“Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots.” – Victor Hugo

“Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots.” – Victor Hugo


The Rise of Cthulhu's Kingdom
by Michael Doyle
I.
The world around us is in crisis.
Yet it is just as it finds us.
Those we call friends try to advise us
About all the badness they think we need because..
Things couldn't be bad enough
As we find our way through this emergency.
We survivors try to hand on tough
Though the truth is that we've lost our identity.
We do all we can just to make it home.
Mostly, because we fear being alone.
It feels like most of our priorities are up for auction,
And all we can do is wait for the After Action
Reporting on the reasons we've lost our stability.
All we can do is stare in the mirror of what is to be.
The house we grew up in holds its dark memory,
Like the legacy of its dysfunctional family.
Steamed-up mirrors hide only half of the truth.
That's the lesson of life that keeps us aloof.
We exchange calls with those we no longer know.
That's when the tensions run through start to show.
II.
The problem is that no one listens anymore,
But the gift in the basement knows the score.
Ill-intended small talk has no turn but to fight.
Our ancestors made us who we are in today's light.
Relics are found that have a rare meaning.
The demons are found within human beings
As each tries to be something we are not,
And our meanings like relics are lost, and forgot.
We can find our answers full throttle.
They are present at the bottom of the bottle.
Tales are told of death; we cannot refuse.
Kids have disappeared with each sip of the booze.
The ancient ones eat the children of sorrow.
In these stories are lessons for tomorrow.
Unexpected pleas reflect lives lived in terror.
Evil is reflected in this passage of mirrors.
Each passage is a secret of change.
Some things in life won't rearrange.
No matter how the waves beat on the coast,
The fear in our eyes is the kind that likes to boast.
III.
Dark and twisted are the wanton ways of desire,
Though the urges felt burn like passion's fire.
Some believers drink the Kool-Aid of latent hate,
But some struggle against humanity's fate.
Searching for answers in the black of night,
Fear brings our demons into plain sight.
Shadows flicker as the sacrifice is begun,
Cthulhu is calling as he has always done.
Seen in the darkness is the mind's wicked eye.
It goes away for those about to die.
Visions of past bodies pile in the light
The ancient ones have come to reveal the final night.
The scenes seen are filled with mistake.
Sacrifices are made that make the soul shake.
The auctioneer of our past life will be crying.
Such is the history of old gods dying.
They are waiting on the other side of suicide.
The fortune of the world is left to decide.
This is the welcome home for the unbeliever -
Beware the beached shadow of the dark deceivers.
IV.
Down below is the hidden story
Of another time lived without glory.
The Marsh men are creatures of the sea.
Eternal life is Cthulhu's cherished mystery.
Mankind's bungled moments cannot be borne,
As the waters rise on that dark morn.
Mankind has caused its own demise.
The end does not come to anyone as a surprise.
Still, as death and rampant violence
Echo across the world with its great vigilance,
The world of mankind will soon be lost.
This, then, is the plan and tragic cost.
In the wake of this scene of devastation,
Those who are to come will do so with inspiration.
This is the spawn of which they openly warn.
The evil of tomorrow is already born.
The old world is dying with lasting sacrifice.
There is no love but enough hate to suffice.
Here now from the tragic seas they at last come
To build on this earth, the pillars of Cthulhu's kingdom.
(c) October 3, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

“The first maxim of a man who loves liberty, should be never to grant to rulers an atom of power that is not most clearly and indispensably necessary for the safety and well being of society.” – Richard Henry Lee

“You see, we are here, as far as I can tell, to help each other – our brothers, our sisters, our friends, our enemies. That’s to help each other, not hurt each other.” – Stevie Ray Vaughn


The Details On Liberty Street
by Michael Doyle
Mortality beats a heavy drum in perspective.
Memories of past conversations are kept respective
Of all the years that have since come and gone.
Only the night herself can say when to move on.
The sharing of souls calls for a renewed conversation.
The morbidity of vampires is its own desecration.
Still, with guarantees in place, confession may be bared,
The truth is in the confessions evil has willingly shared.
Too many errors call for truth and reconciliation.
An interview begins with intemperate negotiation.
Each side realizes there were things left unsaid,
But isn't that always the way with the undead?
Generations have passed for this prince among the undead.
Storyville holds gambling and gluttony, and more, it is said.
Mankind is often motivated and ruled by products of desire.
There are the decrepit vices that set the world on fire.
Compassion is seen as a weakness on the streets of liberty.
Roughness is the only position strong enough for dignity
One mistake after another erodes a man's corruptible soul,
Until, at last, it is Lucifer who grabs the hand of control.
These are the pains kept in solemn preparation,
And the breakfast table knows its own narration.
Every view is heard in pointing to the confusion.
The confusion caused by the principalities of delusion.
As a man descends, he loses his way to confession.
Instead, he increases his tithe in his concession.
Some in the Church willingly look the other way.
This is a decision they'll rue one soon-enough-day.
Dirt from the dollars gained lust chased by desolation.
The demons of drink knew their own contribution.
A jazz band below played along in ragtime syncopation.
The Devil knows the strains of this sinful nation.
Shadows are often dancing along the river's edge,
Bringing evil's pleasure walked up to the ledge.
The gaze of the vampire leaves a man immobilized.
This is the weakness found in being mesmerized.
Where a man is willing to slice his brother's breastbone,
This is a place where the Devil can make his home.
The power of the vampire's gaze emasculates in its measure,
And the lesser man becomes less man than a possessed treasure.
(c) October 2, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

“Allow a government to decline paying its debts and you overthrow all public morality-you unhinge all the principles that preserve the limits of free constitutions. Nothing can more affect national prosperity than a constant and systematic attention to extinguish the present debt and to avoid as much as possibly the incurring of any new debt.” – Thomas Jefferson

“When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been murderers and tyrants, and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fall. Think of it, always.” -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 Oct 1869-1948)

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.” – Isaiah 5:20-21 NIV

“There are three constants in life… change, choice and principles.” – Stephen Covey

Văn Học Ngoại Biên — Literature Beyond
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