A friend made me a great CD compilation to comfort and inspire me — a late birthday present that I’m glad came now, when I really needed it most.

I’ll listen to some of it this afternoon, but I read the book she put together to go along with it this morning in my cube…

and…

…ugh, don’t do that again, not when you’re surrounded by techie guys — gotta keep the Crying Jag at a minimum. (I held it in but it was a close call, and I had to stop a few times.)

Some of the resonant verse, saved here until I can use it elsewhere…

* * * *

I woke up scared, I woke up strange
I woke up wondeering if anything in my life is ever going to change
I wake up scared, I wake up strange
and everything around me stays the same

* * * *

Buried deep as you can dig inside yourself
and covered with a perfect shell
such a charming beautiful exterior
laced with brilliant smiles and shining eyes
perfect poster, but you’re barely scraping by
but you’re barely scraping by

Well this is one time, well this is one time
that you can’t fake it hard enough to please everyone
or anyone at all… or anyone at all
And the grave that you refuse to leave
the refuge that you’ve built to flee
the places that you’ve come to fear the most
it’s the place that you have come to fear the most

* * * *

I think there’s something you should know
I think it’s time I told you so
There’s something deep inside of me
There’s someone else I’ve got to be
Take back your picture in a frame
Take back your singing in the rain
I just hope you understand
Sometimes the clothes do not make the man

All we have to do now
Is take these lies and make them true somehow
All we have to see
is that I don’t belong to you
And you don’t belong to me

Freedom
Freedom
Freedom
You’ve gotta give for what you take
Freedom
Freedom
Freedom
You’ve gotta give for what you take

Well, it looks like the road to heaven
But it feels like the road to hell

May not be what you want from me
Just the way it’s got to be
Lose the face now
I’ve got to live
I’ve got to live

* * * *

And I will walk on water
And you will catch me if I fall
And I will get lost in your eyes
I know everything will be alright
I know everything is alright

Barely surviving has become my purpose
‘Cause I’m so used to living underneath the surface

* * * *

I break tradition
Sometimes my tries
are outside the lines
We’ve been conditioned
to not make mistakes
But I can’t live that way

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

* * * *
And if the darkness is to keep us apart
And if the daylight feels like it’s a long way off
and if your glass heart should crack
and for a second you turn back,
oh no, be strong

Walk on
walk on
walk on
what you go, they can’t steal it
No, they can’t even feel it
Walk on
Walk on
Stay safe tonight

You’re backing a suitcase for a place none of us has been
A place that has to be believed to be seen
You could have flown away a singing bird in an open cage
who will only fly, only fly, for freedom

And I know it aches
Your heart, it breaks
You can only take so much

* * * *

Every day is so wonderful
Then suddenly it’s hard to breathe
Now and then I get insecure
from all the pain
I’m so ashamed

I am beautiful
no matter what they say
Words can’t bring me down
I am beautiful
in every single way
Yes, words can’t bring me down
So don’t you bring me down today

* * * *

… and yes, dear one… old, but never grey.
*smile*