This Mortal Gallery

There’s a jagged wishbone woven deeply through my chest
Underneath my rib cage two lines run from east to west 
Merging into one that cuts a  campaign tween my breast 
Where they took the demon out of me

Just below that branch there you can still just trace the line 
From the moment childhood and the devil intertwined
A carving hewn in flesh so I’d reveal God’s grand design
Growing like a twisted old oak tree 

And I picked this one up in the spring of ‘95
Drained out all my blood, flatlined and still somehow survived 
A scar that faintly spells the sacred text of being alive 
Even when it’s hard for me to see

The beauty of this mortal gallery

Worthy of some mention are these punctures from last fall
Opening the passage for the pain they would install
Patched up like a panel of some weathered gray drywall 
Spelling out this violent decree

All this armor that I carry from this war within 
Forged in fire and sewn across the canvas of my skin
As an ancient map that charts the many ghosts I’ve been
To the one I fought so hard to be

Like a shattered window that reflects the blinding light
It’s between the broken pieces where it shines so bright 
As the burning bush made Moses fear from such a sight 
Guiding him to set his people free

Stabbing rift a passage through the turbulent Red Sea
To the beauty of this unbound mortal gallery

Once there was a way to get back home
Now the only road I see is dark ahead
Til my restless spirit’s free to roam
Sanctify my body in the deepest red

This Mortal Gall3ry

Hungry Ghost by Wendy Colonna 
Lyrics:
There’s a hungry ghost that hides
 in the box of the things you left behind
when you died so many years ago, so many years ago

A half dozen virgins and saint anthony
Who preached to the fish and recovered lost things
I wonder if he ever helped you to find
The kindness you lost in the snow. . . 

so many years ago Oh oh, ohhh
so many years ago Oh oh, ohhh

There’s a hungry ghost that sings
from the hammond spinet made back in 63
Where you played so many years ago, so many years ago

The button upholstered bench filled up with hymns
Voice raised to the heavens, confessions, amens
could they ever forgive you, would they even know
How many times you tried . . .  

so many years ago Oh oh, ohhh
so many years ago Oh oh, ohhh

Ooh oooohhhh

There’s a hungry ghost that whispers 
to the heart of a small boy who’s gazing out through 
Your dark chocolate eyes just like you did so many years ago

A photograph moves him like he knew you then
His eyes fill with sorrow like you were old friends
We hide all the letters you filled with dead ends
Did you ever make amends? 

So many years ago

Hungry Ghost

“How Many Miles” is a gospel-inspired number that chronicles 2020 – an idea that emerged in a songwriting group with the prompt “diaspora.”

With a Pops-Staples tremolo guitar pulse, the slow-burning number has a backbeat that stays the course on a weary, mortal coil shuffle. The doleful back-up singers point the way, taking a cue from that dude on the River Styx.

“We’re all still processing that crazy year. For what the world went through, 2020 might as well have been a mirror of the Book of Exodus,” she says. “I couldn’t shake the images of folks displaced from their homes by fires, hurricanes, climate change, crime, and the isolation of the pandemic. I tried to capture that haunting feeling in a song. Ultimately, the song fights off being a dirge. It’s a hymn that prays for peace, home, and unity.”
How Many Miles 
How Many Miles 
How Many Miles before we’re home 
How Many Miles?

First came the pharaoh 
A dirty man
If you can’t make him money
He don’t give a damn
 Walk A thousand miles
With nothin’ to eat
nothin’ left to live for 
but these babies’ dreams

How many dreams
How many dreams 
How many dreams will set us free
How many dreams?

Then came the fires
Turnin’ dreams to ash
Wild wind and lightning 
World went up in a flash
It don’t give a damn
‘Bout the tears we cry
Can’t stop the wrath
Ain’t no looking back

How many tears 
How many tears
How many tears will wash us clean
How many tears?

Noone was ready
When the plague came on
It don’t give a damn
if you're weak or if you’re strong
And if a hurricane 
Come and trash your home
And you’re sick and alone
Tell me where ya ‘sposed to go?

How Many Miles. . . How Many Dreams. . . How many Tears. . . .  How Many Miles?

How Many Miles

Music, vibration and repeating positive affirmations can rewire the brain, reboot body, resonate with the soul and transform a life. 

I've been studying the power of affirmations and how different frequencies can help to heal the body and I've begun creating custom affirmation tracks for my Lyriculture and Coaching Clients!

AFFIRMATIONS

pill bottle string lights

WC MOJO MANIFESTO 2025

Oilfield Man (I'll Be There Soon)  © 2019 Mark Addison

On a night like this I wanna be with you
Cause a sky full of stars doesn't thrill me like it used to do 	Ooh ooh ooh
Working in the oilfields covered in dirt
Four hundred dollars and a world of hurt
Living in a trailer in the west Texas drought
They're gonna burn this place down the day I move out

But when I hear your voice it puts me halfway over the moon
I'll be there soon
I'll be there soon
I can't do no more mornings waking in an empty room
I'll be there soon
I'll be there soon

We get us a place on Lockhart avenue
A couple of kids and a backyard barbeque 	Ooh ooh ooh
Tomatoes in the garden and chickens in the coop
Sunday evenings we'll sit on the stoop
Wave to the neighbors watch the world go by
Till the stars come out in the October sky

And you'll say my name put me halfway over the moon
I'll be there soon
I'll be there soon
No more mornings waking in an empty room
I'll be there soon
I'll be there soon

Oilfield men got a way of their own
Hard drinking hard living never home
Whatcha doing digging in that ditch all day
Throwing the best years of your life away

Well this old pickup truck is the worse for wear
Two good tires but there ain't no spare
I'm bringing it home on a wing and a prayer

And we're gonna love like we're halfway over the moon
I'll be there soon
I'll be there soon
No more mornings waking in an empty room
I'll be there soon
I'll be there soon

Oilfield Man (I'll Be There Soon)

Your Heart Is Yours Alone  © 2019 Mark Addison

I think she's over me now
Guess I'm over it too
Nothing will hold me down now
I think she's over me now
What am I gonna do with myself
Now that she's not around now

Two hearts share
A journey through the great unknown
Two souls bared together
But each must have their own
'Cause in the end your heart is yours alone

When I'm done with my work
I'll take the afternoon train
I'll get off at the same old station
Nothing is different
But everything's changed
Just from a conversation

Two hearts share
A journey through the great unknown
Two souls bared together
But each must have their own
'Cause in the end your heart is yours alone

The leaves are turning brown
The yellow gold of summer's end
I'm falling gently down
To where it all begins again

Two lives meet
A journey through the great unknown
Two hearts beat together
But each must know their own
'Cause in the end your heart is yours alone

Your Heart Is Yours Alone   Mark Addison

Shadow Man
Dave Madden

Tears in the rain
Folded flag on a grave
A single rose
Nobody knows 
he survived

Free from a name
Fingerprints all erased
He’s no one now
Nobody knows 
he’s alive 

A fallen man, a rising phoenix
Life of ecstasy and secrets
A poison pill martini to her lips
A silencer, a pair of sevens
Anything’s a weapon in his hand
Shadow man

A narrow escape 
with a beautiful face
A single rose
Dangerous love 
in the shadows of the night

Dave Madden — Shadow Man

Here's a little song I wrote for the 11:59 Songwriters group. The song prompt was Diaspora. It's mainly about a virus's perspective on spreading throughout the world, but there are parallels to my family history and life, in general. Many of my Irish and German ancestors went forth and multiplied, to the tune of 8-10 children each, and so on and so on. They spread to the new world and made their way across this country and beyond. The most powerful instinct of any life form is to reproduce. When that is threatened you either adapt or get left behind. You have to regroup and fight out of the pockets and clusters that you've been relegated to. Perhaps, to even mutate into a new form.

2021

We've Had Fun

Louisiana native Wendy Colonna believes that music is a mirror, reflecting our souls and guiding us toward our truest selves. Raised in Lake Charles and immersed in Cajun culture, Wendy’s musical journey began with family singalongs and church choirs. In 2000, she moved to Austin, where her “smokey” alto voice gained acclaim, leading to nine albums, including her latest, Paradigms, celebrating collaboration and personal transformation. Her work has received national praise, with mentions in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and more.
Beyond performance, Wendy brings music to life through Lyriculture™ Custom Songs, creating anthems for brands and individuals. She also developed Mojo Tracks, a neuroscience-based blend of affirmations and sound healing that keeps clients connected to their purpose. As a mentor, Wendy guides creatives in the arts and healing arts to navigate their careers authentically. 
Through her diverse work, Wendy mirrors joy, resilience, and soul, helping others access their creative spark.

Wendy’s resonant, signature voice is grit-infused-honey and her songs echo swampy southern tales of loss, mortality, joy, reclaimed innocence and celebration. With ease, she moves from a sweet whisper to a full on bayou-soul-shout without skipping a beat.
The Austin-American Statesman wrote “Wendy Colonna is not just a singer-songwriter, she’s a force of nature.”  Hailing from the gulf coast of Louisiana and calling Austin, TX home since 2000, Colonna is a regular southern renaissance woman: a seasoned troubadour, yogi, bookworm, adventurer, pollination ecology-enthusiast and hula-hooper.  But it’s her songwriting and voice that draw in audiences in like bees to nectar.

Wendy’s resonant, signature voice is grit-infused-honey and her songs echo swampy southern tales of loss, mortality, joy, reclaimed innocence and celebration. With ease, she moves from a sweet whisper to a full on bayou-soul-shout without skipping a beat.

WC MOJO MANIFESTO 2025

wendycolonna

Related tracks