The day that I was christened--
  It's a hundred years, and more!--
A hag came and listened
  At the white church door,
A-hearing her that bore me
  And all my kith and kin
Considerately, for me,
  Renouncing sin.
While some gave me corals,
  And some gave me gold,
And porringers, with morals
  Agreeably scrolled,
The hag stood, buckled
  In a dim gray cloak;
Stood there and chuckled,
  Spat, and spoke:
"There's few enough in life'll
  Be needing my help,
But I've got a trifle
  For your fine young whelp.
I give her sadness,
  And the gift of pain,
The new-moon madness,
  And the love of rain."
And little good to lave me
  In their holy silver bowl
After what she gave me--
  Rest her soul!

Give it a rest
give me a break
Let me wake to fresh coffee and not more 'earache'
Give it a miss
give me a kiss
Let's settle down for some marital bliss.
But you go on and on
and you're wearing me out.
I want to shout 'leave me alone'
I want to feel this house is a home
not a warzone
not a ground zero
and you're not a Nero
but you want to burn me
turn me into a gibbering wreck.
At your beck and call is not all that I do.
I have a job and you have one too.
Give it a rest
let's both try our best and compromise
look me in the eyes and say,
'Yes
that's what we'll do'

On Sunday at two when I went to confession
the old priest was not ready
nor could believe the procession of my faults I laid out.
And he began to shout,
'leave me alone,leave me alone
this is a church don't treat it like home'

On my own now
echoes of home now
fade.
Wish I had paid more attention.
Suspended
My life's in suspension
has it ended?
Should have tended to needs
pulled up the weeds
Now I'm speeding towards another silent day
there are no words I can say
to describe that.

Opening my eyes not surprised to see
A world of disrespect and debauchery
As I continue to fight for the positive side
I would peer with distain for myself in my mind

What happened? Where was I…lost in a haze?
I can see much better as I start a new phase
No longer trapped by negative thoughts
Cause the more that you squirm the deeper your caught

Traveling down a slippery *****
Now look to the future with a glimmer of hope
For the path that I choose is determine by me
Outside detractors can no longer be

For I am the king of my personal throne
It’s all up to me…and to me all alone
Self respect, dignity was once what was lost
Forgiving yourself still comes with a cost

The world is mine…confidence or conceit
Positive movement not accepting defeat
Visual thoughts can help make it real
It’s the start of my life…I’m beginning to feel


Joe Callari

The woman on the clifftop
dreamed that she could fly
she longed to be an angel
to soar up in the sky
she planned her journeys carefully
all the places she would go
as soon as she had her feathery wings
as soft and white as snow
the villagers all laughed at her
and told her she was mad
that perhaps she should jump off the bridge
(to be rid of her they'd be glad)
but the woman did not care
and her dream stuck in her mind
as she thought of all the places
and the secrets she would find
she took a step towards the edge
and flung herself at the sky
and whispered as she slowly fell
"God please help me fly"
the woman on the clifftop
disappeared that day
and as her body was never found
the people often say
"she was a mad old woman
who dreamed that she could fly
she longed to be an angel
to soar up in the sky
no one knows what happened to her
and when the church bell rings
we look up at the sky and hope
that God gave her her wings"

Lay my heart beside the sea
            I'll convulse silently
I then fell off the tree
            Blacked my eye, scraped my knee
The currents were wild-
        they ran free like a child.
From the door, to the rocks-
          they stumbled at the docks.
When at last I got up-
       from the sand and the muck-
I collapsed, once again, from the tide and the wind.

And finally I did see, the shore looking at me- laughing gallantly,
the shore said to me,
"Do not stumble again, you're too weak, you're too thin, don't you shake, for, you see? You are free, you are free"

I was waiting to write a letter soon
The letter you'll never see
I've got it written and ready now
A letter from the heart of me.

I guess it's pretty simple
But I've never been one to share
All it has is feelings
Like how I've always cared.

I really wanted to tell you
Why'd you leave so soon?
You know, we had a coffee date
I remember it set for noon.

I never got to meet you for it
You left me on the way
In reality it's all my fault
I'm the reason you're not here today.

If only I hadn't made it that time
Maybe you'd still be here
I wonder what you'd be doing now
We'd still be together, we'd meet there.

But this letter had my feelings
The ones I know I should have shared
And now you've moved up higher
You should know that I still care.

I would've sent this letter
Darling, my cheeks are getting damp
I wish you'd know my feelings
But Jesus doesn't pay for stamps.

What would happen if I was gone
What would people think
Sure they might imagine that they were upset for a couple of days
But life would still go on
They would forget and they would move on
They would no longer care that I wasn’t part of everyday life
Would there be any regrets that I left behind
I doubt it because no one really cares