds, your attitudes have no effect? That an inanimate object becomes the one thing that you suspect?   How dare you suppress us with your freedom? ...

  The Supreme Thwart   And so, this year our nation’s progress is coming up too short: Flamed arrows shot by the unseemly scheming Court. Autonomy, good sense and sanity is what they would abort, A blue wave, our freedoms saved, must be our set retort!   Kavanaugh and Thomas, so bound up in religion, Gorsuch and Barrett the same in their onerous decisions. We see today’s Court overweighted in division, It’s time we implemented long overdue revision.   Everything is changing, they remain the same. Walking back the country in a stupid vicious game. They’ve squandered all our innocence and introduced such shame, We won’t put up with it, we’ll have the evil all unknit, and see them all enchained.   Prayers and guns, where “Christians” run are seen as hand in hand. But Jesus said, “The sword’s too red, you do not take that stand.” But on the Right, they have short sight, firearms they will expand, While this Obscene Court will ...

  A Short One   Well, he’s five foot five and he’s barely alive, Just how much longer can he survive, The harsh environment where he used to thrive, Given the results of his current drive?   Retreating, conceiting, so many ways deceiting, His armies so often failing at completing. Wasn’t it just days that they were supposed to be defeating? How long before this results in his unseating?   When did this man’s intelligence fall benight? Has an illness caused a too early twilight? What is the basis for his rage and despite? Has he seen upon the wall the moving hand to write?   Well, he’s just five foot five, and how will he contrive, To continue to control the maddened beehive, That he awoke to attempt to deprive, A sovereign nation’s right to remain alive.   Well, he’s just five foot five… Why do we still put up with his jive?   Cliff Lake 6/30/2022 Copyright © Clifford Lake 2022

  SCROTUS   The Extreme Court of The United States today struck down Roe vs. Wade. This shame will not be unanswered. This atrocity will not go unpunished.   Six versus reason. Six versus health. Six versus autonomy. Six versus every woman in America.   The Unclean Court of The United States this week undermined Miranda rights. This blot will not go un-erased. This infamy will not go unscoured.   Six versus discernment. Six versus bounds. Six versus innocence. Six versus every undefended American.   The Regime Court of the United States this week undercut gun laws. This dereliction will not go unrebutted. This crime will not stand.   Six versus rationality. Six versus sanity. Six versus sense. Six versus every fucking life in America.   The Supreme Court of The United States this week exposed their corruption. This breach of trust will not go uncorrected. This malfeasance will not go un...

  Status     The squirming, the worming, the indefensible most detestable attempted unconfirming. In what way are these the actions of one we would call “president”? How do these actions speak of such a man as “leader”? Are we so blind that we must follow a known cheater, a proven liar, a charlatan beholden to the basest of his own instincts? Are we so weak that we must back down from a man that will not act for himself? Are we to allow a common bully to upend our America?  No.   Not in any manner will we allow our subservience to one so flawed that he cannot lose with the grace and dignity so long associated with our experiment in democracy. We have a process. He tried to avoid it. We have a procedure. He tried to subvert it. We have a mechanism. He tried to break it. He failed. He fails still. Is this so surprising from a man that cannot keep a casino afloat? Is this so astonishing from a man that cannot sell water? Is t...

  Stand Up!     I want you to look to Shaye Moss. Do you know what she did?   She stood up.   I want you to look to Ruby Freeman. Do you know what she did?   She stood up.   Do you know why? Because they are proud. Proud to be black. Proud to be women. And proud to be Americans. They stood up.   SAY HER NAME: SHAYE MOSS. SAY IT! SAY HER NAME: LADY RUBY. SAY IT!   They stood up for you! They stood up for me! THEY STOOD UP! They were proud to volunteer for America. They are proud still. I am proud of them. THEY STOOD UP. THEY STAND STILL! These are the American heroes of our times! These are Americans.   SAY HER NAME: SHAYE MOSS! SAY HER NAME: LADY RUBY!   STAND UP. Stand with these Americans!   Say their names… And stand up.   Cliff Lake 6/22/2022 Copyright © Clifford Lake 2022

  Smoke   It’s always been a mirage. The taxes that remain unpaid and unseen. The Rudy that worked for free. The inflatable assets that shrink at will. The real estate that folds in upon itself. The building projects that blow in; gone at a moment’s notice. The university that taught P.T.’s greatest lesson. The vodka and water that evaporated too quickly. The steaks that burned themselves but were never well done. The airline that crashed without any noise. The travel site that went nowhere, tell me can you find it now? The nonprofit that lined his pockets. The Trump Taj Mahal. The Trump Plaza. The Trump Castle. Gone, gone, gone. It’s all a fairy tale much too grim. But worst of all? The defense fund that never existed. Satan Claus doesn’t even believe in himself.   Cliff Lake 6/18/2022 Copyright © Clifford Lake 2022

  You Pays Your Money…   Hello Republican, this is Fantasyland, Where there is no Russia, but there’s border caravans. Where there is no belief in white supremacy, But somehow, you’re replaced by the minorities.   Where Disneyland now practices some abomination, And oil drilling is better than any conservation. Where more guns and even more than that, Will save all the children, cuz weaponry’s where it’s at.   Where the evidence presented by J6 committee, Can easily be explained away; don’t look and you won’t see. Where Donald Trump and his minions didn’t really plan a coup, Even though we all watched it, both me and dammit even you.   So double down Republican, I mean what is there to see? An election fund that isn’t there, you’re grifted willingly? He loves you, right? He’s said so, on and on, And there’s just no way, that all he says is all just part of the con.   Bless your hearts.   Cliff Lake 6/16/2...

  Fun, Fun, Fundable   But is it just about the money?   I wish we could have been there when Bill Barr told him. I wish we there when Bill said it again. I wish we there when Bill told him, “It’s all bullshit.” I wish we were there for that.   The election was over, but he was still collecting money? It was over and he was still collecting money? He was still collecting money.   We were all there when the courts told him. We were there all 61 times. We were there when court after court told him, “There isn’t any fraud. We are not finding fraud.” We were all there for that.   The court cases were over, but he was still collecting money? The cases were over, but he was still collecting money. He was still collecting money.   We saw that Arizona told him that Joe was still on top. We saw that Georgia told him that Joe was winner there. We saw that state after state after state told him, “Joe’s got the ...

  See   See how they peacefully protest. See the love in the air. See the windows peacefully broken. See the peaceful gallows raised. See the barricades peacefully snatched away. See the cops peacefully beaten. See the bear mace peacefully sprayed. Hear the peaceful cries of the mob. Hear the peaceful punches land. See the lovefest for the policemen. See the respect for democracy. See the peaceful baseball bats swing. See the peaceful flagstaff’s impacts. See the peaceful kicks to the face. See the peaceful riot unfolding. See the peaceful charge up the steps. See the peaceful search of the building. See the peaceful shit on the walls. See the peaceful theft of property. See the peaceful storm of the Capitol. See the peaceful transfer of power. See all of it, then try to deny.   Cliff Lake 6/12/2022 Copyright © Clifford Lake 2022

  Your Nightmare   Okay, listen up, Mr. Conservative, While you so loudly tout a child’s right to live. But when comes to guns you remain resistive, In fact, it really looks like you’re just combative.   You keep inventing reasons and causes galore, While assault rifles are busy creating new gore. The solution isn’t in making more and even more, That only results with more young flesh being tore.   You have a chance, don’t do nothing again, No solutions advance, so the fun never ends. We can all get back to gunning down family and friends. Well, we’re not giving up on this fight, But tell us how do you sleep at night? I hope you don’t!   So there GOP, time to seize the day! With so many guns out there this shit won’t go away. What’s it gonna take to get you to say: “Fuck the blood-spattered money and fuck the NRA!”   You have a chance, don’t do nothing again, You make excuses, but you don’t make amends. We...

  Downsized and Done   Where now are the orange flames? Look how they do slowly fade. Where are the belittling names? And the promises that have gone unpaid? Where are the adoring crowds? They tire of the same old lies. Where is the vengeance avowed? It seems like it’s in short supply. When is the big overturn? Is it still going to happen “soon”? Have the red hats started to learn? Is the air leaking the balloon? Where are the donations going? Is there really still a war chest? Why is the momentum slowing? Is everyone much less impressed? What’s happened to loyalties hard sworn? Have they faded because they’re one-way? Why is there sudden old guard scorn? Have the costs grown too large to defray? A shadow that once had loomed so large, Will pass as truth’s light does reveal. No more lies in a constant barrage, We will finally trump this ordeal.   Cliff Lake 6/8/2022     Copyright © Clifford Lake 2022

  Mono Slowdium Greene   I’m starting to worry about MTG; She’s displaying some vulnerability, By making it all too plain to see, That she favors white supremacy.   It’s not a case of ambiguity, Being an NRA queen bee, She thinks that guns should be more free, Than people are, like you or me.   Another area of concern, Is her inability to learn. New knowledge she just seems to spurn, While old tropes she will gladly churn.   To Bible times she would return, Because she cannot quite discern, Between a past for which she yearns, And the result of which where the world burns.   Thus I fear of her insanity, And her misread Christianity, It’s not simply some inanity; It’s a case of no humanity.   Cliff Lake 6/6/2022     Copyright © Clifford Lake 2022

  Prime Time   The House J6 committee, Getting down to the nitty-gritty, None of it’s gonna be real pretty, Gotta say I’ve got no pity.   Mark Meadows are you still taking your texts? Will you try to look all perplexed? Will you say they’re out of context? I’m pretty sure your luck is real hexed.   How you gonna explain your crime time? Are you gonna plead the 5 th in mime time? Maybe you’re gonna do a dime time. How you gonna look in prime time?   You guys tried an insurrection, After losing an election. Now the House completes detection, Bear witness to your rejection.   Gotta wash away the slime time, Gotta clean up all your grime time, Gotta set a new paradigm time, Gonna clean your stains in prime time.   Cliff Lake 6/5/2022;    Copyright © Clifford Lake 2022

  A Blessing   I didn’t find a mass shooting in my email today. That makes it one day in a row. Tomorrow may get here too soon. School is letting out for the summer… Where will the killers go to practice their art? Where is the next altar to the NRA? Perhaps the hunting will not be so easy, Or perhaps it will, The children will not be able to get inside, Because Senator Rafael Cruz is afraid of doors. He will let the blood spill outside for the good of the NRA. Do you know when the next psychotic blood let will occur? Me either. But if we all get some good old American iron, We can support the NRA. They need us you see, Because they don’t pay taxes, Or accept responsibility, Or have consciences, Or even Louie Gohmert’s heart. They have us for all of that. We can bleed. God bless the fucking NRA.   Cliff Lake 6/4/2022 Copyright © Clifford Lake 2022

  At’s     The GOP is adamant that the Dems are after SA 2, Well Republicans, that’s not the case, so here’s some truths I’m going to @ back at you: @RepKenBuck claims the Ar-15 is required to defend domestic fowl, The bullshit he’s piling on is so deep that he is required to use a trowel. @replouiegohmert is of the belief that we think he has no heart, No Louie, what we actually think is that it’s your soul that is torn apart. @RepMattGaetz is hedging his bets on “shall not be infringed”, Put that way Matty, you just sound catty, and more than a little unhinged. @LindseyGrahamSC, has his ’15 so he can defend against gangs, Yet no matter how many kids in schools are shot up, he never feels any guilt pangs. And @RepMTG said that she believes in “a heavily armed population”, Perhaps she’d like to stop by Tulsa today and witness that mutilation. Oh and @laurenboebert, what does she assert about guns going to Ukraine? @RepBoebert, your brain mu...

  A Note to Teddie   Rafael Edward “Ted” Cruz, as an American politician, Can you explain to me or anyone the status of your condition? Your emotional distortions, in tandem with your mental contortions, Can only be explained by your bank account’s proportions. How dare you try to explain away the deaths of children in Uvalde, By way of a teacher’s negligence in securing a doorway? No matter which way the tale is spun, it’s become apparent to everyone, That your loyalties are bought and paid for by the purveyor of the gun. To twist the facts you’ve tried and tried, some you’ve even tossed aside, But the central matter here, Ted, is you’re accessory to homicide. Second Amendment remains secure, it’s obvious that we need a cure, But the NRA’s onus and your allegiance to them you are trying to obscure. Bravery is not defined by the roar of the carbine, Is it true Ted that without the gun you truly have no spine? By advancing the stance we see, the ...

  Dead Words   Second Amendment’s debated now, word spake long into night, But words are words, it’s action now that must address this plight.   In all this matter, with all the words, with all that will be said, Remember this: you cannot query the dead.   So gather ye, if ye must, in quorum and committee, And if blooded specter be brought before you, well that’s just some tough titty.   For as you debate and debate some more, get this through your head: It doesn’t matter what word you use; you cannot convince the dead.   AR-15s, assaulting dreams, do they assuage all your fears? Or just too mean, somehow unclean, and create some mother’s tears.   By the NRA’s briberies you continue to be lead, Take some spent bullets along and commiserate with the dead.   Will an unlocked door even the score, will it keep out evil men? Or will there be more at the grocery store, what will you do then?   I ask you...

  How Many?   On May 24, 2022 With classes going and homework due, Lunch wasn’t even quite through, In a school in Texas where the bullets flew…   How many times will they have to run? How many ways are the arguments spun? How many times ‘til it doesn’t stun? How many children will face the gun?   Only ten days since the grocery shop. Only ten dead from the killer at Tops. It’s not as if lives are any cash crop. How many die before a full stop?   How many times will they have to run? How many ways are the arguments spun? How many times ‘til it doesn’t stun? How many children will face the gun?   Over twenty dead in the month of May. Almost as if it’s every day. How do we hold the violence at bay? How many more lives have to pay?   How many times will they have to run? How many ways are the arguments spun? How many times ‘til it doesn’t stun? How many children will face the gun?   Clif...

  Matthew 23:3, Conservatively   And they did call down their god upon the blasphemers who would allow the immigrant in. They did not read Leviticus 19:34. And they did curse those of other nations. They did not read Deuteronomy 27:19. And they would not feed the starving children among them. They did not read Psalm 146:9. And they would not provide answer to the oppressor of innocents. They did not read Job 29:15-17. For they will have dominion of this place and will turn away from the suffering they themselves cause. They have turned away. They have forgotten you. Mammon is before them and with them. They did not read Matthew 6:19. And they did call upon their god to visit destruction on the just. They did not read Matthew 7: 15-20. And they would march against those they cannot silence. They did not read Matthew 26:52. And they did claim they live in The Way. But what have they read? Where is their understanding? Have they no love...

  Stand   Can you see it? The darkness that is creeping in? It is there in the full light. Some deny it. Some cheer it. It is alive and it is bold. It will eat you. Can you hear it? The stain that is shifting in? It is under the dreaming day. Some refute it. Some approve it. It is making it’s way and it is inexorable. Will you stand? Will you hold the day? For darkness will have you in the void while you yet live, That is it’s way and it’s strength: it is empty. Hate is it’s fuel, fear is the impetus, envy is the root. From these you gain nothing. You will become empty. Can you feel it? The corruption of the all? It is there! And here! And there again! Some will refuse it. Some will claim it. They will believe they own all. They are empty.   Can you see it? It sees you. It is coming. Stand! Deny the entry and it must fall back into the shadow that it is. Stand! That is The Way. You can be The Way. Stand. ...

  What They Do   Those GOP’s, they talk all day, But the truths they have are much too few. Do not listen to what they say, They reveal themselves by what they do.   Now Marjorie entered the fray, Some rhetoric she had to spew. For formula she votes no pay, And then she cries “DEFUND THE WHO!”   Conservatives, oh yes, they pray, To Mammon perhaps, but not for you. Do not listen to what they say, They reveal themselves by what they do.   And Lauren, what does she bray? “Free speech!”, she says, “Unless you’re blue.” She too votes formula away, Then asks, “What does Biden ever do?”   Red politicians, gone astray, They score their points, but voters screw. Do not listen to what they say, They reveal themselves by what they do.   Gym Jordan, who ignored the coaches play, Says he knows what’s best for you. He won’t feed babies, not today, Then claims that’s what the Dems won’t do!   Those ...

  Once Upon a Time He Was Dead Or The Future Past of Vladimir Putin   Once upon a time the man was dead. He had lived, but that was the past. He is dead. He’d had hair and a wife. (He was dead) He liked kidney beans. (He was dead) He had two brothers. (They are dead) He joined the KGB and hated many. He was a Lieutenant Colonel. Then he died. He made some children. (He was dead) He liked being photographed doing brave things. He pretended he wasn’t a Fascist. He was addicted to being threatening. (But he died) He had lots of money and sometimes people got poisoned. (They died) One time he invaded the country next door and got his boat sank. (It is dead) He liked to call people he was planning to kill “Nazi’s.” (Many died) He didn’t often wear hats or follow the teachings of Christ. He liked parades. But he is dead. Soon.   Cliff Lake 5/17/2022 Copyright © Clifford Lake 2022

  Dancing to the Right   I watched while you ranted and raved About the people you would save, From the invented peril grave, Some horrid vast incoming wave.   But suddenly shots rang out! Some racial pig had reared it’s snout. He’d heard what you did quietly shout, For votes you must turn about…   When will you turn again? Insincerity with no end. You’ll spin your tale now, but then, Back to your vipers’ den, Tell me now – When will you turn again?   Being called out for your spiel, Oh, some thoughts you’ll repeal. Feet of clay, not of steel, Tell me, is any part of you real?   When will you turn again? Insincerity with no end. You’ll spin your tale now,   but then, Back to your vipers’ den, Tell me now – When will you turn again?   Cliff Lake 5/16/2022 Copyright © Clifford Lake 2022  

  Tops   Someone has opened cruelty’s door, Spouting race lies that once were yore. To pallid knights fealty swore, 4chan always seeking more.   Some believe in a racial war, Replacement theory gone full bore. They mean to settle imagined score, Ten gunned down at the grocery store.   So it’s Hail! Hail the NRA! To the Second Amendment we do pray! And Hail! Hail the bullet spray! Might is Right, let’s keep it white, If we find you in our sight, We’ll keep our trigger fingers tight, And it’s your fault if you’re blown away.   14 words brought to the fore, See the dead there on the floor. Believing in Supremacy’s lore, Ten gunned down at the grocery store!   So it’s Hail! Hail the NRA! To the Second Amendment we do pray! And Hail! Hail the bullet spray! Might is Right, let’s keep it white, If we find you in our sight, We’ll keep our trigger fingers tight, And it’s your fault that you’re blown away....

  And He Weeps   Say you so-called Christian, why do you torment those willing to take a stand? What the fuck makes you so special with your Bible in your hand? For Jesus Christ’s sake, read the damn thing, maybe you’ll understand, That liberty is liberty, and freedom means everyone’s, not just the players in your band.   Oh sure, you all loudly proclaim you’re all so goddam pro-life, But things change very drastically when it’s YOUR child, YOUR wife. It’s about time you really picked up the Scriptures; put down the knife, Don’t be so prone to preach at me, with your hypocrisy so rife.   It’s as if you have never heard or understood the teachings of the Lord: Violence is not The Way; shall you live and die by the sword? I am not impressed with your so vaunted numbers, that so-called horde, Clearly you have forgotten just where the grapes of wrath are stored.   So spare me your impoverished and falsely proclaimed piety, It’s cl...

  Yesterday’s Attempt   Super-Stupid and Mr. Violence climbed out from under their stone, With their bones to pick and their axes to hone. They wanted to believe they were the Forgotten People, That they were the abandoned and the alone. So they flexed their social media and fell into the rabbit hole, And reached out to grab all that they could trade in for their soul. They wanted to believe that they deserve everything and all, And so set out to praise greed and subjugation and other evil to extol. Now Super-Stupid and Mr. Violence made a major miscalculation, Thinking that kindness and empathy could never survive their negation. They wanted to believe they could beat the gentle into obedience, Never realizing that compassions’ bindings will overcome their predation. So Super-Stupid and Mr. Violence now try to ravage our land, Savagery, and servitude, and scorn has become their brand. They want to believe that they can beat us all down with the...