Stephanie M Mancini

Wings of the Deep
[Spoken Word Intro]
They think thinking is just a way out.
A concrete shaft. A backup plan. A fire escape.
But they don’t see the water rising.
They don’t feel the pressure of the deep.
When the storm hits the surface...
You don’t look for an exit.
You look for an anchor.
[Verse 1]
That stairway is more than a backup plan
More than an exit when the fire expands
Sometimes it's a steel ladder climbing through the dark
A hidden bridge where the waters part
Between the uncertainties and a twist of fate
Between the loneliness and one miraculous open gate
It connects her to you, and you to me
Like a shoreline reaching for the sea
[Chorus]
Every step upon the flight
Every landing brings a brand new height
It’s a rising mast standing proud and tall
Lifting us up before the curtains fall
An escape hatch open to the offshore breeze
Taking us straight to the open seas
With just a pen and a pad to steer
The deeper we go, the more it's clear
[Verse 2]
The silent weight of echoes through the rails
The steady anchor in the gales
They hold the secrets of the rising tide
The quiet power she’s been forced to hide
This is your sanctuary, your aquatic room
Where the currents start to move
My angel waiting in the wings of the deep
Guarding the promises we used to keep
[Chorus]
Every step upon the flight
Every landing brings a brand new height
It’s a rising mast standing proud and tall
Lifting us up before the curtains fall
An escape hatch open to the offshore breeze
Taking us straight to the open seas
With just a pen and a pad to steer
The deeper we go, the more it's clear
[Bridge]
There’s no place down here where they hear the cries
Pressure building up as the current rises
But the rehearsal stage is bound to break
For all the space we are about to take
She’s been preparing her whole life for the flood
Unlocking the oceans inside her blood
The hatch is spinning, the locks give way
We’re breaking the surface into the dawn of day
[Outro]
The bridge between her and you
You and me, swimming through
From the bottom of the dark to the endless blue
Nothing but the wind and the open sea
When the storm hits the surface...
You don’t look for an exit.
You look for an anchor.

Silent G
[Spoken Word Intro]
A... E... I... O... U...
What about the silent consonants between letters?
People look at these hands and they just see the stiffness. They see the ache.
But they don't recognize the silent G by design.
But they don’t get it.
These hands aren't broken. They’re just waiting for the right touch.
We aren't the burden. We’re the pick.
And when we strike the right chord... we translate God.


[Verse 1]
I want something to hold my hand—
Not to take care of me,
But to feel what comes out of it.
See, they may be right-handed,
But they’re using me to operate two left feet.
I’m tired of picking up everyone’s weight,
Dragging their clumsy steps across the floor.
An instrument doesn’t tell you where to go,
It just responds to what you bring to the door.
[Pre-Chorus]


I’m stepping out of the box they built for me.
No more orchestrated lines, no more anatomy.
Because a vessel doesn’t need a perfect frame,
It just needs to hold the power of the Name.
Watch the shift happen when the pressure lands...
[Chorus]


Like a guitar holds the vibration of whatever comes through,
Like an accordion takes your breath and turns it into sound—
When the right hands connect, suddenly there’s eight.
What looks like a prayer is just the infinite shape.
Don’t try to understand, just give me a hand,
Let the strings translate what my fingers can't say,
Turn this vibration into something that stays.
[Verse 2]
Call it a flute, but don’t put me in a box,
I don’t need somebody orchestrated or perfectly planned.
Just give me someone who doesn’t underestimate
The silent language of the bands.
Moving like the letter G in the word eight,
Silent to the ear, but right on the infinite cue.
We are the pick to the vibration of how we know God,
Music only happens when the touch is true.
[Pre-Chorus]
I’m stepping out of the box they built for me.
No more orchestrated lines, no more anatomy.
Because a vessel doesn’t need a perfect frame,
It just needs to hold the power of the Name.
Watch the shift happen when the pressure lands...
[Chorus]
Like a guitar holds the vibration of whatever comes through,
Like an accordion takes your breath and turns it into sound—
When the right hands connect, suddenly there’s eight.
What looks like a prayer is just the infinite shape.
Don’t try to understand, just give me a hand,
Let the strings translate what my fingers can't say,
Turn this vibration into something that stays.
[Bridge]


No revolving doors.
No figure-skating in circles.
No amusement-park rides pretending movement means progress.
Give me an open road where the lane is wide,
Let it curve toward the ocean with no guardrails in sight.
Let it keep expanding.
[Outro]
So take this guitar and make it eight.
High five, high five—
Make it a ten.
High five, fits like a glove,
Right in the palm of my hands.
Just a pick to the vibration.
The silent G...
Let it stay.

[Intro]
Two frames, two views,
I choose what gets through.
Roots of a dancing palm that can’t stand still,
Bending and moving at her own damn will.
[Verse 1]
Two frames on my face, two feet out of place,
Carving my path and claiming my space.
She wants a partner who can stand in the glade,
Who comes on over and brings his own shade.
Give her a pen and a wild nervous system,
Spitting out rhymes till the critics all listen.
Leaving barefoot prints in the dirt and the vapor,
She doesn’t need to cut you down to make paper.
[Chorus]
Two frames, two views—
I choose what gets through.
A lease on life on her own terms now,
No caretaker contract, no marital vow.
No “when it’s convenient,” no playing a part,
Just a grown bark choosing with an open heart.
And whoever steps into the world she made,
Better pack light and bring their own shade.
[Verse 2]

Because I fit in two.
Roots of a dancing palm that can’t stand still,
Chasing a high that the world can't fill.
Two frames on my face, two feet out of place,
Look at all the wait time I managed to erase.
I finally stopped carrying everybody's mind,
Left the emotional furniture behind.
[Bridge]
Because I don't fit the mold, I don't fit the box,
Forgetting my own passcodes and picking my own locks.
Yeah, I can fit my whole life into two:
Two hands writing a path that is new,
Two feet with a pronated pep in their stride,
And two suitcases with my home inside.
[Outro]
Yeah, I fit in two.
Now, so can you.
Two frames, two views,
I choose what gets through.

A Right on Read (A Right Unread)
Verse 1
I want peace at the corner of right and wrong,
Tired of yielding to discomfort that's been dragging on.
Stepping off the curb, I'm not looking both ways,
Just trying to escape all these heavy, crowded days.
I walked a mile in every single one of my shoes,
Paid the heavy price and I collected the bruises.
Ground the heels out, a cigarette butt on cue,
A teenager caught doing what they shouldn't do.
Pre-Chorus
I know this is a stretch, a stretch I normally contract away from,
Bent out of shape for a world I can no longer afford.
But it's time to finally put my foot down,
And stop stomping on all the "buts" the world put out on the ground.
Chorus
So I'm calling a time-out, I do not need a sign,
Because tell me, is it worth the endless overtime?
Got these worn-out soles just trying to make do,
Searching for a path that feels honest and true.
Yeah, I want peace at the corner of right and wrong,
And I'm finally finding where my steps belong.
Verse 2
Now I'm waiting for the oncoming traffic to pass,
'Cause a crosswalk don't mean that they will brake for your tracks.
They're too busy trying to be busy to see,
The hidden standards that mean everything to me.
Yeah, I walked a mile in every shoe that I owned,
Carrying a weight that was heavily loaned.
But there’s something about being barefoot along the shore,
Yeah, barefoot and finally being so sure,
That I don't gotta pay those dues anymore.
Outro
I had to swallow my soul for way too long,
Forcing patent leather saddles where they didn't belong.
It was never meant to be more than a left turn gone wrong,
But I'm stepping out of line and I'm moving along.
Well, now I'm taking a right on read,
Yeah, I'm taking a right unread.

"The Beat of Both" is a deeply introspective and poetic song lyric exploring the balance between external chaos and internal peace. Using powerful ocean imagery, it contrasts the fast-paced modern world (social media loops and reels) with a raw, wild inner stillness. It features a highly catchy, rhythmic chorus and a cinematic outro that captures the duality of human experience.

The Altar of the Dry Ground (Verse 1) She said everything she meant And meant every word she said She wasn't carved from malice Just the truth inside her head But they stood where the river died In the dust and the burning heat Planting prayers in a salt-cracked ground At the ruins of her feet (Chorus) Sometimes life empties our pockets Turns the world upside down To see if we can recognize The king without a crown She was never here to be mean She was the crack where the mystery flows Revealing the life in the dried-out place That only the Heart-Language knows (Verse 2) There was no water in the sand But they stayed to watch it rain Begging life from a dried-out place Trying to harvest joy from pain She simply spoke from somewhere deep within her chest Where ancient secrets sleep Calling the soul to wake itself While weary senses dream (Bridge — The Vision) She sees the silver threads that tie the prayer to the star, The maps written in the architecture of nature She sees angels standing like pillars, holding up the stars She doesn't see a desert to be saved, But the vast, open threshold of a holy door we've all craved (Final Chorus) Sometimes the Great Hand turns us inside out To show us what the mind cannot conceive She was never here to be mean She was the silence in the prayer Giving voice to the holy ghosts Moving through the air She was living beyond what we were taught to believe (Outro) She sees the river where we see the sand She feels the rain before it hits the land She lets the rest... She lets the rest... Rest

The Altar of the Dry Ground (Verse 1) She said everything she meant And meant every word she said She wasn't carved from malice Just the truth inside her head But they stood where the river died In the dust and the burning heat Planting prayers in a salt-cracked ground At the ruins of her feet (Chorus) Sometimes life empties our pockets Turns the world upside down To see if we can recognize The king without a crown She was never here to be mean She was the crack where the mystery flows Revealing the life in the dried-out place That only the Heart-Language knows (Verse 2) There was no water in the sand But they stayed to watch it rain Begging life from a dried-out place Trying to harvest joy from pain She simply spoke from somewhere deep within her chest Where ancient secrets sleep Calling the soul to wake itself While weary senses dream (Bridge — The Vision) She sees the silver threads that tie the prayer to the star, The maps written in the architecture of nature She sees angels standing like pillars, holding up the stars She doesn't see a desert to be saved, But the vast, open threshold of a holy door we've all craved (Final Chorus) Sometimes the Great Hand turns us inside out To show us what the mind cannot conceive She was never here to be mean She was the silence in the prayer Giving voice to the holy ghosts Moving through the air She was living beyond what we were taught to believe (Outro) She sees the river where we see the sand She feels the rain before it hits the land She lets the rest... She lets the rest... Rest

From the Funny Farm to Table
Spoken Word Intro
"Where have all the Nonnas gone?
What happened to the sacred Sunday meal...
where every weekend was a holiday,
and every generation carried a sacred tradition?"
Verse 1
Step inside and take a seat, the fire's burning low.
Forget the buzz of hustle and empty rush of windows on the go.
The world outside is driving by, just feeding on the fast,
But what we have inside this room is built to heal and last.
The smell of raw garlic stewing, perfuming the air,
Was bound to make its way to our mouths like a true breath of fresh air.
The sauce was slowly simmering, the table waiting there,
And somehow every soul that entered knew there was enough to share.
Chorus
Come pull your chair up closer to the table that we share.
An appetite that reaches far beyond the plate we see.
We'll cleanse the palate slowly, let the bitter flavors heal,
And gather at the center for a true, full-course meal.
Verse 2
Medium-rare eyes, already satiated, will miss the beauty of the start,
If they only view presentation, they'll never taste the heart.
I've simmered down the heavy years to bring you something sweet,
Down deep inside the marrow where our souls are meant to meet.
Chorus
Come pull your chair up closer to the table that we share.
An appetite that reaches far beyond the plate we see.
We'll cleanse the palate slowly, let the bitter flavors heal,
And gather at the center for a true, full-course meal.
Bridge
No chewing up and spitting out, no swallowing the pride.
The nourishment is ready now, so come and step inside.
Beyond the surface styling, past the outer silver rings,
We're breaking bread to savor the raw heart of all things.
Chorus
Come pull your chair up closer to the table that we share.
An appetite that reaches far beyond the plate we see.
We'll cleanse the palate slowly, let the bitter flavors heal,
And gather at the center for a true, full-course meal.
Outro
So rest your hands.
Taste the soul.
A home-cooked grace to make us whole.