meet Peter Grimbeek......to understand his Legend....you must first understand...that HE is A Legend. Listen to his tales as he weaves music together with word, the wit and prowess of the minstrel, he possesses and professes...accept this, and yet alas, it is not endless.....as i wish tho it truly was HELL BENT N RELENTLESS...but i digress.......... .... .... enjoy the next check off on this Enjoyment Checklist.

Peter Grimbeek

far away part 3 - cold

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.

Leonard gazes
Out from the shadows
Peers at a world
Where he cannot be.

Dressed in an old
Natty suit
He stands four-square
In his field of dreams.

He stands there
At the water’s edge 
He cannot cross 
He can only look.

Yet his gaze crosses
That watery field
Transmits the essence
Of every book.

Leonard rests
In Shadow Land
A lighter shade
Against the pale.

There is neither
Dark nor light
Nor is there even
Hill or dale.

It is a place
Of quiet foreboding
From which
Silent sailors rise.

Returning
To the water’s edge 
To lean that way
Until sunrise.

Gazing across
That watery chasm
Drawn by old songs
And memories.

Unable to return
To an old Eden
Unable to move onwards
To the sea.

Leonard gazes
Out from the shadows
Peers at a world
Where he cannot be.

Dressed in an old
Natty suit
He stands four-square
In his field of dreams.

Leonard in Shadow Land r3

Randy ran rings
Around the circular table
Turned out he was something
Of a fable.

Randy was a man
On a curious mission
He wanted to find things
That had truly gone missing.

For a fee
Or even for free
He’d find anything
Wherever it be.

For a fee
Or even for free
He’d find anything
Wherever it be.

Randy was approached
To find a table
The round table
Of medieval babel.

Complete with knights
Quaffing fine labels
Sure, said Randy
Put it on my way bill.

Randy sought high
And then he went low
He went everywhere
That Randy could go.

Randy sought high
And then he went low
He went everywhere
That Randy could go.

Of course, he found it
Randy being special
At the bottom of a well
In Nova Scotia.

The knights still there
In their fine regalia
Not so lively
Around that table.

Randy ran rings
Around that table
Turned out he was something
Of a fable.

Randy ran rings
Around that table
Turned out he was something
Of a fable.

Randy r5a

A black road is winding
Up over the hill
He’s walked all day
He’s perfectly still.

And life it is fleeting
To no one’s surprise
His youth has all gone
There’s dust in his eyes.

There’s dust on the mantel
Dust everywhere
The old man is coughing
There’s dust in his hair.

A cold wind is rising
The grass is quite still
The ghosts are roaming
Up over the hill.

The TV is sleeping
The house is on mute
Tonight he slumbers
His dreams acute.

There’s dust on the mantel
Dust in the air
The old man is coughing
There’s dust everywhere.

There’s dust in his jacket
Dust on the floor
Dust in the kitchen
There’s dust on the door.

His desk is all covered
In photos and junk
Things that don’t work
Things that just might.

There’s dust on the photos
Dust on the chair
Dust in the cupboard
There’s dust everywhere.

Dust in the air2 r2

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

Couples dance upon the stairs
They are dancing everywhere
Stepping up and stepping in
Stepping up and stepping down.

They are dancing everywhere
Couples dancing on the stairs
Where they begin is where they end
Stepping up and stepping in.

Couples dance upon the stairs
They are dancing everywhere
Stepping up and stepping down
Stepping in and turning round.

They are dancing everywhere
Couples dancing on the stairs
Stepping in and stepping down
Stepping in and turning round.

Couples dancing r10a

I’m lying in the ground
My skeleton is brown
Earth worms all around
Dear Matilda.

When I hear the cockerel cry
I’ll rise, I’ll rise, I’ll rise
I’ll be back with you
Dear Matilda.

And I’ll meet my destiny
One I cannot see
I’ll meet my destiny
Dear Matilda.

And I’ll meet my destiny
One I cannot see
I’ll meet my destiny
Dear Matilda.

My destiny’s with you
I know that’s what I do
One day I’ll rise again
Dear Matilda.

To be back home with you
Beside the ocean blue
To do what I must do
Dear Matilda.

It’s quiet in this ground
I cannot hear a sound
I’m lying very quietly
Dear Matilda.

It’s quiet in this ground
I cannot hear a sound
I’m lying very quietly
Dear Matilda.

I’m lying in the ground
My motives are all sound
My skeleton is brown
Dear Matilda.

I’m lying here with you
I know what I must do
We’ll live life anew
Dear Matilda.

We will rise again
This story never ends
Forever it begins
Dear Matilda.

We will rise again
This story never ends
Forever it begins
Dear Matilda.

Matilda r5c

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

River song 
11PM Friday 2 November 1992

You were standing at the river
You were singing a love song
When I heard you from a distance 
And I began to follow 

I swam across the river 
Dodging logs and fighting riptides 
In a pained and glorious struggle 
That seemed to take forever

But just when I thought I'd reached you
You turned upon your heel 
Walking on into the jungle 
Leaving me alone to see 
Just your footprints in the sand

You had disappeared completely 
And I could not hear your song
So I stood beside the river 
Waiting for another
But if one should see me there 
Standing at the river
Or heard me from a distance
And began to follow

And swam across the river 
Dodging logs and fighting riptides 
In a pained and glorious struggle 
That seemed to take forever

Should I wait for you to reach me? 
Or turn upon my heel 
Walking on into the jungle
Leaving you alone to see 
Just my footprints in the sand

River song

Lo and behold
The great and wonderful
Day of the Lord
Comes and is close
On that great day
The heavens will shift.

Stars reel about
Earth and all in it
Will ring like a bell.

On that day rejoice
Even if there is
Rain and rough seas.

As the earth breaks
The floodgates of life
Will open once more.

On that fine day
Some ancient tree
Still caught in life.

Will finally fall
And its place 
In the forest be free.

On that new day
Its bursting seeds
Will sing a new song.

When that day comes
Do not greet it with a sad face
Who can refuse
A gift promised in every age.

November 1979