The following lyrics were written by Cheryl for the Musical Stories which were published as our first collection in 2003 under the title of “Never Sleep.” Simply click on the graphics below to go directly to the original story, music and lyrics along with other related links.

Please tell that story
one more time
I long to hear those words

Please tell that fairy tale
“Once upon a time. . . ”
Sometimes the ending’s really all
that I need to hear

So close your eyes
Stay safe within protecting walls
Go to sleep
Guarded by your nights

But I can’t sleep
For these walls were built for someone else
Not for me
I won’t sleep – never sleep

Who will save the day
Where’s my ever-after life
Is there magic captured in the pages there
If not, then where

Who will show the way
Where is my enchanted life
Is the poet disguised as a pawn or knight
A king or me

I’ll write my story
for the first time
The script and cast are new
Some say that fairy tales are real
Just once upon a time my time

I can believe – it’s true

 

In Thin Air

When will I learn
How all the pieces fit
How to make sense of it
When will I learn

Learn how to sing, how to dance, how to wing
My way through the clouds on the wind
And when the wind stops
And everything stands perfectly still

I drop like a rock at a point in a web of silk thread
In thin air

Build foundations of brown brick, free-formed
Pleat the walls to stand sturdy and true
Glaze ceramics of deep blue vivid green
Intense red, and pure white too

When will I learn
Life is a rendering
Life is surrendering
When will I learn

Learn how to speak, how to hear, how to seek
The answers to questions within
And when questions stop
And everything is perfectly clear

I drop like a rock at a point in a web of silk thread
In thin air . . . in thin air

I catch my breath
I stop to catch my breath . . . In thin air

 

 

Sand Castles

I built my castles out of sand, and then
Everyday I took them high against the wind and rain
With every piece I made by hand, and then
Forced into the wall

I feared that it just might fall
I worried that it might someday fall . . . might someday fall

Then in the morning I would walk
Step-by-step I climbed the tower to the top
And on the landing I would stop, and then
I’d shout into the room

Please don’t fall
Please don’t ever ever fall

Then the wind drew near and it knocked the towers down
As the waves washed around the handmade walls.
The sand then gave way and it melted into ocean
So the castles made of sand disappeared
The castles fell down just as I had feared

Just as I feared

Now I build castles out of stone
And everyday I make them strong against the wind and rain
With every rock I choose by hand, and then place into the wall

I know that these stones won’t fall
It’s true these stones will never fall

When the wind draws near it will rage against the towers
As the waves wash around the handmade walls
The rocks interlock and won’t tumble to the ocean
So the walls will stand tall in the wind and the rain
Castles made of stone will always remain

Will always remain

Now in this place that’s made of stone
I face a window to the ocean so I can see
Where I can sometimes go alone, and then
I dream of castles yet to be.

Now they won’t fall
No they will never ever fall
Stone castles never fall
They never fall

 

How Quiet the Night

I always knew you’d move away
but in the meantime there are things to say, and
I guess that our time is running low
Please don’t go

I need some conversation

Every time I look around this place
I can’t help it but I see your face, in
the doorways and the windows of the rooms
I resume

Reflecting days when you were younger

It’s the toughest when I reminisce
about the simple things I really do miss, like
your running-jump when I’d walk through the door
Run once more

I need a little jump start

I thought I needed the American Dream
and everything depended on me
That situation wasn’t quite what it seemed
since I never dreamed
how quiet the night, might be

Take all the money
Destroy all the treasures
Steal everything that you need

I hold the key to rooms
where memories are stored—
those voices at night
that quietly talk to me

I always knew you’d move away
but in the meantime there are things to say, and
I guess that our time is really running low
Please don’t go

I need some conversation . . . now

I’m in need of a little conversation
Let’s just talk a while
I hear the windows and the walls
that surround me

Those voices at night
That quietly talk to me