Linda's Literary Home

Author: Linda Sue Grimes

  • Only the Soul Am I

    Image: Created by Grok inspired by the poem

    Only the Soul Am I

    —after “No Birth, No Death” 

    No father, no mother, no sister, no brother—
    Only the soul am I
    Only the soul.

    No city, no country, no gender, no race—
    Only the soul am I
    Only the soul.

    I am not the iron in this blood—
    Only the soul am I
    Only the soul.

     I am not the air in these lungs—
    Only the soul am I
    Only the soul.

    I am not the muscle, not the bones—
    Only the soul am I
    Only the soul.

    Not the skin, not the nerves—
    Only the soul am I
    Only the soul.

    Not the hair, not the teeth—
    Only the soul am I
    Only the soul.

    Not the brain, not the mind—
    Only the soul am I
    Only the soul.

    Only the soul am I—
    Only the immortal, eternal, divine soul.

  • Emily Dickinson’s “Sleep is supposed to be”

    Image: Emily Dickinson – Amherst College – Daguerrotype of the poet at age 17, circa 1847 – likely the only authentic, extant likeness of the poet

    Emily Dickinson’s “Sleep is supposed to be”

    Dickinson’s “Sleep is supposed to be” redefines two common terms employed daily but, to the speaker’s mind, remain misidentified.

    Introduction with Text of  “Sleep is supposed to be”

    While the speaker in “The morns are meeker than they were” offers a playful riddle in order to elaborate on the beauty of the fall season, the speaker of “Sleep is supposed to be” has a very different purpose; this speaker disputes the common conception of “sleep” and “morning.”  

    The speaker then offers the common notion about what sleep and morning are understood to be and contrasts it with a different level of awakening.  She is referring to the spiritual awakening, when the soul and the Oversoul become one.   Dickinson often describes those states of awareness that transcend the physical level of existence.

    Sleep is supposed to be

    Sleep is supposed to be
    By souls of sanity
    The shutting of the eye.

    Sleep is the station grand
    Down which, on either hand
    The hosts of witness stand!

    Morn is supposed to be
    By people of degree
    The breaking of the day.

    Morning has not occurred!

    That shall Aurora be –
    East of Eternity –
    One with the banner gay –
    One in the red array –
    That is the break of Day.

    Reading of “Sleep is supposed to be”   

    Commentary on “Sleep is supposed to be”

    The speaker wants to redefine a term that by her reasoning has been mischaracterized.

    First Stanza:  Normal Sleep

    Sleep is supposed to be
    By souls of sanity
    The shutting of the eye.

    The speaker begins by stating that normally folks think of sleep as the act when people shut their eyes.    Those normal people are just everyday folk who go about their day waking, eating, working, playing, procreating, and of course shutting their eyes to sleep, before the next day finds them doing those ordinary things again.  

    Those individuals are the “sane” souls because they all agree on the common definition of “sleep.”  For them there is no other definition of “sleep”; thus the speaker must now enlighten them.  

    Second Stanza:  Opening Up a Mystic Paradise

    Sleep is the station grand
    Down which, on either hand
    The hosts of witness stand!

    After asserting that the normal, sane folks of the world have defined “sleep” a certain way, the speaker must now insert a new definition into the lexicon of society’s manners and language.   Instead of being merely a “shutting of the eye,” this speaker has discovered that sleep also allows a new world to emerge—one that is “grand.”  

    This world is a mystic paradise, where the angels appear everywhere.  They appear as “hosts” who give witness that this seemingly unusual realm exists.  The speaker has thus elevated the common activity in which all creatures worldwide engage to a metaphysical activity that she can be sure very few have experienced.

    The speaker therefore likely knows that what she is reporting will be understood by very few folks, but by dramatizing it in a poem she may reach some on some intuitive level. And even if they think she is merely describing dreams, well, that is better than continuing to devalue sleep as merely “shutting of the eye.”

    Third Stanza:  Considering Morning

    Morn is supposed to be
    By people of degree
    The breaking of the day.

    The speaker now moves on to the second term which she is urged to redefine for humanity—”Morn” or morning.  As with “sleep,” she tells her readers/listeners what people who deem themselves knowledgeable consider “morn” to be.   Those illustrious but limited folks consider morning to be merely the time that day begins, that time between the “shutting of the eye” and the “breaking of the day .”

    Fourth Stanza:  Morning Every Morning

    Morning has not occurred!

    The speaker then startles her readers/listeners by boldly asserting with emphasis, placing her announcement in one line, in order to draw maximum attention to its content.  

    This speaker insists that, in fact, there has been no “Morning” yet.  Despite the thinking of those smart people that morning is simply the time that day breaks, she courageously declares that “Morning has not occurred!”  Such a startling statement throws open all the windows of the mind.  What could the speaker be thinking?  After all morning occurs every morning, does it not?

    Fifth Stanza:   The True Morning

    That shall Aurora be –
    East of Eternity –
    One with the banner gay –
    One in the red array –
    That is the break of Day.

    The speaker then describes what a true “Morning” is.  A true morning is the time that the souls greets their Maker.  A great light appears that spreads from the forehead (“East”) out into that Heaven beyond the physical cosmos.  

    That union of soul and Oversoul is a time that is marked by a brilliant flag, marked by spreading of the brightest light beyond all physical light and sight.

    The speaker then concludes:  “That is the break of Day.” (Or “That is the break of Day.”) She emphasizes her description by emphasizing the word, “That.”  Modern-day type-script uses italics; Dickinson underlined the word, as is necessary without modern-day technological advances with the use of word processing.

  • My Altar of Bliss

    Image: Created by Perplexity inspired by the poem

    My Altar of Bliss

    —after “In the Temple of Silence”

    I close the door to the world,
    Listen to the music of Aum,
    Listen to the hum of silence.
    I close the windows of the world,
    Welcome no more in my sanctuary.

    Peace, silence, light, glorious, divine Love
    Coax me to my temple of silence,
    Coax me to my altar of peace,
    Where sacred love waits to wed
    My soul to the Soul of golden Bliss.

  • Emily Dickinson’s “The morns are meeker than they were”

    Image: Emily Dickinson – Amherst College – Daguerrotype of the poet at age 17, circa 1847 – likely the only authentic, extant likeness of the poet

    Emily Dickinson’s “The morns are meeker than they were”

    Emily Dickinson’s “The morns are meeker than they were” is one of the poet’s riddle poems; it is focusing on the phenomenon of how mornings change with the season.

    Introduction with Text of  “The morns are meeker than they were”

    Emily Dickinson’s speaker in “The morns are meeker than they were” is observing the natural features surrounding her.  She has begun to detect a transformation in how morning is now behaving.

    She then remarks about the behavior of the trees and eventually focuses a comment on the “field.” Finally, she reveals how all these alterations will influence her own behavior.

    This poem presents itself as one of Emily Dickinson’s riddles, in which she describes the subject but does not name it;  thus she allows her audience to figure out the answer to the riddle.

    The morns are meeker than they were –

    The morns are meeker than they were –
    The nuts are getting brown –
    The berry’s cheek is plumper –
    The Rose is out of town.

    The Maple wears a gayer scarf –
    The field a scarlet gown –
    Lest I should be old fashioned
    I’ll put a trinket on.

    Reading of “The morns are meeker than they were” 

    Commentary on “The morns are meeker than they were”

    Mornings change with the season.

    First Stanza:  The Rose Has Flown

    The morns are meeker than they were –
    The nuts are getting brown –
    The berry’s cheek is plumper –
    The Rose is out of town.

    The  speaker observes that mornings have become more sedate and quiet than they had been.  At this point, readers/listeners have no idea why the behavior of morning should have become “meeker.”

    The second line, however, begins to open up the answer to a riddle, as she begins to drop hints about her subject.   She describes the browning of the nuts, and the plumping of the “cheek” of the berry.

    And by the final line, which reports that the roses have gone away, no longer decorating the summer day, the reader can be sure that the speaker is describing the onset of the autumn season, a season Dickinson loved and found unusually inspiring for her poetic musings.

    Second Stanza:  A Trinket for the New Fashion

    The Maple wears a gayer scarf –
    The field a scarlet gown –
    Lest I should be old fashioned
    I’ll put a trinket on.

    The speaker now offers further clues about her subject.  Maple trees are now decked out in leaves that look more varied and that seem more merry than the simple summer green they had hitherto adorned.  Even the meadow now dons a colorful dress. Replacing its summer green attire is a bold “scarlet gown.”

    After reporting on all the changes the speaker has observed in the behavior of morning, the coloring of the nuts, the fattening of the berries, the absence of the roses, the maple leaves turning all colorful.

    And the meadow is sporting a bright red dress. The speaker now announces that she will begin wearing some “trinket,” in order to keep up with all the modern day apparel.  

    She does not want to be caught dressed for summer and appear “old fashioned” among the newly minted, colorful styles being sported by the beings that constitute her “society” of creatures during this new and exciting season.

  • Immersed in Glory

    Image: Created by ChatGPT, inspired by the poem

    Immersed in Glory

    —after “I Am the Bubble, Make Me the Sea”

    Thou wak’st my senses to clear sight, glorious sound,
    Intelligent touch, pure fragrance, tempered taste.
    Thou wak’st my senses by immersing them in Glory
    Inundating them in the silence of Thy vastness,
    Spilling on them the majestic light show
    Of Thy body, bound by boundlessness.

    In the ocean of Thy love, my bubble heart
    Contracts and expands to eternity.
    My restless brain shrinks and extends
    Its reach to unknown realms of wisdom.
    My soul knows itself in the crash of breaking worlds
    Where it stands unshaken hand in hand with Thee.
    As Thou dost, so I wish to do forever,
    Engulfed in the Glory of Thy sacred presence.

    A slightly different version appeared in my collection Singing in Soul Silence: Voices of Faith in the third section “Chants to Poems”

  • Emily Dickinson’s “I never told the buried gold”

    Image: Emily Dickinson – Amherst College – Daguerrotype of the poet at age 17, circa 1847 – likely the only authentic, extant likeness of the poet

    Emily Dickinson’s “I never told the buried gold”

    In Emily Dickinson’s “I never told the buried gold,”  the speaker has made an amazing discovery; she then creates a little drama in which she muses on whether to reveal that discovery. 

    Introduction with Text of “I never told the buried gold”

    The speaker in Emily Dickinson’s “I never told the buried gold” seems to be sharing a secret, but it is a secret so bizarre that she must couch it deeply in mystery.  

    She has realized a possession that is buried so deep in her psyche that she must dramatize it by creating a parable-like discourse, and she yet remains so ambivalent about revealing it that she seems to continue to waver as her drama unfolds.

    I never told the buried gold

    I never told the buried gold
    Upon the hill – that lies –
    I saw the sun – his plunder done
    Crouch low to guard his prize.

    He stood as near
    As stood you here –
    A pace had been between –
    Did but a snake bisect the brake
    My life had forfeit been.

    That was a wondrous booty –
    I hope ’twas honest gained.
    Those were the fairest ingots
    That ever kissed the spade!

    Whether to keep the secret –
    Whether to reveal –
    Whether as I ponder
    Kidd will sudden sail –

    Could a shrewd advise me
    We might e’en divide –
    Should a shrewd betray me –
    Atropos decide! 

    Commentary on “I never told the buried gold”

    The speaker is dramatizing her process of decision-making involving a recent discovery.

    First Stanza:  Revealing a Secret

    I never told the buried gold
    Upon the hill – that lies –
    I saw the sun – his plunder done
    Crouch low to guard his prize.

    The speaker begins by reporting that she has never told anyone about this treasure that she possesses.  Then immediately she begins to liken it to the valuable metal, “gold.”  She places that gold upon a hill where the sun is guarding it.  This gold belongs to the sun in the same way that her possession belongs to her.

    The sun seems to “plunder” as it moves about in its shining rays over the landscape, and it then stoops over the hill where the gold is buried; in stealth, the sun watches over its treasure.  The speaker has observed this odd behavior of the heavenly orb.  

    Thus, she likens her own guarding of her  “prize” to that of the sun guarding the gold.    The speaker intends to guard her prize because of its unusual nature, but the sun will continue to keep its prize safe out of sheer natural necessity.

    Second Stanza:  The Shock of Recognition

    He stood as near
    As stood you here –
    A pace had been between –
    Did but a snake bisect the brake
    My life had forfeit been.

    The speaker now has the sun standing near her, as near as the imaginary audience she is addressing.  There is, however, “a pace” between them.  

    And then a snake slithers through the thicket, dividing the foliage as it is wont to do.  (This image is reminiscent of the line, “The Grass divides as with a Comb,” in Dickinson’s riddle poem, “A narrow Fellow in the Grass.”)

    The speaker then makes the odd claim that her life had been forfeited, suggesting that for an instant she likely gave out a gasp of fear before regaining her equilibrium enough to continue living, thinking, and creating her drama.  The snake supplies the impetus for the notion of life forfeiting.

    While the speaker suddenly experiences the epiphany that she was in possession of this magnificent, golden gift, she also experiences a shock that unsettled her for at least a brief moment.

    Third Stanza:  Desire to be Worthy 

    That was a wondrous booty –
    I hope ’twas honest gained.
    Those were the fairest ingots
    That ever kissed the spade!

    The speaker now admits that what she has realized about herself is tantamount to coming into the possession of large storehouse of amazing gifts or treasure.  She calls her treasure “wondrous booty,” and then she indicates that she hopes she has earned this amazing treasure-trove, and not merely stolen it or been given it willy-nilly, or inexplicably.

    The speaker then sizes up the value of this mysterious possession, by continuing the “gold” metaphor.  Now calling her possession “ingots,” she estimates their value as the “fairest” “that ever kissed the spade.”  

    Of course, ingots must be dug out of the ground, and when they are found by the excavating shovel, those ingots meet the metal of the “spade” with resounding touch, which the speaker calls a “kiss.”

    Fourth Stanza:  Whether to Reveal the Secret

    Whether to keep the secret –
    Whether to reveal –
    Whether as I ponder
    Kidd will sudden sail –

    Again, the speaker becomes ambivalent about revealing this amazing “secret.”  She lists her toggling of the mind that cannot decide if she should keep hidden this new knowledge or whether she ought to announce it.

    As the speaker muses on the issue—whether to tell or not, she reckons that Captain Kidd might just be sailing to retrieve his own booty of treasure, which by legend he had buried in the Caribbean.

    This clever employment of “Kidd” and the allusion that it implies deepens the “gold” and treasure metaphor, continuing the revelation of the value the speaker has placed on this mysterious treasure of which she has become aware.

    Fifth Stanza:  Leaving the Mystery to Eternity

    Could a shrewd advise me
    We might e’en divide –
    Should a shrewd betray me –
    Atropos decide! 

    The speaker then makes a hilarious admission.  If someone who is smart enough to know whether she should reveal her treasure should let her know what is appropriate, she would be willing to give that person part of her treasure.  

    But she does not know if there is such a knowledgeable person who is trustworthy.  If she reveals her secret to the wrong “shrewd,” she might live to regret it.  She could be ridiculed and left to suffer much betrayal.

    By calling her potential advisor a “shrewd,” the speaker is making fun of such individuals whom she thinks might believe they are, in fact, capable of advising her.  But because she allows that a “shrewd” could likely betray her confidence, she remains ambivalent about seeking their advice.

    Instead of making a definite decision about whether to seek counsel from one of those shrewds, the speaker decides not to decide.  She will leave the decision to “Atropos,” one of the Greek Fates, who is responsible for deciding the exact time for the end of each human life.  Atropos held the scissors that cut the thread of life.

    The  speaker thus decides to leave her decision to the ultimate decision-maker, one whose decision is not only final but made without equivocation.   The speaker will remain in humble possession of her knowledge that she owns a mystic, creative soul that will from now on guide her in her creation of little dramas on her pathway through life.  

    Without having revealed her secret to the wide, gaping yet eyeless majority of the world, the speaker has revealed her secret only to those who will understand. It is in that respect that the speaker’s poem is like a parable of Lord Jesus the Christ, who spoke through that form only to those who had ears to hear.

  • Thou Art That

    Image: Created by Grok inspired by the poem

    Thou Art That

    —after “Hymn to Brahma”

    Beyond my thoughts,
    Beyond my ideas,
    Beyond my knowledge,
    Far beyond my wisdom—
    Thou are That.

    Beyond my body,
    Beyond my mind,
    Beyond my energy,
    One with my soul—
    Thou art That.

  • Emily Dickinson’s “My wheel is in the dark!”

    Image: Emily Dickinson – Amherst College – Daguerrotype of the poet at age 17, circa 1847 – likely the only authentic, extant likeness of the poet

    Emily Dickinson’s “My wheel is in the dark!”

    The speaker in Emily Dickinson’s “My wheel is in the dark!” is making a statement about knowing without sense perception.  This subject especially interested the poet, who was specifically concerned with issues such as immortality and life after death.

    Introduction and Text of “My wheel is in the dark!”

    Despite the grammatical error in the last line of Emily Dickinson’s “My wheel is in the dark!,” the speaker’s revelation shines through clearly and offers a unique perspective about the nature of understanding and explaining the ineffable.

    My wheel is in the dark!

    My wheel is in the dark!
    I cannot see a spoke
    Yet know its dripping feet
    Go round and round.

    My foot in on the Tide!
    An unfrequented road –
    Yet have all roads
    A clearing in the end –

    Some have resigned the Loom –
    Some in the busy tomb
    Find a quaint employ –

    Some with new – stately feet –
    Pass royal through the gate –
    Flinging the problem back
    At you and I!

    Commentary on “My wheel is in the dark!”

    Rendering information about the ineffable level of being is virtually impossible, but through use of poetic devices and other literary language that rendering becomes somewhat meaningful and therefore understandable to the mind and heart.

    First Stanza:  Vision by Implication

    My wheel is in the dark!
    I cannot see a spoke
    Yet know its dripping feet
    Go round and round.

    The speaker reports that she is capable of knowing that the spoke on a wheel moves in a circular motion as it drips water even though there is no light on the wheel.  She is revealing that she, as all human beings are, is able to infer information without direct sense perception that might otherwise reveal such knowledge.

    Human beings prefer to rely on what they can “see” or “hear.”  But sometimes seeing and hearing are not possible.  For example, human beings are convinced that love and hate both exist, even though they cannot see the concepts to which those nouns refer. 

    The ultimate argument ensues from the issue of whether God exists.  Some will argue that because he cannot “see” God, then God must not exist.  The argument runs further as the atheist insists that he also cannot hear, feel, taste, or touch God—and what cannot be experienced through the senses, therefore, does not exist.

    The speaker in “My wheel is in the dark!” thus counters such an argument by demonstrating that not only is metaphysical knowledge based on intuition and inference but also simple knowledge about things like wet wheels that go round and round in the dark.

    Second Stanza:  An Uncharted Path

    My foot in on the Tide!
    An unfrequented road –
    Yet have all roads
    A clearing in the end –

    The speaker continues with her comparison stating that she is walking an uncharted path, but she knows, again by intuition and inference, that this road will eventually lead to “a clearing.”  

    Despite the danger, such as would be experienced by having one’s foot “on the Tide,” the speaker can, with fairly great certainty, be assured that all the danger and complexity of the road she walks will end, and all will be understandable when she moves into that landscape which features clarity.

    The speaker places that clarity at the end, which is at the end of her life, a time at which she will come to the end of the path and enter the “clearing.”  Her “unfrequented road” is unique as is each road each soul must frequent as it passes through life on the physical level of being.

    Third Stanza t:  Resigning the Loom

    Some have resigned the Loom –
    Some in the busy tomb
    Find a quaint employ –

    The speaker now reports that others have departed from this world.  She indicates that departure by referring to their occupation while alive.  She colorfully claims that some of the folks who have died simply “resigned the Loom.” 

    But she does not offer a catalogue or list of what resigners have resigned.  By mentioning one earthly occupation only, she implies that that “Loom” not only refers to the occupation of weaving but also to the fabric that exists as life itself.

    Thus those “some” that have “resigned” from the fabric of life find a different way to engage their time and effort “in the busy tomb”; she claims that they “find a quaint employ.” 

    The speaker is reporting from her intuition that after death the soul will continue its engagements, even though its engagements after leaving the physical encasement will be different.  They nevertheless will be “quaint,” an obviously optimistic claim.

    Fourth Stanza:  Remaining Mum about the Afterlife

    Some with new – stately feet –
    Pass royal through the gate –
    Flinging the problem back
    At you and I!

    Those souls who will remain busy with quaint engagements, however, are not the only class of souls that the speaker intuits.  In addition to those who engage in the those quaint pursuits, there are those who will become similar to royalty.  They will possess “stately feet” and enter the kingdom of heaven on those stately feet.

    The speaker then returns to the world but without any definitive answer about what the real differences are between life and afterlife.  When those of the royal, stately feet pass through that gate into paradise, they will not reveal their new experiences; they will simply be “flinging the problem” into the faces of those left watching for wheels “in the dark” and walking “on the Tide.”  

    Only those who have actually passed through that heavenly gate will understand what that experience offers.  Thus we–”you and I”–will continue to speculate about that experience, as the speaker has done in this poem and the many more that are to come.

    Dickinson and Grammar

    As Dickinson’s readers discover, the poet often misspelled words and left her grammatical constructions a little cockeyed.  Thomas H. Johnson, the editor of The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, who restored her poems to their near originals, has revealed that he did correct some misspellings. 

    And it remains unclear why he left the inaccurate grammatical construction, “At you and I!”; the correct pronoun form in that prepositional phrase is “me” instead of “I”—the objective case is required after a preposition.  

    A reason for leaving such an error could be to complete a rime scheme, but that is not the case with this line.  As a matter of fact, by inserting “me” instead of “I,” a partial rime would be achieved: “feet” would become a partial rime with “me.”    Nevertheless, this problem remains a slight one. No meaning is lost despite the grammatical error.   Such errors may interfere with the total enjoyment of a poem.

    However, readers need not become alarmed about them unless they interfere with understanding. Luckily, this error does not confound meaning, and comprehension of the poem remains clear and unobstructed, despite the slight distraction that inaccurate pronoun inflicts.

  • Joy, Joy, Joy!

    A vibrant landscape showing a mountain, waterfall, river, flowers, and temples under both sun and moonlight
    Image: Created by WordPress from a ChatGPT prompt inspired by the poem

    Joy, Joy, Joy!

    —inspired by “Ever New Joy”

    Joy, joy, joy—
    Morning breaks open in joy.
    Light of starlight, hiding
    Behind the sun.

    Joy, joy, joy—
    Noon breaks bread
    Lovingly baked
    By God-guided hands.

    Joy, joy, joy—
    Evening calls the faithful
    To rest from a full day’s labor
    Practiced by Divine decree.

    Joy, joy, joy—
    Night covers maya’s delusion
    So the spiritual eye
    May bound in brilliance.