Fade

by Cliff Lake

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.
An iridescence gone!
If one has never seen,
One cannot miss its absence.
And so, 
The histories are relegated to myth,
And we are the poorer…
How?
Do you ask how?
I do not have your answer,
For I too would know…

The magic seized from the very ground?
Malformed now and made to serve!
What twisted malevolence has conceived thus!
What fractured discernment machines so!

Fade,
It ever fades,
And I with it.
Things unlit electric were brighter,
And museums not so dusty.
The displays now covered in handprint,
No touching allowed,
And thus you will not be reached.
Artificiality is the new real.
Make the sure the television is loud enough!
There may yet be a bird singing outside…
May the car engines drown that out!
Next year we’ll be able to carve our own air.
And I won’t have to watch the fade.

The magic stolen from the very ground,
Malformed now and made to serve.
What twisted malevolence conceives thus?
What fractured discernment machines so?

The answer echoes in the sameness we have accepted.
Bland never caused anxiety,
Dull never raises its voice.
What need have we for allure?
What betterment is found in fascination?
Thrills may be had at cost!
Excitement is only a dollar away!
Once reality is made tedious,
Then plastic dreams are easily sold.
And there we find our answer:
Cold and shining,
Totted up and recorded,
And you get your portion,
Allotted with the same care and consideration
Given to the planet it was taken from.
Do you feel the fade?
Or are you yet dazzled by the light
That is drowning out the stars?

The magic poached from the very ground,
Malformed now and made to serve.
What twisted malevolence conceives thus?
What fractured discernment machines so?

It fades…
It all fades…

Cliff Lake 12/24/2025
Copyright © Clifford Lake 2025