Original Poems

Image: The Old Homestead by Ron W. G.
The image is a painting by my sweet husband, Ron, who relied on a photo taken by my sister, Carlene Craig, who still lives there.  The old homestead is the place where I grew up—a place of beauty that holds many memories of a young girl growing up in the turbulent times of the 50s and 60s.

Welcome to My Original Poems

My literary focus remains primarily on poetry and songwriting, but as a life-long creative writer, I have also dabbled in many other forms: short stories, flash fiction, memoir.

I also compose literary and expository essays, focusing on a variety of topics including history and politics—even some science/medical issues, especially those that remain controversial.    

To sample some of my songs, please visit my “Original Songs.”  I also create vegetarian/vegan recipes.

This room in my literary home provides links to my original poems. 

Literary art—somewhat like science—is never truly settled or complete; thus I will be continuing to add—and even to revise— material from time to time.  

Questions, comments, and suggestions offered in good faith are always welcome.

Swearing to the Orphic Oath

As a poet, I take the art of poetry very seriously and thus I swear to the following oath:

As I, Linda Sue Grimes, engage in my career as a poet, I solemnly swear to remain faithful to the tenets of the following covenant to the best of my ability:

1. I will respect and study the significant artistic achievements of those poets who precede me, and I will humbly share my knowledge with those who seek my advice. I will dedicate myself to my craft using all my talent while avoiding those two evils of (1) effusiveness of self-indulgence and (2) pontification on degradation and nihilism.
2. I will remember that there is a science to poetry as well as an art, and that spirituality, peace, and love always eclipse metaphors and similes. I will not bring shame to my art by pretending to knowledge I do not have, and I will not cut off the legs of colleagues that I may appear taller.
3. I will respect readers and ever be aware that not all readers are as well-versed in literary matters as I am. I will not take advantage of their ignorance by writing nonsense and then pretending it is the reader’s fault for not understanding my disingenuity. Regardless of the level of fame and fortune I reach, I will remain humble and grateful, not arrogant nor condescending.
4. I will remember that poetry requires revision and close attention; it does not just pour out of me onto the page, as if opening a vein and letting it drip. Writing poetry requires thinking as well as feeling.
5. I will continue to educate myself in areas other than poetry so that I may know a fair amount about history, geography, science, math, philosophy, foreign language, religion, economics, sociology, politics, and other fields of endeavor that result in bodies of knowledge.
6. I will remember that I am no better than prose writers, songwriters, musicians, or politicians; all human beings deserve respect as well as scrutiny as they perform their unique duties, whether artist or artisan.
7. I will not rewrite English translations of those who have already successfully translated and pretend that I too am a translator. I will not translate any poem that I cannot read and comprehend in the original.

Original Poems

1. The Gift
2. Love: Two Views
3. Between Us Is a Whirlwind
4. To Profess Her a Fool
5. Numbing Quiet
6. Mushroom Heart
7. Wolf
8. Parting: Two Views
9. Where Love Waits Restless
10. Lamentation of the Muse for Everyman
11. The Worm
12. Dark Brain
13. The Man in the Poem:  A Suite of 19 Poems
14. Blue Haired Girl
15. These Fish
16. O Joy Is Mine
17. Book of Frost
18. Bird
19. Fog on the Pond
20. River God
21. Starvers
22. Once She’s Lost It
23. Landscape & Me with Spot
24. Love Among the Relics: A Suite in 8 Movements
25. A Terrible Fish
26. A Bitter Noise
27. Iron Robert
28. Alex as Artist
29. Piercing the Veil
30. Southern Woman
31. In the Fog of Memory
32. Prayer Sonnet for a Belovèd Father
33. At the End of the Road
34. Another Terrible Fish
35. Singing Like an Angel
36. a salt sea
37. Hagiography of Old Men
38. Never Poke a Rough Beast from the Past
39. The Everything-I-Say-Is-Wrong Blues Sonnet
40. Greeting the Divine Reality as Bliss
41. A Prayer for the Way
42. Lift Thou This Veil of Blindness
43. Do Not Ruffle What Hellish Beasts Conceal
44. God Save Us from Our Protectors
45. A Suite of Poems in Five Movements
46. Two Sonnets in Praise of Stillness
47. Corridors of the Mind
48. Regret’s Return
49. “Forget the Past”: 10-Sonnet Sequence
50. Tangled Shadows
51. Save the Earth from Our Protectors
52. the captive
53. Wanderers’ Psalm
54. Whispers of Starlight
55. Yesterday’s Turnip
56. A Sonnet of Raw Couplets
57. Instead
58. Vowing to Ghosts
59. Booking the Song
60. Woven on a Veil of Love
61. Colorado Singing to the Divine
62. The Windows of Your Soul
63. A Children’s Chorus
64. Prayer for a Gentle Voice
65. Without the Waves
66. The Whitewater River Rolls On
67. My Heart’s Deep Cry
68. As God so Loved
69. Divine Mother’s Gentle Dove
70. In Time, O Belovèd
71. What If, Only for Thee
72. Ancient Tunes Belong to All
73. A Sacred Act
74. My Soul Chooses
75. Crystal Bright
76. My Love’s Most Quiet Wish
77. Ode to the Paper Mill Bridge
78. Low Key
79. Whispers Rising
80. The Stain of Mortal Doubt
81. Cosmic Creators
82. Joy Approaches Quiet or Grand
83. The Rise of Blissful Silence
84. Love’s Gratitude
85. My Soul, My Heart, My Reason
86. Storm for a Lost Soul
87. Mockingbird in the Weeds
88. My Kentucky Mother
89. Without Wings My Sacred Soul Will Soar
90. May I Become a Fountain of Song
91. Little Songs from My Soul
92. One Sunday
93. Symbols
94. Ready for Morning
95. My Fleeting Dreams
96. A Quiet Security
97. A Raindrop in the Palm
98. River of Soul Love
99. This Salt Sea
100. Seized by the Moment
101. On the Brim of the Day
102. Song of Silence
103. My Soul in Search of Divine Romance
104. Summer God
105. Survivor
106. Wailing
107. Waiting in Shadows
108. Great Wall of Silence
109. Will & Testament
110. Withered Soul
111. Yea, though I Walk
112. What Is It?
113. You Escape Me
114. Thy Tiny Bee
115. “Dust of a Baptist” and “Southern Woman”: A Tribute to My Mother