Noel…You tell quite a story…I notice your rhyme scheme in “Dawg’s Day Off” ~ all three lines rhyming and then coming in with the hook which doesn’t rhyme ~ helps the hook stand out without the luxury of a chorus. In “The Grey with Wings Upon its Feet” you alternate the hook line after every two verses giving it a familiar feel. It's interesting to analyze these lyrics and others...

A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write,
if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be,
he must be. -- Abraham Maslow, American Psychologist