See the floundering lady
Upon the ferris wheel
Caught up in her emotions
As a river it’s so real.

Looking deep into the dungeon
And into its vision dark
If only she’d see the sunrise
Perhaps she’d catch its spark.

See the floundering lady
She cannot find the ark
Caught up in the ferris wheel
And its river running so dark.

See the floundering lady
See the floundering lady.

See The Floundering Lady

Are you coming, dog
Are you coming
Is that light
Within your eyes?

Are you coming, dog
Are you coming
Are you sure
That it is wise?

And when you hear
The bells all ring
Is that the tocsin
That you sing?

And you standing there
On the driveway
In the night-time
Looking around.

Are you coming, dog
Are you coming
Are you sure
That it is wise?

Are you coming, dog
Are you coming
Is that wisdom
In your eyes?

 
And when the moon
Has risen full
And the light comes
Pouring down

And you standing there
On the driveway
In the night-time
Looking around.

Are you coming, dog
Are you coming
Is there light
Within your eyes?

Are you coming, dog
Are you coming
Are you sure
That it is wise?

And when you hear
The bells all ring
Is that the tocsin
That you sing?

And you standing there
On the driveway
In the night-time
Looking around.

Are you coming dog r2

Indolence is
My favourite child
We pass the hours
Flower by flower.

We read poetry
By the day
It makes those hours
Go away.

We try not
To frighten those
Who feel that work
Is much like gold.

We try not
To frighten those
Who think that clothes
Might be our goal.

 
Indolence is
My favourite child
We pass the hours
Flower by flower.

We read poetry
By the day
It makes those hours
Go away.

Indolence is
My favourite child
We live together
Very well.

I sit here
And read a book
And you sit there
And weave a spell.

 
Indolence is
My favourite child
We pass the hours
Flower by flower.

We read poetry
By the day
It makes those hours
Go away.

The days they come
The days they go
The sun it rises
Feeling cold.

You and I
Enjoy the gloom
With it comes
That glorious moon.

Indolence is
My favourite child
We pass the hours
Flower by flower.

We read poetry
By the day
It makes those hours
Go away.

We try not
To frighten those
Who feel that work
Is much like gold.

We try not
To frighten those
Who think that clothes
Might be our goal.

Indolence r1a

She shall wear the wicker crown
Seated on a woodland throne
In a place where she’s alone
In a place where up is down.

And from that place her gaze goes out
To shape the waking sleeping world
To make the shape of things unfurl
In accord with that woodland girl.

All is wrong and all is right
As it should be in her sight
That wondrous queen of all things wild
That scheming dreaming woodland child.

There is power in her gaze
Lost within a woodland maze
It rests upon you day by day
It draws you in and makes you stay.

Until the very world is gone
Until the seas have all run dry
There she sits that woodland child
There is magic in her eyes.

She shall wear the wicker crown
Seated on a woodland throne
In a place where she’s alone
In a place where up is down.

Her lambent gaze r1c

There’s a wolf
Monday 25th May 1992

There's a wolf
Looking for my heart,
Its jaws are everywhere,
I feel its hollow breath,
Every time I start to despair.

Wolf calls,
You're lonely,
You could be happy, only,
Then a vision starts to appear.

Yes, there's a wolf
Knocking at my heart,
Its waiting to tear me apart,
Dreaming about you,
Dreaming about you.

Wolf calls
At my window,
Look, the flowers are blooming,
Wolf calls
At my window,
No need
To be lonely.

There's a wolf
knocking at my door,
Its ready to tear me limb from limb,
But its dreams all have a fatal flaw,
They don't let me go on living.

It calls,
Are you lonely ?
Someone will love you only,
And all you have to do,
Is break a heart or two,
And all you have to do,
Is just break a heart or two.

There's Wolf Looking For My Heart (1992 song with Craig Shaw)

Gypsie
Thursday 26 April 2024

I was running across the field
Going on the lam
Escaping from her majesty
And those who wield her hand.

It was a chilly morning
On a world set far away
Not that far from Betelgeuse
Not far from today.

Somehow I had slipped the guards
Enroute to the prison farm
It wasn’t that difficult
Them being what they are.

One of them has fired a shot
It comes from miles away
Next they’ll send a roving bot
To see if I’m okay.

I should never have agreed 
To the plan on Earth
A new way to travel
Reborn without rebirth.

Here I am, a gypsie man
Far away from human beings
Hunted by the grabblers
To be eaten by their queens.

Gypsie r2

Walking the halls of eternity
Until my true love comes to me
I look for you in every town 
Dry as dust the endless round.

Never together and never apart
Twin echoes of a dying heart
Walking the halls of eternity
Until my true love comes to me.

From the first hour to the last
In life boats that drift so fast
Never together and never apart
Twin echoes of a dying heart.

In a cloak of lost stars
Forever young and so far
Deep the roots, this tree of life
Sundered by the wilder’s knife.

I look for you in every town 
Dry as dust the endless round
In a cloak of lost stars
Forever young and so far.

Deep the roots, this tree of life
Sundered by the wilder’s knife
From the first hour to the last
In life boats that drift so fast.

Walking the halls of eternity
Until my true love comes to me
I look for you in every town 
Dry as dust the endless round.

Walking the halls of eternity r2b

I’m lying here quietly
In my coffin I rest
Ropes around my arms
A book on my chest

My eyelids they flutter
My fingers they creep
They mean to bind me
And send me down deep

I will not go down
Even though I’m bound
I’m resisting the spell
I’ll turn it around.

My fingers they flutter
My eyelids they weep
The book holds the spell
But the pieces won’t meet

I’m lying in this grave
Ancient and weak
The deep will not have me
I have kings to unseat.

I'm lying here quietly r0a

Mired within an ocean deep
Pummelled by the waves of sleep
Stirring gently in its surf
Pulled back in for another round.

Letting the waves upon me pound
Until weariness goes away
And I feel ready for the day.
And I feel ready for the day.

Padding quietly along the shore
Of that great ocean as it roars 
Evening will return again
And I will wade back in to play.

To float and splash until immersed
In an embrace that I do miss
But I must rise and walk awhile
I must live the life of child.

To float and splash until immersed
In an embrace that I do miss
But I must rise and walk awhile
I must live the life of child.

Mired within an ocean deep
Pummelled by the waves of sleep
Stirring gently in its surf
Pulled back in for another round.

Mired r3d

Born long before the cock crowed twice
Opened my eyes in a land of vice
I’d just arrived from Paradise
Booted out not once but many times.

Hard to know where to begin
That spear I stuck into the spleen
My key role in World War One
Killing the Duke had to be done.

My hands are bloody as is my heart
So many the lifetimes that have passed
Each time I try to change my will
I get caught again in that dark swill.

Third time’s the charm, or so they say
I’ll live without murder from this day
Cometh the day, cometh the man
This time he won’t die by my old hand. 

Then perhaps they’ll let me in
A bedraggled angel in human skin 
Tired of killing and doing wrong
Back in Paradise where I belong.

Born long before the cock crowed twice
Opened my eyes in a land of vice
I’d just arrived from Paradise
Booted out not once but many times.

Before the cock crowed twice r1a

I was only dreaming
My smile had just begun
Gazing out at everything
Amazed by bubble-gum.

I was only dreaming
I was not that long past ten
Left the cult for other things
Became a better man.

I was only dreaming
Life was good to me
Entered every doorway
The ones that I could see.

I was only dreaming
I was fit and very young
Swinging out across the rafters
Brought the whole house down.

I was only dreaming
The years becoming mean
With sorrow and joy
And much else inbetween.

I was only dreaming
Lost in a dark mirage
The movie spooled for many hours
A madman was in charge.

The parade went on and on
The tanks and all those men
Marching past the podium
I was the best of them.

I was only dreaming
The bad days went away
Sorrow folded up its tent
The sun came out to play.

I was only dreaming
The times were really swell
The work of life was flourishing
The dance going so well.

And in all my dreaming
The road still lay ahead
Sailing off into the night
And rumbling up the stairs.

Dreaming R5

Walking clad in beauty
By both day and night
Drawing sailors closer
Into your warm light.

With an intense will
That cannot be withstood
Living without limits
In your fairy wood.

Not always patient
Not always right
But you wield your powers
By both day and night.

Walking clad in beauty
By both day and night
Drawing sailors closer
Into your warm light.

Walking clad in beauty r2b

The king of spades
Friday 11 October 2024
 
The king of spades
No crown, long hair
No cloak or sceptre
In an easy chair.

In the midst of friends
As evening advances
Watches the show
A cascade of trances.

The queen of diamonds
Descends the stairs
With two fair knights
They come in pairs.

Her aura shines out
To fill the place
Drawing all present
Into her space.

The king of spades
The queen of diamonds
A rare moment
In this time of silence.

Dreaming hearts
A throng of sages
An evening gathering
From the stoned ages.

The room itself
Full of easy chairs
Scent of dreams
On the evening air.

In the background
The white albums play
Endless songs
From a penny arcade.

The king of spades r2

I’ve got a feather in my mind
I’ve got a feather in my mind
I’ve got a feather finer than leather
I’ve got a feather in my mind.

And if you ask where it comes from
It’s from the hall of song
I’ve got a feather finer than leather
I’ve got a feather in my mind.

And as I break into song
I know where I belong
I’ve got a feather finer than leather
I’ve got a feather in my mind.

Perhaps you have one too
Perhaps there’s one for you
You’ve got a feather finer than leather
You’ve got a feather in your mind.

I’ve got a feather in my mind
I’ve got a feather in my mind
I’ve got a feather finer than leather
I’ve got a feather in my mind.

Feather in my mind r0

Woman of sorrows v2
Wednesday 11 December 2024
 
A woman of sorrows
Came to my door
She leaned very close
She was here on a chore.

She came very near
She didn’t pretend
She held my attention
Again and again.

Her face was hidden
By a blue veil
It came and went
Her face so pale.

Her eyes so dark
Laughed as she spoke
I could not grasp
My end of the rope.

Woman of sorrows
Full of old charm
I leaned even closer
Drawn by the harm.

Woman of sorrows
Bright is the flame
In the midst of our bargain
I heard a new name.

Woman of sorrows
Where are you now
I think about you
In every hour.

Woman of sorrows
Come to my door
Lean very close
On your way to the shore.

Woman of sorrows v2 r0

Leopard r3
Friday 25 October 2024
 
Leopard stalks the streets
Drawn by drum beats
Old man holds its lead
They don’t travel at speed.

Stopping quite by chance
Watching people dance
At the edge of a square
There is romance in the air.

A flight of madrigals
A happy crowd that mills
Leopard fixes his stare
Keeper doesn’t care.

 
Leopard’s eyes reciting
These scenes so inviting
Keeper not doing so well
Feet beginning to swell.

Escapees from prison
Gaze full of wisdom
If only they’d listen
These human children.

Leaving behind squares
People in arm chairs
Vanishing into air
Until they’re not there.

Leopard r3

The old prince
Thursday 28 November 2024
 
Within a chateau by a lake
On the prince’s grand estate
Old prince drank the finest wine
In his chateau so sublime.

A small cottage stood nearby
In amidst the trees and sky
Woodsman’s daughter ate and drank
Sipping water from an old stone tank.

One day the old prince died
Woodsman’s daughter wept and sighed
On a day both cold and grey
They packed up and went away.
 
For decades no one called
Chateau lost to one and all
All those flighty chateau dreams
Dust sifting out of seams.

Now the chateau’s no longer there
Just a clearing in the air
That old cottage stayed behind
Drifting silent out of time.

As the years went tumbling by
Cottage still seen by careful eyes
Its old magic travelling on
Disguised as a doll’s house near a pond.


The old prince r2

SharpBlade
Worn at the wrist
Easily drawn
If trouble persists.

SharpBlade
Is back again
With a ready smile
Sword close at hand.

SharpBlade
Is back in town
They might respect him
More this round.

Last time he fought
The duke’s men
On the stairs
Blood everywhere.

They tried to take him
By surprise
Approaching him
With their bleak eyes.

They thought
That he was fast
But such speed
Just could not last.

They saw
The purple vest
But not the sword
Or the tiger crest.

SharpBlade
In any age
Dangerous
At any stage.

SharpBlade
Now reborn
No sword or crest
On the door.

Started poor
Ran up the stairs
Into the heart
Of the everywhere.

Became a banker
Cutting a path
With the heartbeat
Of his sharp heart.

SharpBlade
Worn at the wrist
Easily drawn
If trouble persists.

SharpBlade r2a

Sometimes love is strong
Sometimes it flies away
Empty, the womb of song
Forgotten, the bridal day.

Looking back
Nothing to do
Choices all made
By me and you.

Planning for a better future
Planning for a better day
Dreaming in the morning
Dreaming as it goes astray.

Choices made
All gone away
Looking back
Nothing to say.

Sometimes the heart is strange
Sometimes love goes wrong
Sometimes love can change
Sometimes hanging on.

Looking back
Nothing to say
Choices all made
All gone away.

Even when there’s nothing left
Of the old me and you
We still turn in quest
Looking for something true.

Choices made
By me and you
Looking back
Nothing to do.

Life and love r1

I harnessed the power of the sun
I took the road less travelled
Now I’m going into town
My hopes and dreams unravelled.

Sometimes up, sometimes down
The road it twists and turns
I feel the ground beneath my feet
And all those hungry worms.

I lived life to the highest degree
No milk or meat for me
My purity so plain to see
I lived the life ideal.
 
Everywhere that I went
Sat outside an hour a day
Observed the mosaic customs
Felt so sure I would be saved.

And now the road runs down
Into a gully below
A mist lies over the scene ahead
My bed is made of snow.

I harnessed the power of the sun
To travel where none had been
And now I find myself entrained
In the grip of a monstrous dream.

I take with me the holy seed
Of all I once believed
I’ll bury it late at night
In a garden full of weeds.

I harnessed the power of the sun
I took the road less travelled
Now I’m going into town
My hopes and dreams unravelled.

Sometimes up, sometimes down
The road it twists and turns
I feel the ground beneath my feet
And all those hungry worms.

I harnessed the power of the sun r2a3

Pharaoh's daughter strolled down to the Nile
In amongst the reeds she found a baby child
Strong features, with a ready smile
Took him home; he stayed a while.

Pharaoh not pleased by the young upstart
Grumpy and somewhat down at heart
Did not think this abandoned child
Could ever be that worthwhile.

 In the palace his daughter held sway
The child thrived from day to day
She loved him with all her heart
She hoped that they would never part.

He grew up tall and strong
Moses could do no wrong
Loved by one, loved by all
Except perhaps in the palace hall.

The Pharaoh did not smile
When he came across this cuckoo child
Sent assassins several times
Moses survived but was not fine.

The rest is ancient history
The Nile crossing still a mystery
The Pharaoh's daughter never forgave him
His many attendants did not save him.


Pharaoh's daughter r0a

I was dreaming
About being wrong
I was standing inside
An unsettling throng.

I was miles away
Miles away.

And  who can tell
What’s right or wrong
When you’re lost inside
An unsettling song.

I was miles away
Miles away.

And I ask you
What can you do
Faced with such
A motley crew?

I was miles away
Miles away.

I was miles away
Miles away
I was miles away
Miles away.

And there’s nothing more
That I can do
This song has been
Something new.

I’ve been miles away
Miles away.

I’ve been miles away
Miles away
I’ve been miles away
Miles away.

Dreaming about r0

The hairdressers of London
Were sent home by the dozen
Did not travel in fine cars
Sipping wine in quaint wine bars.

They were not sky bound
Travelling above the ground
In rockets sprouting flames
Firing up through space-bound lanes.

Instead they travelled in a ship
With sailors young and fit
Calling out from a high mast
As the land receded fast.

While the hairdressers sat cold 
Locked up in a stinking hold
In amongst them Little Molly
Clutching her beloved dolly.

The ship sailed on through the night
And it sailed on into light
Molly said a word so grey
And the ship just went away.

The hairdressers awakened
In their homes unshaken
Dressing hair, playing games
No memory of being taken.

The ship itself sailed on
Crew and captain singing songs
Into seas so dazzling blue
And places that they never knew.

Molly’s doll had power
Magic like plucking flowers
The doll was also a dear friend
With Molly to the very end.

For Molly and her dolly
The journey was no folly
Their travels ever entwined
With an array of mortal minds.

The hairdressers of London
Were sent home by the dozen
They sat there quite cold 
Locked up in a stinking hold.

Hairdressers of London r5c

1. A man walks down a road
On his way to Heaven’s portal
In-between moments of bliss
As does any mortal.

But he longs for Paradise
Heaven or Hell, let it come
Wants the supreme sacrifice
To the beating of a drum.

He doesn’t care that much
Who lives, who dies
But he longs, nay demands
That the veil be torn from his eyes.

2. For that he’ll sacrifice anything
Dignity, position or faith
For that he becomes
As it were, a living wraith.

For that he lives all these years
For all the years to come
A ghost in the body of life
No more than the clicking of a thumb.

No more than a burning bush
Stuck forever in a desert
As long as the flame  remains
He remains ever-present.

3. A man walks down a road
On his way to Heaven’s portal
In-between moments of bliss
As does any mortal.

But he longs for Paradise
Heaven or Hell, let it come
Wants the supreme sacrifice
To the beating of a drum.

He doesn’t care that much
Who lives, who dies
But he longs, nay demands
That the veil be torn from his eyes.


Addiction r1a

1. I was a sailor
On a ship
Until I tripped
And broke my hip.

Now I roam
About on land
Trying my best
To understand.

Why the compass
Doesn't work
Why my heart
Is full of hurt.

2. Thought I knew
My way around
Feeling lost
On solid ground.

What I'd give
To be at sea
With all its fears
And drudgery.

Every morning
And every night
The sea birds
And their delights.

3. Brisk wind
Off the bow
New countries
In every hour.

Life so simple
In the end
Vast sea waves
Sails that bend.

I was a sailor
On a ship
Until I tripped

Sailor r0

My sister owns a knife or two
Kept in a cupboard with the shoes
She likes to juggle in the air
One flew off, we know not where.

One flew up into the sky
Zipped right past my sister’s eye
Stuck in the ceiling by the door
Not sure if it’s there anymore.

Late at night, while we’re asleep
The knives all scattered in a heap
She sits there in a rocking chair
Slowly combing out her hair.

Whistling slowly through her teeth
Tapping tunes out with her feet
No doubt dreaming about knives
My sister is so very wise.

My sister owns a knife or two
Whistling an ancient tune
She likes to juggle in the air
Sometimes the knives just disappear.

She sits there in a rocking chair
Likes to juggle in the air
The knives all scattered in a heap
Late at night, while we’re asleep.

My sister owns a knife or two
Kept in a cupboard with the shoes
She likes to juggle in the air
One flew off, we know not where.

Late at night, while we’re asleep
The knives all scattered in a heap
She sits there in a rocking chair
Slowly combing out her hair.

Sister Alia of the knife r1a

There's a lady that sleeps
A lady that knows
A lady that waits
For the tides that flow.

She waits in a field
She waits by the sea
She waits for the ships
So tall and so free.

She waits in the shadows
She waits for the crow
She waits in the barrows
With her sisters below.

She waits for a message
She waits for a flight
She's a mother of mercy
At the dimming of light.

She arrives in the morning
In early afternoon
She arrives with an answer
That none can undo.

There’s a lady that waits
For me and for you
She waits silent
Amidst morning dew.

There's a lady that sleeps
A lady that knows
A lady that waits
With her sisters below.

She waits in a field
She waits by the sea
She waits for the ships
So tall and so free.

There’s a lady that waits
Amidst morning dew
She waits silent
For me and for you.


Lady that waits r6

I dance the dance
Of the barley corn
As the world
Is being born.

Dark wave 
Come to me
We’ll dance together
In the sea.

Dark wave
Passing by
You chill my heart
And grip my eyes.

Dark wave
Passing by
You chill my heart
And grip my eyes.

As I move about
In the early morn
I dance the dance
Of the barley corn.

And all about
I feel the air
A dark wave
Just over there.

I see a dark wave
Passing by
Moving quietly
Through the sky.

I dance the dance
Of the barley corn
From late night
Into early morn.

Dark wave
Passing by
Like a ripple
In the sky.

Dark wave
Passing by
Like a ripple
In the sky.

Dark wave
Come to me
Perhaps friends
We could be.

I dance the dance
Of the barley corn
As the world
Is being born.

Dark wave r4

Susannah climbs stairs late at night
To a tower top, out of sight
In a rolling tide of swirling cloud
Mist, fog, and the odd hell-hound.

Susannah lives on the earth by day
As outlined in an endless play
Written in part to keep her sane
A mortal in the land of the crane.

In the evening, she abandons that script
Climbs endless stairs, pained by one hip
Gets to the door, it opens and shuts
Lies down on a comfortable couch.

At night, Susannah looks out at stars
Rainbows round the moon, floating cars
Fairies hovering enroute to her room
Flying horses, a witch on a broom.

Susannah’s earth life goes on and on
And one day, when it’s all gone
She’ll climb those stairs just one more time
Close the door, and drink the wine.

Susannah’s earth life goes on and on
And one day, when it’s all gone
She’ll climb those stairs just one more time
Close the door, and drink the wine.


Susannah r1

Speaking with my lawyer
Monday 30 December 2024

I can see a golden city
On the horizon far away
I think that I could reach it 
If I could sleep just one more day.

Speaking with my lawyer
He says be careful what I say
Should I meet up with the troll king
As I go along my way.

I’ll climb a golden mountain
Climb it all the way
When I reach the fountain
I’ll sit there all the day.

Speaking with my lawyer
He advised me what to say
When talking with the troll king
Just don’t look away.

I can see a golden city
On the horizon far away
I think that I could reach it 
If I could sleep just one more day.

Speaking with my lawyer r3

Writer of prose and poetry since mid-1960s. Given an acoustic guitar in 1978 by long-suffering sister. Many songs produced that way. More recently, guitar skills all but faded, using GarageBand and Logic Pro to put words to music.
ps. The Bandcamp songs should be free to download. Please let me know if they're not.

Peter Grimbeek

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