Just in the pubs and clubs
******* our own gear around
Seemingly, always upstairs
For weddings and birthday parties
Sorting out miles of wires
Well-worked practise

But when those amps were turned on
With an audible amplified thud
As switches are flicked
And their lights gaze like tiny red eyes
That's when I am ready

First number and the drums and bass
Connect to create new heartbeats
And now I'm into it
Not the man in the mill anymore
I'm the frontman for the band
And the music soars through me

As the night goes on and grows
The crowd has grown and is dancing
Gaining energy from the music
And feeding it back to us in turn
Now THIS is being alive

And so it was

                                 By Phil Roberts

He walked the streets a begger
they buried him like a king
he played a six string guitar
he wore no golden ring

She had the voice of angels
survived a valley called death
then fearing no evil
she passed every test

They wrote the songs with sunsets
they walked the line together
they stood in a ring of fire
in love they burned forever

I wish I weren't so shy
Had the confidence to try
Set my paralysis aside
And just be satisfied I tried

But the fear is all consuming
That I may somehow be denied
My inner demons multiplying
Disabling my once sound mind

I'm socially inept
There's nowhere left to hide
Cozy, snuggled in my comfort zone
While I'm left swallowing my pride

I'm conflicted by a yearning
A feeling deep inside
To seek out a companion
The Bonnie to my Clyde

A forever tender lover
Our bodies intertwined
But I can't seem to get past the part
Where I look them in the eye

It's got little to do with my self image
I think I'm one hell of a good
guy
It's just so rare that I meet someone
That's in rhythm with my vibe

It may be the signal that I'm sending out
I've gone along for the free ride
I'm always caught up in some traffic jam
That's wasting all my time

Traveling down a winding road
Without a map to guide
Headed toward the future
And not the past I left behind

I'm constantly contemplating
Whether I'm the one that's to decide
Am I qualified to be tempting fate
By choosing my own bride

Did I miss my window
Should I peek out through the blinds
Will I be disappointed by my bride to be
Or be content with whom I find

Shall I put faith into the process
Leave my worries by the side
Find a place to settle down
Recite the words that bind

I know my reservations
To you may seem benign
But the clock is tick tick ticking
As the days go slipping by

"Wish I could go back
when things were
just stinky
yucky, smelly
you know, in innocence of yesterday's years
better to be blissfully unaware then painfully so?
I didn't realize I'd stepped in ****."

Cherie Nolan © 2016

I want to leave this place,
find somewhere else in which to live.
For I've given here all I have to give.
Find a place I belong,
In a new and happy song.
I could sing about the night,
How the moon in full glory shines so bright.
I would sing about the rain,
How it washed away my tears of pain
and led me to the other side where skies are blue.
That's all i can do...
to not let this world ruin me.