I can't sleep

I can't dream

I can't rip my skin's seams

I can't step out this shell

I can't leave my own hell

I can't be who I want

I can't bear all the taunts

Rip it off, melt it down

Take my veil and my crown

For I'll never quite be

The princess for thee

I'm not what you seek

I am plain, I am meek

Reflections taunt

They are horribly cruel

Want to shatter them all

Grab the glass from the floor

And just rip, tear and cut

...rip, tear...cut

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

enough money within her control to move out

and rent a place of her own,

even if she never wants to or needs to...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

something perfect to wear if the employer,

or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

a youth she's content to leave behind...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to

retelling in her old age...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

one friend who always makes her laugh...and one who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems,

and a recipe for a meal,

that will make her guests feel honoed...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

a feeling of control over her destiny...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to fall in love without losing herself...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to quit a job,

break up with a lover,

and confront a friend without;

ruining the friendship...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

when to try harder...and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

that she can't change the length of her calves,

the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

that her childhood may not have been perfect...but its over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to live alone...even if she doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

whom she can trust,

whom she can't,

and why she shouldn't take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

where to go...

be it her best friend's kitchen table...

or a charming inn in the woods...

when her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

what she can and can't accomplish in a day...

a month...a year...

~~*~~

I've got the children to tend

The clothes to mend

The floor to mop

The food to shop

Then the chicken to fry

The baby to dry

I got company to feed

The garden to weed

I've got shirts to press

The tots to dress

The can to be cut

I gotta clean up this hut

Then see about the sick

And the cotton to pick.

Shine on me, sunshine

Rain on me, rain

Fall softly, dewdrops

And cool my brow again.

Storm, blow me from here

With your fiercest wind

Let me float across the sky

'Til I can rest again.

Fall gently, snowflakes

Cover me with white

Cold icy kisses and

Let me rest tonight.

Sun, rain, curving sky

Mountain, oceans, leaf and stone

Star shine, moon glow

You're all that I can call my own.

Note: this goes out to all my hard working mothers out there. Thank you Ms. Angelou.

Steady, steady, turns the wheel

Responding to the potter's feel.

Not a wobble left or right

The ball of clay remains quite tight.

A quiet rhythm the potter keeps

In quietness the clay ball sleeps.

Until the potter wets her hands

Aware of rhythm, speed and plans.

The potter sees in the lump of clay

A vase, a bowl, her hands just play.

They coax an edge that will slowly rise

What it will be is no surprise.

The potter senses , her hands feel,

The clay responds to speed of wheel.

Up, up it rises to desired height,

Oh, no, a bubble breaks into sight.

Am I the master the potter quips

And turns the wheel with a tighter grip.

And vows the vase to be the best.

She adjusts the speed, ignores the rest.

Moisture, clay, they're all just right,

This clay must surely stand the height.

It should respond to the master's plans

And rise with rhythm of wheel and hands.

The potter gives the wheel a spin

But the weakness is hidden deep within.

Not perfect! There's an inner flaw

Not even the one potter saw.

The vessel crumbles, it's once more clay

A lump of matter, so it will stay.

It has lost its spirit, so for today

It's just a pile of unwieldy clay.

The potter pops in in a pail

She knows the clay's form will prevail.

The potter cannot have her way.

Without the master it remains just clay.

The potter feels she has lost her touch.

She mumbles and frets and says as much.

How can mere clay so stubborn be?

I'm the creator; it must obey me.

But then the potter thinks of God

The freedom of living that is allowed.

The patient potter pulls away

She'll leave creation another day.

Go down to the Potter;his tender touch

Can mold, can heal, can change so much

Whoever said that love is blind was holding all that's true;

I've never felt emotions that were more hurt or confused.

For him to take my loving heart and put it to the test;

He knew that I would choose what's right, but he felt it was best.

I stood there looking helplessly for some truth in his eyes,

I never thought that I would find regret from telling little lies.

To see the sorrow in those eyes just makes me want to die;

I said I forgave him, for I didn't have to try.

I could not get angry, could not scream or hit or hate;

I only felt so hollow, very numb and desolate.

I gave him my heart and soul, it was no sacrifice;

His kind words melted a lost heart that once was made of ice.

That's not to say there was no warmth beneath this cool facade,

However, holding back and keeping trust has led to my mirage.

I trusted him with who I was, my guard, at rest it laid;

I let him in to see the side that's never been displayed.

His tricking me to think my faith was safe within his claim,

Has only led to question if my judgment was to blame.

That is why I sit here now, my life I contemplate;

I've looked at love through eyes of blind, how could this be my fate?

pain pain go away

stay away another day

let me live and let me pray

pain pain go away.

pain pain stay at bay

i cant live my life this way

u lead me to go astray

pain pain stay at bay.

tears tears stop your flow

to my dreams i want to go

i cant do this anymore

tears tears stop your flow.

love love dont come back

you cant cut me any slack

everything is tit for tat

love love dont come back.

heart heart where are you?

let me give you what you're due

boiling in this bitter stew

heart heart where are you?

rage rage stay in me

so that pain i cannot see

and these tears will let me be

rage rage stay with me.

I write in verses

I write in rhymes

All to make me feel sublime

All to kill the passing time.

Sleep sleep finally

take me where I long to be

in your peaceful company

where I can spend eternity.

why does He leave me alone at times of need?

doesn't He realise that His words of comfort are what i heed?

claims to love me, claims to help me,

so why is it that He summits me to such cruelty?

I'm His child, I'm His image,

so why does He allow so much damage?

i get angry, i get scared,

my hair, my flesh i want to tear.

I'm to be kept in this cage for days to come

i swear to u that's carved in stone.

unhappiness and anger are my destiny

enveloped by my only comfort; insanity

the voices of lost souls envelope me

they yell and scream such atrocities.

they tell me of things to come and things to be,

they foul everything dear to me.

they laugh and chant my name

they put my soul to shame.

so alone, so confused,

I'm just a bomb to be diffused.

i hear the tolling of the requiem bell

come sweet death and show me hell.

it is to be my paradise

He has set me up for this demise.

you know its been said time and time again,
where there is no love there is no gain.
but i now ask where is the gain in love if all it does is hurt you?
to all its games and treacheries you're expected to subdue.
u have to worry of fidelity and sincerity and lust,
while your own heart remains in the quenching, tired dust.
kicked around by passers by, spit on , stepped on, mocked
if your love is not corresponded then u're just really fucked.
u cry and think of things that could be,
find urself in turmoil wanting to scream like a banshee.
so i ask you again what is there to gain in love?
u realise the greatness of it when push comes to shove.
amazed at how a moment of happiness can fade out the rest
how your sanity and stability was put to the test.
self torture and destruction seems to be the lovers path
how many years it takes away from us...you do the math.
the bittersweet taste seems too familiar to turn away
once its there...seems its there to stay.
i find it so sad how one kiss or one touch can impurify the purest of pure
for the pain of betrayal there is no found cure.
the pain you will carry until ur final breath leaves
its not until then my friend u will find ur release.