One little stick at a time, you feed the fire
One little stick at a time, it grows higher
One little stick at a time, against yourself you conspire

Carrying a bundle of sticks you cry, "everyone else is to blame"
The relentless winds of time did fan the flame
Now in control the fire takes the reins

With scorching fury it devours all that's within
Till only molten ambers remain  under the skin
Can you remember how this story even begins

One little stick at a time, against yourself you conspire
One little stick at a time, it grows higher
One little stick at a time, you fed that fire

©Pauline Russell

So it began, my life of pain
Covered in shame
Step-dad laid his claim

So it began, my life of woe
Down the rabbit hole
Some known how the story goes

So it began my life of tragedy
It happened so rapidly
It is now my woven tapestry

So it began, my life of regrets
Sadly it's not over yet
Impaled daily on life's bayonet

©Pauline Russell

Hardened and honed
Right down to the bone
Unreachable
Untouchable
Refined in the fires
Of monsters' desires
Irredemable
Irretrievable
Forever being oppressed
Pressed and compressed
Inescapable
Ineluctable
Walking this world alone
Dragging a heart of stone
Unbreachable
Unbreakable
No longer afraid
A warrior was made

©Pauline Russell

Like a tree in the night I get lost in the shadows
Standing here waiting my turn at the gallows

I'm just a mirage
Decked out in camouflage
A black silouet against a sea of gray
The drakness conceals the decay

Watching the moonbeams resistance Against the darks existence
The star's twinkle in denial
But the darkness has been there all the while

Consumed by years of agonizing pain
I don't consider myself even close to sane
Digging through life's haystack to find that proverbial needle
My search is methodical but the results are feeble

So I'm beginning to bending under the weight
Of this wretched life, this darkest fate
For I have already tasted the sorrow
Of every single one of my lifes tomorrows

Once a mighty warrior full of hope and fight
All that remains is poison tainted veins from life's snake bite
So here in the crushing darkness I stand and wait
Hoping the executioner, my years will soon abbreviate

©Pauline Russell

It's hard living in a world where no one cares
While your smothered and shallowed by despair
Sitting here wondering why I was born into this place
Not wanting to be part of this human race
Where money is the great and powerful Oz
It doesn't matter what's the cause
I look and see their hearts have grown cold and calloused
Everything is so off balanced
There is no more unconditional love
No help from up above
We have been abandoned
The trumpets have sounded
Humanity has been stripped of it's compassion
Empathy is in short ration
Gone are the ways of old
To these values we no longer hold
Now it's I'll do for you if you can do for me
That's not the way it's supposed to be
But everyone's eyes have been closed
Their souls have become thorny and cold
We are no longer judged on our thoughts and actions
But by how much money we have for the coming attractions
For if we don't have enough to pay
We become part of the play
We are condemned to be the *****
Then feed into the machines of war

©Pauline Russell

The American people have been Punked
His name is Donald Trump

©Pauline Russell

I'm angry, I'm mad, I can only see red
This feeling is demanding, it needs to be feed

I'll rip and I'll tear flesh from the bone
I'll rip and I'll tear your feelings from thier home
I'll stomp on your head, till your eyes become lose
I'll even stomp on your heart if I chose
I will snap every bone in your puny little body
I will snap every emotion till you no longer  haughty
When done, I'll  have separated your muscle from skin
When done, I'll have separated your body from sin

I'm angry, I'm mad, I can only see red
But don't worry people, for we all end up dead.

©Pauline Russell