Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time

We made a rhyme

Just a snippet really

But it was sublime

And I wish I could hideaway

In the crook of your arm

And revel in the sweetness

The tenderness and warmth

But once upon a time

Just has to be enough

And I must smile at the memory

And not let it engulf me

Or take me under

Or fill me with sorrow

At the thought of only yesterdays

And no more tomorrows

And once upon a time

Must be good enough

And I’ll let the memory serve me

When the seas I sail get rough

I choose to remember 

The kindness in your eyes

The serendipity in meeting

And the release of your sweet sighs

The recognition of another souls’s 

Beautiful frailty 

And the contrast of what I desire

And of stark reality

Remembering your sweet smile 

And your tender soothing voice

Was there really another other way

I really had no choice

And once upon a time

I had to look in your eyes

And though I could not look away

I began to realize

I was drawn to you like a magnet

Like the sea’s drawn to the shore

And once upon a time 

Seemed like a dream

That might live forevermore

Here Comes the Rain

So Many Things I Need

So many things I need right now.

I need to stop thinking

I need to be on a plane flying above the clouds traveling far away

I need to be with the people I love

And who will always love me

I need to be alone

In a tent by a mountain stream

I need to be out of my head

And inside my heart

Not pondering things about work

But things that will matter when I part

From this world and into the next

I cannot think about another unimportant matter

About the incessant chatter

And the trying to measure up to something

That means absolutely Nothing to me

I need to feel the presence of God

And I can only feel it when I am still

I cannot feel anything

If I have to keep climbing these hills

Hills that will get me nowhere

That really are inconsequential

When people are living and dying

Breathing and sighing

Laughing and crying

I need to be doing these things

Not meaningless activities that seem to have no end

I am going to break

I’m getting to old and bitter to bend

I need to feel love again

I need to feel joy

I need to hold a child

And listen to a baby sigh

I need to feel life

Not to drown it out with work

It will never amount to anything

So many things I need aren’t “things” at all….

Oh My Gypsy Soul

Girl you’ve been running for so long

Always trying to be so strong

Bending and breaking your back

To be one of the crowd

But oh my Gypsy Soul

Longs for its freedom

And to be satisfied

And I have tried

Over and over to deny what I feel

To lock myself in and throw away the key

What a price I pay

Each and every day

And I’m so sorry, my sweet gypsy soul

Oh my gypsy soul

You’re like a rock that needs to roll

You keep longing for that freedom

And to be satisfied

You’re always feeling that ache

The dreams you just forsake

Like a thirst you cannot slake

It’s hard to keep from traveling down that road

And I know you want to go

But oh my gypsy soul

I can’t deny you anymore

The road keeps calling me

I know you wish I’d set you free

But oh my gypsy soul

You’re like a rock that needs to roll

You keep longing for that freedom

And to be satisfied

Oh Gypsy soul

I still feel you there

Like a rock that wants to roll

Oh my Sweet Gypsy Soul

You are Bringing Us Home

Bringing Us Home

This life is temporary

Our life on earth

Like dust scattered in the wind

We are starting to see the truth

And through the fear

You are bringing us home

And though disease and age can ravage our bodies

Neither can strip us of our soul

For God is leading us down the path

He is bringing us home

A home where humanity reigns with

Steadfast resolve

To love the lost and the weak

To sacrifice to love to share

To seek the vulnerable

humble and the meek

You are bringing us all home

A home where our heart is

Back to you

A return to love

The place that is really our home

Not this temporary world we live in

Where we worry, and are full of fear

Bringing us full circle

To the love we once knew bringing us home

Bringing us back to love

Bringing us back to what is true

Bringing us home to you

They say Home is where your heart is

A place we sometimes ache to find

Let us return to love

Full circle

You are bringing us home

You appeared

Catching Fireflies

When I was just a little girl

And the summer nights seemed so wild

I ventured into the darkness

And I felt so fearless next to a fire

I was mesmerized

Hypnotized

I was catching fireflies

I held my glass jar and saw

My reflections from the fire

I never understood my simple desires

They painted pictures so vivid

And the light from the fire in the dark was like a ribbon

I was simply mesmerized and hypnotized

I was catching fireflies

And they glittered and sparkled

Little lights against the night

My fireflies I had collected

My heart filled with delight

I danced in the woods

Twirling round and round

I was simply mesmerized

Hypnotized

I was catching fireflies

When I awoke the next morning

In the light of day

Their fires had all gone out

And I was to blame

For the extinguishing of their flames

I didn’t understand

For they were still held captive in my jar

No lights, no flight they had all gone dark

No longer any spark

No longer mesmerized

I had to release my fireflies

I let go of my fireflies

It’s with the innocence of a child

That we sometimes become wild

And allow the simple longings of our heart

We get caught up in the lights

And the dizzying heights

Of all we thought we needed in our lives

But sometimes in the chasing after

We are simply mesmerized

And hypnotized

And we begin to realize

We were simply catching fireflies

Lisa Benjamin Muench

June 2019

Songwriter

Songwriter

I’m just a songwriter

I can paint a picture with my words

I sculpt a melody so the story can be heard

And for just a moment I can take you back in time

And create a snapshot

Within the corners of your mind

But I’m just a songwriter

My medium is thin air

And some words that I will share

I’ll spin them into gold

And before you know it

You feel them deep within your soul

And I can bring tears to your eyes

Before you even realize

That you’re living in a memory

And feeling every emotion

That you once did

But you were just a kid…

And I’m a songwriter

I paint a picture with my words

And before you know it

Your heart is running towards

That old melody

It sounds just like a symphony

The loudest sound inside your head

Your soul just wants to be fed

And those sweet memories

Keep on coming back to seize

Your heart and your soul

And you just wanna go

Back in time to realize

The pain is still fresh paint

It won’t dry and you can’t wait

To feel so deep again

So alive

You want to revive

You need it to survive

So take the pen, Songwriter

Go deep within, Songwriter

I will let you in, Songwriter

You can restore my soul

And I just want to know,

Songwriter

Just how it is you

Truly know

My soul,

Songwriter

Lisa Benjamin Muench

May 2019

Vagabond Heart Adrift at Sea

I stand on the balcony on a ship at sea

I sang Vagabond Heart only knowing what it meant to me

There were whitecaps passing by

But much to my surprise

I was at peace

I saw those waves rushing by

Created by the movement

Of the things I feel inside

And I am moving

I’m not losing

This sense of me

It is who I will always

And-forever be

And I’m singing Vagabond Heart

On this ship that’s heading for a shore

Always longing for something more

And the ocean keeps turning and churning

And I keep feeling her yearning

For a heart so simple and pure

Just like my Vagabond Heart

I wish you knew this Vagabond Heart

She keeps beating breathing and simply being

She can’t help but be

a Vagabond Heart

Grassy Strange

April 2019

Yesterday’s Mirror

Yesterday’s Mirror

As I look in the rearview mirror

I see those roads I traveled down

Funny how they don’t seem

Familiar now

Wish I could say they weren’t so dusty

But the corners of my mind

Have become rusty

And in yesterday’s mirror

I see some good memories

But it’s hard to love the ones

That you didn’t share with me

As I look in the rearview mirror

I see so many things I missed

I guess I was looking down

Because I had to shift

Those backroads in my mind

Some were bumpy Some so rough

And I guess over time

My heart became a little rough

And in yesterday’s mirror

I see I passed by a thing or two

I wish the backroads I traveled

You had gone down too

And it seemed so easy

To look in yesterday’s mirror

But now every time I do it

I always feel a tear

And I can’t look back

No, you can’t look back

In yesterday’s mirror

There are things I wouldn’t change

And some things I wish I could

But looking into yesterday’s mirror

Is something that I should

No longer do

Because I start to miss you

Because you can’t look back

You should never look back

Because sometimes things aren’t clear

When you look in yesterday’s mirror

March 26, 2019

Lisa Benjamin Muench

A.k.a Grassy Strange