The Autumn Song

The autumn wind it whistles through the trees

The harbinger of the winter it reprieves

It sings a song and makes the forest dance

I wonder if each leaf falls where it does by chance

Under an oak I sit and contemplate

Do I really choose as master of my fate?

Or has the script been written out for me?

Is my life ruled by tyrant destiny?

O teacher, teach me more

Come to my gilded cage and open up the door

Remove the veil and help me see

Please teacher don't relent 'till I'm completely free

The rabbit runs from what I cannot see

Is her fear like the fear inside of me?

The squirrel seems to be the master of his tree

I wonder if that's what he really wants to be

The forest floor is a carpet made of gold

It hides so many stories never told

What makes the geese to warmer places fly?

What makes a million generations die?

O teacher, teach me more

Come to my gilded cage and open up the door

Remove the veil and help me see

Please teacher don't relent 'till I'm completely free

O see the deer, they graze and sniff and run

Ten thousand ants all live and work and move as one

A million stars all sparkle in the sky

I look upon them all and wonder ‘Who am I’

But as I gaze and feel and dream my cell phone rings

I walk back to my car and think of other things

My weighty burdens and responsibilities

Could my life flow and grow and turn more like trees

O teacher, teach me more

Come to my gilded cage and open up the door

Remove the veil and help me see

Please teacher don't relent 'till I'm completely free

Copyright © 2009 Randy Grenier

Death Stood Before Me

In the thick chaotic swirl of my dreams
Strange netherworld that only seems
No sense of order could I find
Fragmented thoughts of a broken mind

When not by choice, desire nor will
The dreams all stopped and thoughts turned still
My scattered mind became so clear
Leaving only a forgotten, familiar fear

Death stood before me.

Ten feet tall and cloaked in gray
Like a dark wet cloud on a dismal day
I felt his gaze though he had no face
I shivered from his cold embrace

Ephemeral moments somehow last
He stood so still yet moved so fast
He looked down on my mortal frame
The one called Death yet has no name

Like a mighty king I waved my hand
"Be gone! Be gone!" was my command
My pride, my strength, O did I wield
Yet not an inch did Death he yield

Then more like beggar, humble and weak
Groveling coward I did speak
"Please! Please! One more day!"
Yet not a bit did Death I sway

I finally saw there's no escape
I could not slip from Death's broad cape
Not even time to see my past
The final moment come at last

Death stood before me.

When suddenly within my breast
A feeling full and real did crest
My heart was bursting full and proud
And feeling that I said aloud

"Thank you for this life!"
"Thank you for this life!"

To whom I spoke I do not know
But somewhere did my prayer flow
What was to come I did not see
But gentle peace did glow in me

And before Death could make his stroke
My dream did end, and I awoke
Not the slightest tinge of fear
Eyes wide open; crystal clear

No longer did I think of Death
I drew the deepest, sweetest breath
With understanding I was blessed
That each new moment is the best

No longer will I yield to strife
The precious moments of this life
There's nothing left that I can say
'Xcept Death did grant me one more day

I'm Not Here

I'm not here
I'm not in the office
Not in the prison cell
Not in the statistics
Not in the study

I sail the tumultuous waters
The tempests of insecurity
Adrift yet self-contained
Adroit yet tentative
Alert yet tranquil

I embark on great adventures
I dance on the battlefield
To the relentless tempo of time
To conflicting dreams and aspirations
To Death's stark breath upon my neck

I reach the sweet nirvana
A bottomless cup
A poignant reminder
A steady pillar
A spirited wind

I’m not here
Not in the programming
Not in the discourse
Of what’s to be expected
Not in the pretentious
The broken
The contained

But rather I go within
To a secret haunt
To a heartfelt purpose
Where smiles and tears
Need not be explained
Where minds cannot be led
And hearts cannot be deceived

...

Changing Definitions

In person and up front about the embolism
About the necessary incisions and intrusions
Into the flesh and into the psych
Yet never penetrating the rubber embossment
Never reaching the soul estate

Unflinching in times of acrimony
Unyielding to the constant battering
Of unreasonable search and seizure
Of unprotected sex and unbecoming affronts
Of changing definitions and shallow analyses

Take my blood and my sweat and my coffee
Take my relentless need to extrapolate
Hold my childhood memories and retro sentiments
Stop my material lust and my own recognizance
Save my misdemeanors, my changes, and my deities

Conjuring organized anxiety attacks
Unbothered by leaking paradigms
Unfettered by sterile expressions
Refusing to accept or succumb
Denying the witness and the transcript
Pretending to agree and to obey

Cosmic turbulence and common secrets
High-ranking officials and soiled diapers
Benevolent savants and Bohemian daydreams
Secular commandments and scientific dogmas
Gifts of reason and hopes of freedom

Freedom

Lift Me

The ant she walks close to the earth
She’s fought and toiled since her birth
To her perhaps she stands so tall
Yet we can see she’s really small

The worm he crawls into a hole
He has no questions ‘bout his role
Perhaps to him his life is great
Yet to us he’s only bait

Lift me to a higher place
Put the smile back on my face
Pick me up and set me free
Awake me to reality

Lift me up from all the rest
Hold me closely to your breast
No longer do I want to roam
Lift me up and take me home

The workers sit at their PC’s
Typing, printing, wasting trees
Somewhere else they’d rather be
But food and housing don’t come free

The rich are thinking how to keep
The poor are too ashamed to weep
The politicians strut and fret
And haven’t solved a problem yet

Lift me to the mountain top
Hold me close and never stop
Always stay within my reach
I will learn if you will teach

Lift me up, O lift me high
Where angels sing and lovers sigh
Lift me from this lowly gravel
Let my lover’s heart unravel

Every day I work and slave
Until it leads me to my grave
Time its steady course shall run
The hour glass that stops for none

I’m not sure what’s wrong or right
I pray and try with all my might
Is there a secret I should know?
Should I let this feeling grow?

Lift me up where eagles dare
Fresh wind blowing through my hair
Clouds of cotton, sky of blue
Lift me up to be with you

Lift me up, O Lord, don’t wait
Save me from the fear and hate
Lift me to your secret place
To finally behold your face

...

First Day of 2007

First day of 2007
Means absolutely nothing
A circle has no beginning or end
The earth goes around the sun
We have arbitrarily picked a day
We call "the beginning"
Same old sorry-ass thing in Times Square
There's 6 billion people NOT in Times Square
There's a billion that don't have food
And don't give a flying you-know-what
About the so-called party
In Times Sqaure
Think of it rather
As another day of life
Another chance
-----------------------------
Another year passses by
Another child asks us why
Another flower will die
And so the year passes by

Another day will begin
Another vote will come in
Another bullet will fly
And so the day will pass by

The years march by in front of you
But do you care if the sky is still blue
Or only care if your private dreams come true?

And so the year has begun
Here we go 'round the sun
Maybe this time we'll know why
Another year passes by

...