Can't Go Home

Looking for suggestions, additions or rewrites to this one....

From an early age
I felt like I was living in a cage
And dreamed of the freedom I’d have some day
Like a sparrow
My world was too narrow
But I would fly, fly, fly, fly away

My mama said
I’d have a bed
That she would always love me come what may
But now I’m lost
I’m worn out and wind-tossed
And I cannot go home this way

Ran out of luck
And I got stuck
Sleeping by the roadside on the ground
I can’t go home
Can’t even phone
Till I can somehow get my life all turned around

My mama told me
She wouldn’t scold me
No matter how far I went astray
But I have sworn
Better not to have been born
Than to go home this way

What do you think, Spartan Brothers?  Keep, fix or scrap?

Ash Wenesday

I wake up in a stranger’s bed
With unsure stomach and empty head
No more feathers, beads or masks
Mardi Gras is gone and past
What I remember’s kind of rotten
And I’m not sure what I’ve forgotten
So I’m left to wonder when
These dead bones will rise again
I hear the church bell far away
Oh boy, oh boy, it’s Ash Wednesday

I find my pants after a search
And try to make my way to church
I go inside, sit by the aisle
It’s quite a show but I can’t smile
The priest just puts a little ash
On my forehead—another mask
It makes me look like I’ve repented
Almost as if I really meant it
Another role, another play
Oh boy oh boy it’s Ash Wednesday

Now and in my hour of death
Be with me till my last breath
Don’t treat with complete disgust
My stupid drunkenness and lust
I’m still hoping for the best
That by some grace I may be blessed
I believe it ‘cause I must.
“Remember man that thou art dust”
So I am sent on my way
Oh boy oh, it’s Ash Wednesday

One seldom hears from the Critter, but he's made one more complete revolution around the sun.  I loves ya, Big Dummy.

The Song to the Sluggard

Hear me, you sluggard
Leave your slothful ways
You slumber all night and
Sleepwalk through the days
Ye who are so lazy
Consider the ants
They work hard all day but
Have time to dance

Consider the busy bee

Gathering the pollen
When the bell sounds at five
Oh man alive
He gets out of his hive
And gets his stinger hauling

O rise ye sluggard
Turning over in bed
When you should be turning
On the dance floor instead
Don’t let your feet fail
To do their duty
Get up and move to
Love and beauty