This is a story of a boy
Which may be a little sad
At the tender age of only eight
Alexander sadly lost his dad
He grew to be a dashing man
And married in twelve sixty one
To Margaret, the daughter of a king
Who tried to bully his in law son
He wanted recognised as an overlord
But Alexander directly refused
Margarets dad did not kick off
But surely his ego was bruised
In twelve sixty two
Alex claimed he owned some land
The Western Isles belonged to him
He decided to take a stand
King Haakon of Norway disputed his claim
And set sail to true form
Alexander prayed for more time
And Haakon was caught in a storm
He died after falling ill
And Alex pressed his case
Haakon's succession to the throne
Did not keep Haakon's pace

(C) Julie Murphy 2015

Am a lass fae Govan
There a wiz born n breid
When a wiz wee a wiz playing tig oan the *****
N a split ma poor wee heid

Fae Glesga tae Fife
Wiz where we went
Tae a flat in Methil
That ma maw goat fur rent

Tae skool a went like
A scaredey cat, a didny know wit ti expect
Second year it the high skool
Wiz a bit eh a pain in the neck

Home eckie wiz the class
A waaaanted it tae be fun
Skool went well n a started wurk
Tull a wiz cooking a bun

Am a mammy eh 3 noo
Bit wit kin a say?
A replaced the telly
Nae mare tumbles in the hay

Ma weans are getting big fast
Aw gawn ti skool their self
But if a dont shake ma *** now
A might get left oan the shelf

I fed you, clothed you
Kept you warm
I kept you safe from
The day you were born

I tried to protect you
The best that I could
I love you in every way
Just like a mother should

The world is a bad place
I want to wrap you up in cotton wool
Keep you away frm the bad things in life
And everything else that is cruel

I cant wrap you up or
Protect you forever
I want you to make mistakes
And learn its better to be a giver

I want you to be happy
With confidence in all you do
I want you to believe in yourself
The way that I believe in you

I want you to grow up
Be popular and be yourself
I want you to follow your dreams
And live in perfect health

I want your knight in shining armour
To knock you off your feet
To love you faithfully forever
And be what makes his heart beat

I want you to know that
No matter what life throws your way
Unconditionally I'll always love you
Even after my dying day

Even then I will be your angel
Try to guard you from the bad
For now I'll be your best friend
Your confidiant your mum and dad

Copyright Julie Murphy 2013

All I really want in life
Is to go back to my normal self
To be the person I used to be
Without the worry of my mental health

Im gonna share a secret with you
More of a sorta confession
My self worth and sanity
Has been stolen by depression

It started with staying in
Not wanting to socialize
Isolated from family and friends
Yet they were quick to critisize

I wanted to do things my way
I felt better on my own
I missed important appointments
I wished I had a clone

I stopped sleeping at night
Which of course, only made me worse
I sunk deeper into depression
And into tears I would burst

Lack of sleep took over
My head was buried in the sand
Things went from bad to worse
And there was no one
To hold my hand

People stopped calling me
Their visits then no more
They saw the empty space
In the heart my
Sleeve once wore

Im still trying to get better
Its easier with each new day
I was too proud, to ask for help
Its not an easy thing to say

Im feeling good about myself today
As I wrote this to share with you
To try help you understand
Depression is more than feeling blue

The next person you hear of with this
Could be someone close to your heart
How do you think they would feel
If someone tore them apart?

(C) Julie Murphy