What’s left when the fire is out is what you get to keep

Go ahead
Pour your heart out on my floor
But leave some room for me
You’re right, again
I’ve been here before
And I’m still here
And I’ll be

Everything you are
Is all you’ve always been
Never apologize for who you are, my friend
Everything I am
I’m sorry, I’m sorry,
I never wanted you to understand

Go along
With it all and play the role
Quintessential Mrs. Cold
Calm on the surface
Inside the raging sea
No one can know
Don’t let them see

Everything we are
Is all we’ve always been
And our stories and our story will remain
I add to who I am
Some of who you are
I never thought it would end this way

Go away
Give it time to settle down
And we can lose these things we’ve found

Everything we are
Is all we’ve always been
And our stories and our story will remain
I add to who I am
Some of who you are
I never thought it would end this way

The fire that burns inside
It lasts for just a while
And we only get to keep what makes it through
Everything you are
Is who you were before
Take the memory of me with you

Enchanted

Texas was simple and seemed universal

Louisiana happened along the way

Washington could have been home for forever 

But I loved it too much to stay

Illinois was full; there was never a future for me

And I set off again

I don’t know if I want to live here forever so I guess I will anyway

In this land of contradictions, sun and snow and monsoon rain

I’m afraid to go out until I’m out there

As I rest by the water I find

I’m enchanted and I’m here

Leaving nothing behind 

I’m not sure how I fit in here

A blank page in an epic history

I feel so unprepared and so sheltered 

But I can’t build this wall around me 

So I walk on these unstable rocks and pebbles under the Milky Way 

I want to keep moving but stay 

I don’t know what I’m doing, I never really did, but it doesn’t matter anyway

In the city different I’ve learned that no matter where I go I’m always the same 

I’m afraid to go out until I’m out there

As I rest by the water I find

I’m enchanted and I’m here

Leaving nothing behind 

California is full of all that glitters 

But the gold has been gone for some time

New York’s got it all and then some, I saw

But I don’t need the world at my feet, thanks, I’m fine

Colorado’s deceptively uncomplicated

But I haven’t traversed its heights

Home is where you hang your hat and your coat 
Right now they’re here and they’re mine

I don’t know what I’m doing, I never really did, but it doesn’t matter anyway

In the city different I’ve learned that no matter where I go I’m always the same 

I’m afraid to go out until I’m out there

As I rest by the water I find

I’m enchanted and I’m here

Leaving nothing behind 

Of Oceans

When I was sixteen

Maybe my life would have changed

If the sound hit my ears it would take me

Across the ocean, to follow

And I couldn’t stop me

I’ve always been one of the good girls

Afraid of breaking the rules

What roads would your song lead to?

But when I heard your voice

I was old and wise

How I wish I could return

To my younger life

But I…

I’d have run away

I wouldn’t have known what to say

I’d never have found my place

And gone home, dreaming of oceans

When I was twenty-two

Life set in motion, future in view

When the sound hit my ears it just made me

Happy to sing with the tune

I wanted a safe life

I never thought that I would end up here

And time has carried on

Now I hear your words through new ears

When I heard your voice

I was old and wise

And I don’t want to return

To my younger life

I’d have run away

I wouldn’t have known what to say

I’d never have found my place

And gone home, dreaming of oceans

Maybe is maybe, it never was

What’s happened has happened, and it’s enough

Maybe I’d miss out on all this love

While I waited, dreaming of oceans

Homecoming

You've been away too long
And now you're coming home
What will you bring
More than your memories?

One suitcase for all you brought with you
And another for the gifts you'll give
To those you left behind
You were always on their mind

You'll bring a smile to their face
And the warmth of your embrace
A good night's sleep
And waking on a perfect weekend morning

Sun rises over the bay
It's just another typical day
But now that you're home
Don't roam!
Stay!

You've been away too long
And I've been feeling low
I've never been more
Ready for your homecoming

Savann

(My acapella of this is on soundcloud; the producer whose music inspired it did not come through. Anyone want to write better music?

https://soundcloud.com/andreamandal/savann-acapella )

In another time,
In another life I'd find...
In another way
To the other side of life...

But here I am, and there you stand, and oceans lie between
To see that sunrise with my own eyes I'd do anything
I don't know your name
But you'll come to take me away

I'm in the train, it's a long ride
Looking out as the world passes me by
What will I find on the other side?
Are you there holding my hand
Or am I alone?
I will stand on stones on the mountainside
Looking down on my new home
My new life

In another place,
To another foreign land
I'll escape, and maybe this time I can leave me behind
Start over new, be who I wanted to
And you're my ticket to ride
But I wasn't there, oh I was wrong
You couldn't give me what I needed, now you're gone
Everything I hoped for,
My castles on the mountainside are lost
Where are you now?
I don't know, I don't care
But now all I'm left with is me

I'm in the train, it's a long ride
Looking out as the world passes me by
What will I find on the other side?
Are you there holding my hand
Or am I alone?
I will stand on stones on the mountainside
Looking down on my new home
My new life

The Good Things Take Time

A field of green is all i see
The evening sun shines down on me
As we fly in to land
Again we end up just where we began
If dreams come true
Where is the one that was meant just for you?

It's allright, don't you know that the good things take time
Stay strong, fix your eyes
And your future will be so bright, so bright

I had a friend
One day his blue eyes felt the same
As your own eyes feel today
And he's the one who told me it's okay
Just hold on, keep fighting, stand strong
You'll make it, you'll take it
It might not be what you thought it would be
But it's allright

Don't you know that the good things take time
He was young but wise
And the words that he said stayed with me for a lifetime

https://soundcloud.com/andreamandal/the-good-things-take-time

Glyph

An arbitrary collection of lines

When combined in the right form

Reveals an architecture divine 

Without compare

I learned to draw my own

Before I understood the meanings

When you split, add, recombine

The arches, curves, and lines 

Before I found more beautiful 

The ones that represent the ones I love

Let me take my pen and draw you

Though I don't understand light, or shadow, or color

Let me immortalize you just the same

I just need to know your name