“The Head and the Heart” by Maddy Ringo

Illustration by Arts and Literary Journal staff editor Lauren Hahn.

To crave

And to be satisfied

This sterile hotel room

So tidy and dry

I watch out the window

As people go by

With hearts full of anger

And bright candy eyes

Pity me, father

Have pity, my dear

Your daughter is empty

She’s not even here

The head on her shoulders

Made her heart disappear

And she’s running and running

To sweat herself clear

My heart is open

And damn, it is cold

Hands of a beggar

Raised up to hold

Breathe in black

And sigh in white

The love in your fingers

Burns steady and bright

I hang in the grey

Of your cigarette tar

See the girls drape themselves

On their men in the bars

With your flag around your shoulders

Baby, have a rest

There’s a sentimental lover

On the tender of your chest

And he’s waiting in the kitchen

Pouring sentimental wine

To break the bread and take you to bed

In the shades of wintertime

Take my defenses

Throw them to the wind

Light us a candle

And close this world in

To crave

And to be satisfied

To call for spring

From an empty sky

To feel a kiss

Upon my spine

Your dark December

Teary eyes

My heart is open

And damn, it is cold

Hands of a beggar

Raised up to hold

Maddy Ringo is a musician and writer from Toronto, Canada. She is studying Voice Performance at the SMTD.

Artist’s Statement: “I wrote this lyric after I met a boy who made me realize what it was to truly feel for someone. For a long time I've struggled with my mental health, feeling numb to the things that other people my age are so swept up in. This is about rediscovering the wonderfully irrational part of myself that had been tucked away for so long.”