My original song “River of Time” is a hymn to my Divine Belovèd, featuring a chorus that functions as a chant.
Introduction with Text of Lyric “River of Time”
Because music was my first love that I remember from the earliest age, I have always been attracted by the sounds from inspiring music.
I began writing songs seriously around age 32, and I especially enjoy and appreciate my songs that turn into hymns to the Divine Belovèd. “River of Time” is such a hymn.
I am strongly influenced by the Cosmic Chants of my guru (spiritual leader) Paramahansa Yogananda. Many of my original hymns have a chant-like element—a repetition that takes the minds within or bespeaks some spiritual truth for mental awareness.
River of Time
A hymn to my Divine Belovèd
Verse Waiting by the river of time— My beloved keeps His rime In the sunlight that sings in stars The moon will wax in tune
Verse Flowing with the river of time— Do you feel the rhythm that glides As you sing each lingering verse? Your soul will chant in bliss
Verse Once beyond the river of time— Where you seek your ultimate rime, Where you need to battle no more You’ve reached that heavenly shore
Chorus Every moment is light infused Behind the darkness of closed eyes Seek no more for all is here Nothing more to do or fear
Video by Carlene Craig
Commentary on “River of Time”
The singer/seeker/devotee in this hymn does not directly address her Heavenly Father-God. She suggests the target of her report in subtle ways by essentially addresses her own self or soul. She sings to remind herself of her goal of soul- or self-realization, unity with the Divine Belovèd.
First Verse: Existence on the Physical Plane
Waiting by the river of time— My beloved keeps His rime In the sunlight that sings in stars The moon will wax in tune
The singer/devotee exists along a continuum that the human mind and heart often liken metaphorically to a river—a “river of time.” Time seems to flow, meander, going somewhere.
Intuition tells the human mind and heart that the soul is moving as on a flowing body of water to somewhere that must be wonderful.
The beloved who is causing this river to flow displays his wares in light—sunlight and moonlight. Science tells humanity that sunlight is reflected in the stars, and the moon also reflects that important, life-sustaining orb.
The singer/devotee implies that her beloved is a poetic artist because he keeps “His rime” visible in the light of the sun and the moon.
Second Verse: The Rhythm of Soul Bliss
Flowing with the river of time— Do you feel the rhythm that glides As you sing each lingering verse? Your soul will chant in bliss
The singer then states that her soul is, in fact, moving down this metaphorical river. She poses a rhetorical question of her self to ascertain if she is really sensing the rhythmic sway of the music of her verses.
As she sings, she has become aware of her soul flowing into its natural state of “bliss.” The verses that linger in the heart and mind bestow on her a marvelous state of awareness and joy.
Third Verse: Transcending Physical Existence
Once beyond the river of time— Where you seek your ultimate rime, Where you need to battle no more You’ve reached that heavenly shore
The singer then begins to speculate about the existence to be experienced after transcending the physical level of existence, metaphorically named the “river of time.”
Beyond that locus is where the ultimate poetry and music hold sway, where humanity no longer is required to struggle with life’s vicissitudes, trails, and tribulations. Once the soul has become self-realized, it knows only divine joy and love.
Chorus: Moving into the Joy of the Light
Every moment is light infused Behind the darkness of closed eyes Seek no more for all is here Nothing more to do or fear
The singer’s repeated, chant-like chorus is an affirmative statement about what goes on after she closes her eyes to the physical level of existence.
She need not continue searching for she has arrived at the Goal of life. United with the Divine Belovèd, there is nothing that she will ever have to fear.
Video: Whitewater River-Tim Bowman-East Fork of the Whitewater River-near Brownsville IN
Image: Pacific Ocean – August 2015 – Self-Realization Fellowship Meditation Gardens – Encinitas CA – Photo by Ron W. G.
Original Song: “Where You Are” with Prose Commentary
This song “Where You Are” is one of my original compositions. The video accompanying it was created by landscape artist/photographer Ron Grimes.
Introduction and Text of “Where You Are”
My original song “Where You Are”is based on a simple premise: the singer is addressing her Divine Belovèd (God), asserting to the Belovèd the desire to be where the Ultimate Loved One is.
Each verse features rhetorical questions and musings upon the actual location of the Divine Creator. Because the Creator/Father of all creation is both within creation and outside of creation, the answer to all of the rhetorical questions is, naturally, yes.
Nevertheless, being where the Divine Belovèd is cannot be the same situation as being where a human friend or beloved is. Because it seems that God is playing hide and seek with his children, the singer asserts that her soul “soul tugs at the veil hiding You from me.”
Where You Are
First Verse
Are You standing on top of a mountain? Are You sitting beside the vast grave sea? How can I ever approach You? Will You ever just come to me?
Second Verse
Are You speaking to me through my loved ones? Are You quietly whispering through the silver stars? Are You waiting to hear what my songs will sing? Do You listen to the rapid beat of my heart?
Third Verse
If I offer You all in my stillness— If I silently listen to the hum in my mind— If I patiently fast from all my senses— Will You break Your vow of silence and just come to me!
Chorus
Where You are is where I long to be. I cannot understand where else I could seek. My soul tugs at the veil hiding You from me. Where You are is where I long to be.
Video: Linda Sue Grimes performing “Where You Are”
After much questioning, contemplating, and ultimately meditating, the devotee will find that the soul will remove the veil hiding it from the Over-Soul—the soul’s Creator, the Divine Belovèd, or any of the preferred name for the Ineffable (God).
First Verse: “Are You standing on top of a mountain?”
Are You standing on top of a mountain? Are You sitting beside the vast grave sea? How can I ever approach You? Will You ever just come to me?
The singer opens with four rhetorical questions to the Divine Reality. The first two questions reveal earthly locations that are considered sanctuaries of sacredness, holiness, or just ordinary vacation escapes: mountain tops and sea sides.
The next two questions reveal that the devotee is still walking the sacred, devotional path to soul-realization (also known as self-realization or God-realization).
Before final liberation, the devotee experiences the separation from her Goal to be a heavy burden. That burden causes her to wonder if she, in fact, will ever be able to unite with the Creator/Father.
In her melancholy and sorrowful mourning because of the seeming distance, the devotee often wonders if the Lord will ever appear to her and make her know that she is His own child. Will she ever be able to attain the Sacred Goal of self-realization and experience unity with her Belovèd Divine Creator?
Second Verse: “Are You speaking to me through my loved ones?”
Are You speaking to me through my loved ones? Are You quietly whispering through the silver stars? Are You waiting to hear what my songs will sing? Do You listen to the rapid beat of my heart?
In the second verse, the singer/devotee continues with rhetorical questions. Intuiting the answer yet not knowing the fullness of each answer, she inquires of the Divine Belovèd if He is communicating with her through her family and friends.
The singer likely is aware that God is speaking to her through everyone she knows and meets. But without that last step in the process of enlightenment, she does not know exactly what is being said or exactly what all that conversation might ultimately mean to her.
Thus, she also wonders if the One Who fashioned the “silver stars” may be signaling to her through those heavenly entities. Again, she likely knows it to be a fact, but that separation continues to prompt questions.
The singer wonders if Divine Mother anticipates what she sings in her songs. She wonders if her musical worship is reaching its intended Goal.
The singer/devotee often becomes anxious with a rapid heart beat, knowing that that heart beat needs to become calm to achieve stillness. She therefore wonders if the Creator Divine cares to listen to that rapid heart beat. And she wonders if the Ultimate Physician will perform some medical heavenly magic to help her still her rapid heart.
Third Verse: “If I offer You all in my stillness”
If I offer You all in my stillness— If I silently listen to the hum in my mind— If I patiently fast from all my senses— Will You break Your vow of silence and just come to me!
The singer/devotee’s questioning becomes even more intense in the lyric of the final verse. She has shown that she knows that she must still the rapid beat of her heart, but she also must still all of her senses as she offers her every atom to the Divine Essence.
The devotee/singer shows awareness that she must listen the divine hum of the cosmic motor, the sacred AUM (Om) sound that upholds all of creation. She knows that she must remove her attention from worldly things and events and place that attention upon the locus beyond the senses, where the soul resides.
The singer/devotee remains certain that after she is able to accomplish all that is implied in her questions and musings, the Divine Belovèd Presence will, in fact, “break [that] vow of silence and [ ] come to [her].”
Chorus: “Where You are is where I long to be”
Where You are is where I long to be. I cannot understand where else I could seek. My soul tugs at the veil hiding You from me. Where You are is where I long to be.
The chorus, instead of offering mere rhetorical questions and musings, makes an affirmative statement: the singer asserts that she wants to be where her Divine Beloved is. She reveals her intuition that she cannot find love, peace, fulfillment on the physical, earthly plane.
The singer/devotee insists that her soul is attempting to rend the cloth of separation from the Divine, as it “tugs at the veil” that keeps her from uniting with the Creator Belovèd.
The final line emphasizes as it repeats the important desire: “Where You are is where I long to be.” The importance of the chorus is demonstrated by its repetition after every verse.
Original Song: “The Paper Mill Bridge Song” with Prose Commentary
My original song “The Paper Mill Bridge Song” was inspired by the beautiful Whitewater River in Indiana and its relationship to the beautiful relationship I have enjoyed for over half a century with my wonderful husband, native of the little town of Brookville, Indiana.
Introduction and Excerpt from “The Paper Mill Bridge Song”
My husband, landscape artist Ron Grimes, created the video featured in this article to accompany my original song “The Paper Mill Bridge Song.” He wrote the following introduction to the piece and placed his video on YouTube:
A celebration of life and love as witnessed by the Paper Mill Bridge over the Whitewater River in Brookville, Indiana.
September 10th, 2022. Linda and I walked to the middle of the new Papermill Bridge. I wanted to capture some scenes for this video. As soon as I started videoing, this Canada Goose flew right over us and honked as it if it were saying, “I want to be in your video.” It was a gift.
Innovative Chorus
The song undergoes an unusual arrangement; instead of an ordinary chorus, it features an middle octave which behaves as a second octave and chorus that gets repeated at a the end of the song.
The Paper Mill Bridge Song
Here’s where people paddle canoes Down the Whitewater River. I stand here on Paper Mill Bridge. Watch the water and remember The day we walked along the bank, Sand so warm to my feet. We talked about cattails, rocks, and stars And the moss that grows on old trees.
These are the things that fill my day, Things we’ve done together. Sunshine streaming down through the leaves, A storm in the clouds or snow in the fields. River water runs through my veins. The stars light up my eyes. Love for you turns in my heart Like the sun burns through the sky.
Through the years my heart has filled With love for this old river. I stand here on Paper Mill Bridge. Watch the water and remember The day we paddled down the stream, A cool breeze on my shoulders. The sun shone bright over Paper Mill Bridge And I knew I’d love you forever.
These are the things that fill my day, Things we’ve done together. Sunshine streaming down through the leaves, A storm in the clouds or snow in the fields. River water runs through my veins. The stars light up my eyes. Love for you turns in my heart Like the sun burns through the sky.
My original song—”The Paper Mill Bridge Song”—focuses on one relationship that progresses from good friends to life partner. In the opening verse, the friends experience a quiet walk and talk along the river. In the final verse, the life relationship is solidified.
First Octave/Verse: The View from the Bridge
Here’s where people paddle canoes Down the Whitewater River. I stand here on Paper Mill Bridge. Watch the water and remember The day we walked along the bank, Sand so warm to my feet. We talked about cattails, rocks, and stars And the moss that grows on old trees
The singing narrator is standing on a bridge, which turns out to be the subject of the song, the Paper Mill Bridge. She begins to report on the activities that are locally common to that bridge. The bridge spans the Whitewater River—a river in mideastern to southern Indiana—and from its perch one can from time to time see canoers paddling their barks down the river.
The narrator then focuses on a memory that is important to her regarding her hike along the riverbank with a friend. During that pleasant stroll, the two friends casually conversed about river-related entities such as water reeds that look like “cattails” and other features of nature such a “rocks and stars.”
The narrator recalls that her feet enjoyed the luxury of the warm sand. They also held forth about the fact that moss grows on old trees—likely that the moss grows mostly on the north side of those arbolian creatures.
Second Octave/Chorus: Recurring Images
These are the things that fill my day, Things we’ve done together. Sunshine streaming down through the leaves, A storm in the clouds or snow in the fields. River water runs through my veins. The stars light up my eyes. Love for you turns in my heart Like the sun burns through the sky.
The chorus has an usual placement, standing the middle of the song and containing an equal number of line as each verse, instead of following each verse with fewer lines. Essentially the piece offers three separate octaves, even as the middle octave performs as a chorus.
In this innovative chorus, the narrator has placed a heavy emphasis. While she has offered some concrete details in the opening verse-octave, in the chorus-octave she is stating a general take on what she may likely be thinking about during this particular time period in her life.
She thus has been focusing mentally on things that she and her friend have enjoyed together. But then she adds two images in the first quatrain of the chorus-octave that allow her thoughts to show their natural influences as she experiences weather conditions—specially the warmth of spring and summer and the cold of fall and winter.
The second quatrain of the chorus-octave becomes even more generalized: she is a creature of the river, so closely attuned to river culture that it seems that the very waters of the river flow “through [her] veins.”
The narrators suggests that her happiness is enhanced as if by starlight. She then asserts that she loves her friend with the same intensity that causes the “sun” to burn “through the sky.” The hyperbole serves to suggest the strong emotion that this narrator feels for her friend, their relationship, and the natural features that they have experienced together.
Third Octave/Verse: The Passage of Time
Through the years my heart has filled With love for this old river. I stand here on Paper Mill Bridge. Watch the water and remember The day we paddled down the stream, A cool breeze on my shoulders. The sun shone bright over Paper Mill Bridge And I knew I’d love you forever.
The third octave/verse again focuses on the narrators thoughts about her friend, and now it becomes apparent that they are indeed life partners. But first she places that river into her affections; she has come to love the river, and again, she is standing on the same bridge with pleasant memories coming to the fore.
This time she remembers that like the other folks one might see canoeing down the Whitewater River, she and her partner did such paddling. That day she recalls that she felt a breeze on the skin; it was a “cool breeze”—indicating that it was likely early to mid-spring.
However, she then asserts that over that bridge the sun was beaming down in bright rays. And suddenly, her heart told her then as it is telling her now that she would continue to hold her partner in her heart “forever.”
Second Octave/Chorus: Recurring Images Again
These are the things that fill my day, Things we’ve done together. Sunshine streaming down through the leaves, A storm in the clouds or snow in the fields. River water runs through my veins. The stars light up my eyes. Love for you turns in my heart Like the sun burns through the sky.
The purpose of the repetition remains the exact same purpose that is held for all choruses in songs: to emphasize the sentiment expressed in the verses and perhaps add an extra image or two.
Linda Sue on the new Paper Mill Bridge – Constructed1977– Photo by Ron W. G.
Image: Linda Sue Grimes at the SRF Windmill Chapel at Lake Shrine – Photo by Ron Grimes (Ron W. G.).
Original Song: “Against” with Prose Commentary
The singer/devotee is entreating her soul to forsake worldly things and ways, which according to Emily Dickinson, “hold so,” and follow the way of spirit. The way of spirit protects “against” all the things that damage the individual physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Introduction with Text of Lyric “Against”
Many old spirit-infused hymns sing about the futility of this world to the point of asserting that this world is not even our true home [1]. Paramahansa Yogananda has explained that one’s engagement with sense pleasure must be carefully observed lest they ensnare the soul, preventing it from experiencing the higher pleasures of soul-awareness [2].
Removing the flesh motivating experiences becomes one’s highest duty. While the first step to soul-awareness appears to be a struggle “against” the senses and all worldly endeavors, that opposition must not become so intrenched that it impels one to judge others harshly and act on that judgment.
Instead simply remaining mindful of one’s own behavior opens one’s heart to soul power. Creatively fashioning the experiences and thoughts on the journey to soul awareness adds to the reality and beauty that the world actually provides.
Against
The Blessed Divine gave us all the gifts that we must learn to enjoy but without becoming entangled and attached; it is with that non-attachment in mind that the following hymn is offered to the Blessed Spirit Who inspires true music.
Chorus:
Against the tone of heartbreak Against the stone of night ache Against the wrong that leads you Against the blood that speeds you
1st Verse
Whisper into the drum and see the bay of stars That permeate the golden night in silver bars Usher to the harp the placid palms of notes That wistfully breathe on strings of hope
2nd Verse
Quaff the mist of years, past where you thought That dwarves were playing in the valley of rock Don’t listen to a decibel lower than the sound Of the one hand raised in perfect redound
3rd Verse
Bless your father and your mother whose ears Have turned to stone with worries and fears They planted their flag in the wind by the sea They pray on the ghost ridge and wait to be free
4th Verse
Whisper again and listen for the echo That lingers in the valley you used to know Keep a clear watch how the strain will peel you Keep your mind in tow for the brain will steel you
5th Verse
Into the light, where you bow Where you offer news of then and now Where you fold your hands and wonder as you pray If you heard that thunder across the bay
6th Verse
Whisper blowing, softly into the day Let no shaft of light escape your sight today Listen to your commandments, as they Lead you to the words you hunger to pray
To listen to an audio recording of this song, please visit “Against.”
Commentary on “Against”
My original song “Against” is a lament for our times—for all times. The devotee/singer begs her soul to forsake the things of this world, which become so attractive that they hold one’s attention to the detriment of the soul.
The spiritual aspirant, however, wishes to follow the way of spirit. The way of spirit protects the individual “against” all the things that hurt one physically, mentally, and spiritual.
Chorus: A Lament and Call to Struggle
Against the tone of heartbreak Against the stone of night ache Against the wrong that leads you Against the blood that speeds you
The broken heart, the mental-pain-induced inability to sleep, behaving inappropriately, and allowing the physical body to dictate one’s thoughts and behavior are all things the devotee of spirit must battle “against.”
Allowing the voice to express opposition through melody tempers the heart and mind, allowing soul power to influence the senses that have the tendency to become so greedy and obstructive.
1st Verse: Listening to the Music of the Spheres
Whisper into the drum and see the bay of stars That permeate the golden night in silver bars Usher to the harp the placid palms of notes That wistfully breathe on strings of hope
The singer demands of her soul that it listen to the music of the spheres [3], to observe the night sky for inspiration to follow the way of spirit. The singer remains in search of hope through beauty of sight and sound. The stars at night accompany the beauty of melody that the seeker/singer tis striving to engage.
Quaff the mist of years, past where you thought That dwarves were playing in the valley of rock Don’t listen to a decibel lower than the sound Of the one hand raised in perfect redound
2nd Verse: Command to Turn Inward
The singer commands her soul to move past the past—reflecting on the Zen koan, “The sound of the one hand” [4].
By imbibing the tears of many years passed without knowledge, singer drinks her own heart’s deepest desires which turn the eye and the mind inward in search of the indwelling Lord, to Whom all reverence and devotion are due.
3rd Verse: The Unforgiven and Prayer
Bless your father and your mother whose ears Have turned to stone with worries and fears They planted their flag in the wind by the sea They pray on the ghost ridge and wait to be free
The singer commands her mind to forgive the sins of her forebears, who were innocent and did their best, even though they were ignorant of the exact way of spirit. As the immature look about their environment, they crave to find a place more suitable to their talents. It is that impetus that drives the soul to eventually find its path back to its true home.
4th Verse: Focusing on Spirit
Whisper again and listen for the echo That lingers in the valley you used to know Keep a clear watch how the strain will peel you Keep your mind in tow for the brain will steel you
The singer again commands her mind to take the lessons of her past gingerly, while recalling in the present that stress is the enemy of spiritual progress—keeping the mind focused is at the heart of the way of spirit.
5th Verse: Acknowledging Soul Reality
Into the light, where you bow Where you offer news of then and now Where you fold your hands and wonder as you pray If you heard that thunder across the bay
The devotee/singer acknowledges that she has progressed into awareness of “the light” and she continues to pray and supplicate. The singer then acknowledges that the heart and mind will continue to reflect on past and present even while seeking the way of spirit.
6th Verse: The Hunger to Pray the Right Prayer
Whisper blowing, softly into the day Let no shaft of light escape your sight today Listen to your commandments, as they Lead you to the words you hunger to pray
The singer then admonishes herself to step lightly and watch for any sightings of spiritual light, and above all to continue to follow the way of spirit as it leads her to its golden gate. She knows that she needs more exact words to offer the Divine, and she remains confident that she will find them through her dedicated prayer.
This love song “Dreaming of You Again” features an individual who is musing on his continued feelings for and thoughts about a loved one from whom he has had to separate.
Introduction with Lyric “Dreaming of You Again”
The chorus of “Dreaming of You Again” features a sequence of statements regarding the visions that appear to the individual in his dreams about his beloved: first, he envisions “what could have been”; next, he sees “what would have been,” and finally he insists that he envisions “what should have been.”
Clearly, the individual’s feelings remains so strong that he feels that the two former partners do belong together, although they likely never will again unite. Still, he has his dreams.
Dreaming of You Again
Written by Ron Grimes and Linda Sue Grimes. Performed by Linda Sue Grimes.
Introductory Note by Ron Grimes: This is a song I wrote in 2003. Linda put the song to music. This video was created on January 1st 2023. The scene of us walking along the river was captured January 1st 2023 at Henry Horton State Park in Tennessee. We walked along the Duck River.
Chorus
Dreaming of you again, making up what’s true again Seeing now what we saw then Visions of what could have been—Dreaming of you again
First Verse
Growing quite accustomed to these crazy little dreams of you Just a way to pass the time These crazy little dreams of mine—Dreaming of you again Your face lights up my darkest night, stay with me, hold me tight Show me now what we knew then Help me find that joy again—Dreaming of you again
Chorus
Dreaming of you again making up what’s true again Seeing now what we saw then Visions of what would have been—Dreaming of you again
Second Verse
We both knew you had to leave, you had to grow, you had to breathe It hurt me so to see you cry The night you said your last good-bye—Dreaming of you again Wish you peace and happiness, hope you’ll always have the best And me I’ll have these dream of you Dreams I’ll always hold on to—Dreaming of you again
Chorus
Dreaming of you again, making up what’s true again Seeing now what we saw then Visions of what should have been—Dreaming of you again
Commentary on “Dreaming of You Again”
Dreams figure widely and often in love songs. One of the most popular love songs of the early Rock and Roll movement of the late 1950s and early 1960s was the Everly Brothers’ “All I Have to Do Is Dream.” This song “Dreaming of You Again” offers a unique twist on the dreaming function, as it makes an affirmative claim held by the composer of the lyric.
Chorus: What Could Have Been
Dreaming of you again, making up what’s true again Seeing now what we saw then Visions of what could have been—Dreaming of you again
The singer begins by offering a chorus that sets the stage for the rest of the piece. He has been dreaming about the individual he is addressing, creating mental pictures about what the couple felt and did with some speculation about what could have become for them in future.
First Verse: Crazy Dreams Repeating Themselves
Growing quite accustomed to these crazy little dreams of you Just a way to pass the time These crazy little dreams of mine—Dreaming of you again Your face lights up my darkest night, stay with me, hold me tight Show me now what we knew then Help me find that joy again—Dreaming of you again
The composer begins by offering a chorus that sets the stage for the rest of the piece.He has been dreaming about the individual he is addressing, creating mental pictures about what the couple felt and did with some speculation about what could have become for them in future.
Chorus: What Would Have Been
Dreaming of you again making up what’s true again Seeing now what we saw then Visions of what would have been—Dreaming of you again
Again, the composer repeats the refrain, chant-like, revealing again his visions as well as that they also belonged to his belovèd. This time he claim that those visions would have been reality, if they had remained together to build a life together.
Second Verse: Had to Leave to Breathe
We both knew you had to leave, you had to grow, you had to breathe It hurt me so to see you cry The night you said your last good-bye—Dreaming of you again Wish you peace and happiness, hope you’ll always have the best And me I’ll have these dream of you Dreams I’ll always hold on to—Dreaming of you again
The composer then offers a glimpse into the reason for this couple’s split: the one had to leave to grow and breathe. The lack of specificity allows the listener to fill in the blanks. But such a situation is not unheard of.
Sometimes opportunities do not exist for both partners in one location; thus, they have to separate to reach their goals. It does seem that both partners are sad about the situation.
Nevertheless, the composer has accepted the departure and now hopes that his partner finds the fulfilled life for which the individual had to leave. He wishes his belovèd peace, happiness, and all the best in life. Finally, he asserts that he will continue to engage in the dreams that bring his beloved back to him. He makes peace with the simple enjoyment of dreams instead of reality.
Chorus: What Should Have Been
Dreaming of you again, making up what’s true again Seeing now what we saw then Visions of what should have been—Dreaming of you again
Lest the composer demonstrate too easily the giving in to the way things are, he states that now his dreams are envisioning how things should have been—not merely that they “could” or “would.”
His affirming that they “should have been” is likely offered to rouse new thoughts in the distant former belovèd. If the departed individual is made aware that the composer still thinks they should have remained together, what kind of fire might that thought kindle in the mind of the addressee? Of course, the composer does not address that issue, so the listener can only speculate.
Other Videos by Ron Grimes
Ron in Tennessee – YouTube I am grateful to God for the beauty and gifts of nature, and for all of His blessings.
I enjoy watching the cooking shows on TV, and as I watch, I constantly muse on how to convert their traditional uses of meat, eggs, milk, butter, and cheese to vegan versions. An example of this musing resulted in my “Vegan Meatloaf” that looks a lot like the meatloaf my mother used to make and tastes as yummy.
In addition to following a vegetarian diet, I also try to eat more alkalizing than acidifying foods. Most vegetables and fruits, some nuts, and pseudo grains are alkalizing; therefore, my recipes frequently call for sprouted grains to replace regular whole grains; however, I do use whole-wheat flour and unbleached organic flour occasionally, especially for biscuits and gravy.
I replace regular salt with sea salt, refined sugar with agave nectar, stevia, or raw sugar, depending on the recipe, and soy milk with coconut milk.
This kind of cooking requires experimentation, and these webpages, as well as my published cookbook, feature the recipes that I have tried and deemed successful—although I continue to think of my cooking as experimental because I hardly ever make a dish the same way twice.
And my dishes always have a rather ragged look about them that I call rustic. The pictures that accompany some of the recipes will show you exactly what I mean by “rustic.” They are tasty, however!
Thank you for taking this experimental culinary journey with me!
Commentaries on Paramahansa Yogananda’s Songs of the Soul
Each time my father, mother, friends Do loudly claim they did me tend, I wake from sleep to sweetly hear That Thou alone didst help me here. —from Paramahansa Yogananda’s “One Friend”
for Ron Grimes, my soul mate with whom I travel the spiritual path
This collection of personal commentaries is a companion to the book of spiritual poems, Songs of the Soul, written by Paramahansa Yogananda, the “Father of Yoga in the West.” While these commentaries offer elucidation of each poem, they cannot offer the beauty and majesty experienced by reading the poems themselves.
I have included only an excerpt from each poem preceding each commentary. I, therefore, humbly suggest that you acquire a copy of the great guru’s poems to experience them for yourself, along with my commentaries.
Paramahansa Yogananda’s Songs of the Soul is available at the Self-Realization Fellowship bookstore, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online outlets, as well as in bookstores everywhere.
These commentaries are my personal responses to the poems in Paramahansa Yogananda’s Songs of the Soul. If they assist any reader in understanding the poetic language on a deeper level, then that is a bonus, for my only purpose is to offer my own personal, humble reading.
Brief Publishing History of Songs of the Soul
The first version of Paramahansa Yogananda’s Songs of the Soul appeared in 1923. He continued to revise the poems during the 1920s and 1930s, and the definitive revision that was authorized by the great guru was published in 1983, featuring many restored lines that had been excised from the first publication of the text.
The 1923 version of the collection of poems appears online at Internet Archive. For my commentaries, I rely on the printed text of the 1983 version; the current printing year for that version is 2014.The 1983 printing offers the final approved versions of these poems.
Special Purpose of the Poems in Songs of the Soul
The poems in Songs of the Soul come to the world not as mere literary pieces that elucidate and share common human experiences as most ordinary successful poems do, but these mystical poems also serve as inspirational guidance to enhance the study of the yoga techniques disseminated by the great guru, Paramahansa Yogananda.
He came to the West, specifically to Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States of America, to share his deep knowledge of yoga through techniques that lead the mind to conscious awareness of God, a phenomenon that he called “self-realization.”
The great guru published a series of lessons that contain the essence of his teaching as well as practical techniques of Kriya Yoga. His organization, Self-Realization Fellowship, has continued to publish collections of his talks in both print and audio format that he gave nationwide during the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.
In addition to Songs of the Soul, the great guru/poet offers mystical poetic expressions in two other publications, Whispers from Eternity and Metaphysical Meditations, both of which serve in the same capacity that Songs of the Soul does, to assist the spiritual aspirant on the journey along the spiritual path.
This section features the commentaries, one for each of the 101 poems in Songs of the Soul. Each commentary is preceded by a brief introduction and excerpt from the poem. Here I am offering the first commentaries, each with an excerpt from the poem.
1. “Consecration”
In the opening poem, titled “Consecration,” the speaker humbly offers his works to his Creator. He offers the love from his soul to the One Who gives him his life and his creative ability, as he dedicates his poems to the Divine Reality or God.
Introduction and Excerpt from “Consecration”
Paramahansa Yogananda, the great guru/poet and founder of Self-Realization Fellowship, known as the “Father of Yoga in the West,” dedicates his book of mystical poems, Songs of the Soul, to his earthly father and consecrates it by offering it to his Heavenly Father (God—the Divine Creator). In dedicating his collection to his earthly father, the great guru writes,
Dedicated to my earthly father, who has helped me in all my spiritual work in India and America
The first poem appearing in the great yogi-poet’s book of spiritual poems is an American (innovative) sonnet, featuring two sestets and a couplet with the rime scheme AABBCC DDEFGGHH.
The first sestet is composed of three rimed couplets; the second sestet features two rimed couplets and one unrimed couplet that occupies the middle of the sestet.
This innovative form of the sonnet is perfectly fitted to the subject matter and purpose of the Indian yogi, who has come to America to minister to the waiting souls, yearning for the benefits of the ancient yogic techniques in which the great guru will instruct them.
The ancient Hindu yogic concepts offer assistance to Westerners in understanding their own spiritual traditions, including the dominant Christianity of which many are already devotees.
Excerpt from “Consecration”
At Thy feet I come to shower All my full heart’s rhyming* flower: Of Thy breath born, By Thy love grown, Through my lonely seeking found, By hands Thou gavest plucked and bound . . .
*The spelling, “rhyme,” was introduced into English by Dr. Samuel Johnson through an etymological error. As most editors require the Johnson-altered spelling of this poetic device, the text of Songs of the Soul also adheres to that requirement featuring the spelling, “rhyming.” However, when I employ that term in my commentaries, I use the original spelling, “rime.”
Commentary
These spiritual poems begin with their consecration, a special dedication that offers them not only to the world but to God, the Ultimate Reality and Cosmic Father, Mother, Friend, Creator of all that is created.
First Sestet: Dedication of Poetic Effort
The speaker proclaims that he has come to allow his power of poetry to fall at the feet of his Divine Belovèd Creator. He then avers that the poems as well as the poet himself are from God Himself.
The Divine Belovèd has breathed life into the poems that have grown out of the speaker’s love for the Divine. The speaker has suffered great loneliness in his life before uniting with his Divine Belovèd.
The spiritually striving speaker, however, has earnestly searched for and worked to strengthen his ability to unite with the Divine Creator, and he has been successful in attaining that great blessing.
The speaker/devotee is now offering that success to his Divine Friend because he knows that God is the ultimate reason for his capabilities to accomplish all of his worthwhile goals. As he feels, works, and creates as a devotee, he gives all to God, without Whom nothing that is would ever be.
Second Sestet: Poems for the Divine
In the second sestet, the speaker asserts that he has composed these poems for the Belovèd Creator. The collection of inspirational poetic works placed in these pages contains the essence of the guru-poet’s life and accomplishments made possible by the Supreme Spirit.
The writer asserts that from his life he has chosen the most pertinent events and experiences which will illuminate and inform the purpose of these poems.
The speaker is metaphorically spreading wide the petals of his soul-flowers to allow “their humble perfume” to waft generously.
He is offering these works not merely as personal effusions of shared experience for the purpose of entertainment or self-expression but for the upliftment and soul guidance of others, especially for his own devoted followers.
His intended audience remains the followers of his teachings, for he knows they will continue to require his guidance as they advance on their spiritual paths.
The Couplet: Humbly Returning a Gift
The speaker then with prayer-folded hands addresses the Divine directly, averring that he is in reality only returning to his Divine Belovèd that which already belongs to that Belovèd. He knows that as a writer he is only the instrument that the Great Poet has used to create these poems.
As the humble writer, he takes no credit for his works but gives it all to the Prime Creator. This humble poet/speaker then gives a stern command to his Heavenly Father, “Receive!”
As a spark of the Divine Father himself, this mystically advanced speaker/poet discerns that he has the familial right to command his Great Father Poet to accept the gift that the devotee has created through the assistance of the Divine Poet.
2. “The Garden of the New Year”
In “The Garden of the New Year,” the speaker celebrates the prospect of looking forward with enthusiastic preparation to live “life ideally!”
Introduction and Excerpt from “The Garden of the New Year”
The ancient tradition of creating New Year’s resolutions has situated itself in much of Western culture, as well as Eastern culture. As a matter of fact, world culture participates in this subtle ritual either directly or indirectly. This tradition demonstrates that hope is ever present in the human heart.
Humanity is always searching for a better way, a better life that offers prosperity, peace, and solace. Although every human heart craves those comforts, each culture has fashioned its own way of achieving them. And by extension, each individual mind and heart follows its own way through life’s vicissitudes.
The second poem is titled “The Garden of the New Year.” This poem dramatizes the theme of welcoming the New Year, using the metaphor of the garden where the devotee is instructed to pull out “weeds of old worries” and plant “only seeds of joys and achievements.”
The pulling out of weeds from the garden of life is a perfect metaphor for the concept of a New Year’s resolution. We make those resolutions for improvement and to improve we often find that we must eliminate certain behaviors in order to instill better ones.
The poem features five unrimed versagraphs*, of which the final two are excerpted.
Excerpt from “The Garden of the New Year”
. . . The New Year whispers: “Awaken your habit-dulled spirit To zestful new effort. Rest not till th’ eternal freedom is won And ever-pursuing karma outwitted!”
With joy-enlivened, unendingly united mind Let us all dance forward, hand in hand, To reach the Halcyon Home Whence we shall wander no more . . .
*The term, “versagraph,” is a conflation of “verse paragraph,” the traditional unit of lines for free verse poetry. I coined the term for use in my poem commentaries.
Commentary
This poem is celebrating living life “ideally,” through changing behavior that has limited that ability in the past.
First Versagraph: Out with the Old and in with the New
The speaker is addressing his listeners/readers as he asserts that the old year has left us, while the New Year is arriving. The old year did spread its “sorrow and laughter,” yet the New Year holds promises of brighter encouragement and hope.
The New Year’s “song-voice” offers grace to the senses, while commanding, “Refashion life ideally!”
This notion is universally played out as many people fashion New Year’s resolutions, hoping to improve their lives in the coming year. Because most people are always seeking to improve their situations, they determine how to do so and resolve that they will follow a new path that will lead to a better place.
Second Versagraph: Abandoning the Weed to Plant New Seeds
In the second versagraph, the speaker employs the garden metaphor to liken the old problematic ways to weeds that must be plucked out so that the new ways can be planted and grow.
The speaker instructs the metaphoric gardener to pull out the weeds of “old worries” and in their place plant “seeds of joys and achievements.” Instead of allowing the weeds of doubt and wrong actions to continue growing, the spiritual gardener must plant seeds of “good actions and thoughts, all noble desires.”
Third Versagraph: The Garden Metaphor
Continuing the garden metaphor, the speaker advises the spiritual aspirant to “sow in the fresh soil of each new day / Those valiant seeds.” After having sown those worthy seeds, the spiritual gardener must “water and tend them.”
The perfect metaphor for one’s life is the garden with its life-giving entities as well as its weeds. As one tends a garden, one must tend one’s life as well to make them both the best environment for life to thrive. By careful attention to the worthy, good seeds of attitudes and habits, the devotee’s life will become “fragrant / With rare flowering qualities.”
Fourth Versagraph: New Year as Spiritual Guide
The speaker then personifies the New Year as a spiritual guide who gives sage advice through whispers, admonishing the devotees to employ real effort to wake up their sleeping spirit that has become “habit-dulled.” This new spiritual guide advises the spiritual aspirant to continue struggling until their “eternal freedom” is gained.
The spiritual searchers must work, revise their lives, and continue their study until they have “outwitted” karma, the result of cause and effect that has kept them earth-bound and restless for aeons.
The beckoning New Year always promises a new chance to change old ways. But the seekers must do their part. They must cling to their spiritual path, and as soon as they veer off, they must return again and again until they have reached their goal.
Fifth Versagraph: A Benediction of Encouragement
The speaker then offers a benediction of encouragement, giving the uplifting nudge to all those spiritual aspirants who wish to improve their lives, especially their ability to follow their spiritual paths. The speaker invites all devotees to “dance forward” together “With joy-enlivened, unendingly united mind.”
The speaker reminds his listeners that their goal is to unite their souls with their Divine Beloved Who awaits them in their “Halcyon Home.” And once they achieve that Union, they will need no long venture out into the uncertainty and dangers as they exist on the physical plane.
The New Year always holds the promise, but the spiritual aspirant must do the heavy lifting to achieve the lofty goal of self-realization.
3. “My Soul Is Marching On”
This amazing poem, “My Soul Is Marching On,” offers a refrain which devotees can chant and feel uplifted in times of lagging interest and seeming spiritual dryness.
Introduction and Excerpt from “My Soul Is Marching On”
The poem, “My Soul Is Marching On,” offers five stanzas, each with the refrain, “But still my soul is marching on!” The poem demonstrates the soul’s power in contrast with the weaker powers of entities from nature. For example, as strong as the light of the sun may be, it vanishes at night, and will eventually be extinguished altogether in the long, long run of aeons of time.
Unlike those seemingly forceful, yet ultimately, much weaker physical, natural creatures, the soul of each individual human being remains a strong, vital, eternal, immortal force that will keep marching on throughout all time—throughout all of Eternity.
Devotees who have chosen the path toward self-realization may sometimes feel discouraged as they tread the path, feeling that they do not seem to be making any progress. But Paramahansa Yogananda’s poetic power comes to rescue them, giving in his poem a marvelous repeated line that the devotee can keep in mind and repeat when those pesky times of discouragement float across the mind.
Included here are the epigram and first two stanza of the poem, “My Soul Is Marching On.”
Excerpt from “My Soul Is Marching On”
Never be discouraged by this motion picture of life. Salvation is for all. Just remember that no matter what happens to you, still your soul is marching on. No matter where you go, your wandering footsteps will lead you back to God. There is no other way to go.
The shining stars are sunk in darkness deep, The weary sun is dead at night, The moon’s soft smile doth fade anon; But still my soul is marching on!
The grinding wheel of time hath crushed Full many a life of moon and star, And many a brightly smiling morn; But still my soul is marching on! . . .
Commentary
Before beginning his encouraging drama of renewal, Paramahansa Yogananda offers an epigram that prefaces the poem by stating forthrightly its intended purpose. In case the reader may fail to grasp the drama of the poetic performance, the epigram will leave no one in doubt.
The Epigram: A Balm to the Marching Soul
The great guru avers that there is no other reality but the soul’s forward march. Despite all circumstance to the contrary, the soul will, in fact, continue its march.
The devotee simply has to come to realize that fact that all “wandering footsteps” return to their home in the Divine. The guru then states unequivocally, “There is no other way to go.”
This amazing, inspiring statement culminates in the refrain that allows the devotee to take into mind a chant for upliftment anytime, anywhere it is needed.
First Stanza: The Soul Marches on in Darkness
The speaker begins by asserting that the bright bodies of the stars, sun, and moon are often hidden. The stars seem to sink into the black backdrop of the sky, or even remain hidden by day, as if never to be seen again, yet other times, they are completely invisible.
The largest dominant star of all—the sun—also seems to completely vanish from the sight of world-weary inhabitants of planet Earth. The sun seems to be “weary” as it has crossed the diurnal sky and then sinks out of sight.
The moon whose glow remains less bright compared to the sun, nevertheless, also fades out of sight. All of these bright orbs of such tremendous magnitude glow and fade, for they are mere physical beings.
The speaker then adds his marvelous, encouraging claim that becomes his refrain—”But still my soul is marching on!” The speaker will continue repeating this vital assertion as he dramatizes his poem to encourage and uplift devotees whose spirits may from time-to-time lag.
This refrain will then ring in their souls and urge them to keep marching because their souls are already continuing that march.
Second Stanza: Nothing Physical Can Halt the Spiritual
The speaker then reports that time has already smashed moons and stars and obliterated them from existence. Many cycles of creation and recreation have come and gone from the annals of eternity.
That eventuality remains the nature of physical creation: it emerges from the depths of the body of the Divine Creator and then later is taken back into that Divine Body, disappearing as if they had never been.
But regardless of what happens on the physical level, the soul remains an existing Entity throughout Eternity. The soul of each individual continues its journey. It makes no difference on which planet it may appear; it may continue from planet to planet, if necessary, as it marches back to its Creator.
That soul will continue its march to the Divine, despite all cosmic activity. Nothing can prevent the soul’s forward march, nothing can stop the marching soul, and nothing can hinder that march. The refrain shall again and again ring in the mind of the devotee who has begun this march to self-realization.
Third Stanza: The Evanescence of Nature
The speaker then reports on other natural phenomena. Marvelous, beautiful flowers have offered their colorful blooms to the eyes of humankind, but then they invariably fade and shrivel up to nothingness. The evanescence of beauty remains a conundrum for the mind of humankind.
Like the beauty yielding flowers, the gigantic trees offer their “bounty” for only a while, and then they too sink into nothingness. The naturally appearing entities that feed the human mind as well as the human body all mysteriously come under ” time’s scythe,” appearing and disappearing again and again.
But the soul again remains in contrast to these wonderful natural entities. The soul continues its eternal march, unlike the outer physical realities of flowers and trees.
The human soul will continue its march, as will the invisible souls of those seemingly vanishing nature’s living beings. The refrain must take hold in the mind of the devotee, who in times of lagging interest and self-doubt will chant its truth and become re-invigorated.
Fourth Stanza: As Physical Life Fades, The Soul Continues Unabated
All of the great emissaries sent by the Divine Creator continue to speed by. Vast swaths of time also speed by as creation seems to remain on a collision course with ultimate disaster.
The human being must remain in a perpetually vigilant state of mind just to remain alive in this dangerous and pestilent-filled world. Even human against human remains a continued concern as “man’s inhumanity to man” prevails in very age in every nation of planet Earth.
But the speaker is not only referring to the small planet at a short period of time; he is speaking cosmically of the entire history of all Creation. He is averring that being born a human being at any time in history brings that individual soul into the same arena of struggle.
As each human being lets fling his arrows in battle, the individual finds that all of his “arrows” have been used up. He finds his life ebbing away.
But again, while the physical body remains the battle ground of trials and tribulations, the soul is unaffected. It will continue on its path back to its Divine Haven, where it will no longer need those arrows. The devotee will continue to chant this truth again and again to spark his march to greater heights.
Fifth Stanza: The Refrain Must Remain
The speaker has observed that his fight with nature has been a fierce one. Failures have blocked his way. He has experienced the ravages of death’s destruction. He has had to face obstructions blocking “his path.”
All of nature has conspired to “block [his] path.” Nature has always been a challenging force, but the human being who has determined to overcome the ravages of nature will find that his “fight” is stronger than that of nature, despite the fact that nature remains a “jealous” power.
The soul continues to march to its home in God, where it will never again have to face the fading of beautiful light, the vanishing of colorful flowers, the failures that obstruct and slow one’s pace.
The soul will continue to march, to study, to practice, to meditate, and to pray until it at last experiences success, until it as last finds itself totally awake in the arms of the Blessed Divine Over-Soul, from which it has come. The devotee will continue to hear that amazingly uplifting line and continue to know that his/her “soul is marching on!”
Dedicated with my love and gratitude to my sweet Ron
The following poems appear in my collection titledIf My Words Could Rise, available on Amazon as paperback or Kindle.
1 If My Words Could Rise
Dedicated to my sweet Ron
If my words could rise Like smoke They would form your face In the clouds They would hang In the tops of the trees Looking for a nest Where a mother bird sits On eggs The color of your eyes
2 In the Tops of the Trees
“As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, then attack, for God has attacked in front of you to defeat the Philistine army.” —2 Samuel 5:25 Common English Bible
–for the moldman, who screeched, “That’s my line!”
No, dude, that is not your line! No matter how many times Or with how much spit You spew it.
Trees and their tops And the words they live in Belong to all of us. Go! Dig your hole–grovel in your slime.
3 Dreams and Days
“His tongue cuts / Slices of meat / From the hearts / And livers / Of those / Who would love him” – “Between Slices of Bread” —from Linda Sue Grimes’ At the End of the Road
I quote myself, well then, I quote myself — I include multitudes — Uncle Walt taught me that much.
The man in the poem Cannot bring himself to say Or to pray about his own lividness He shuts out spaces and commas Lives in his own relevance.
He murders his own children With his viper attitude And nibbles the ankles Of prostitutes Who erase his will to power on.
You have seen him Perhaps did not recognize him — He has sat in your parlor Sipping your coffee Dusting off his duplicitous moves —
He fears death but not yours He imagines you at the bottom Of a cold, black ocean Your tongue bait for the fishes His Bolshevik brain conjures.
Your freedom is a fantasy If you remain too close to his heat Get your life back – get your love back Where God made you in his image And you are close to seeing it.
4 Flesh and Desire
“Humankind cannot bear very much reality.” —T. S. Eliot
Into the fire of wisdom, thoughts go to perish. “Get thee behind me, Satan!” Christ commands. But we still wobble behind the Devil Hoping to be snatched from the arms of death In time for supper and for the many tomorrows We image we still possess. In the valley of dreck and poison, I have lived Even as I knew better or thought I did. No, I am not here to testify. Although a word or two of testimony May slip out every line or so! I can pound sand with the best of them. But I can also bitch and moan. Where is the beginning of joy and rectitude? One might ask. Where is the promise? O, come on! You know where the promise is . . . Yes, just testing the waters and they are warm. Every time I delay, I am warned. Just pray And wait and listen close and tight to the hum In the brain. I will follow. I will follow close. Yes, I will. And flesh with its crude desire Will no longer taint the years With their distractions. The mercy of Spirit will wipe my tears.
In dreams we happen to meet On some mystic, planetary hill — Poetry eludes us yet we commence Talking about the sham progress Bleeding hearts have inflicted.
The professor in you wants to align Wokeward but you cannot bring yourself To spring into the claptrap that clamped Shut on Ginsbergian filth, deviance And that mayhem of hairy irrelevance.
You think of your children Wading into the waters of vipers Nipping their ankles Snapping their necks Erasing their freedom and will.
You would have those you love Experience their own close calls — You crashed into your own As you flew those planes Over the Pacific, fighting that war —
Facing death, watching death Take soldier after soldier Leaving you with the intuition Outcomes cannot be guaranteed By bureaucratic Bolsheviks.
Only freedom of opportunity Guarantees free will remains free And life continues to beget life In the magnolious scheme that God Made man after His Own image.
4 Bone Couplets
“Flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone…” —Anne Bradstreet
They outshine the flesh in the reign of desire Where pink like a blush goes on shining like fire. Fat necked imbeciles, brain-numbed and wrong On every backboned thought that ever ran along The confines of the apple of Adam sweetened In the birdless cage rump-driven and weakened. Greed and swagger click the gangling matter Knuckles cling and circle each limb to tatter. Hipbones narrow in the faulty weather. The bare truth flies out on filth-tinged feather. Bring me back to the place where life can stand! Let me feel the smooth relief of pounding sand! This belly swore it would unburden the green. Within the sulking skull it makes its way to preen. In the sweet toned laughter where children move And every old fart says he will not prove Until the night breaks over those who pray And every chime kinks the ear heaven to delay. Relevant as an old donkey on an extended beach The moon sinks into ripe flesh as if to teach Those angry cells to leave off all that hunger. No years will ease—no one will grow younger Than the moth whose flame has singed his wings Clacking bare truth to the mercy of things.
5 A Terrible Fish
“In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish. —Sylvia Plath’s “Mirror”
The nightmare repeats itself: A daughter clamped tight to each foot Pulling her down under The brute waters of the dark, deep lake — She gasps — imagines she’s drowning While her husband watching from the levy Wrings his hands, faints in the heavy fog. A terrible fish looms under her nose; She smells blood dripping From a dozen hooks dangling From his mouth. His eyeballs slide out easy As the drawer of a cash register. Each eye-socket a window To her own soul — $ bills With little jackpots on them Jump up and dance like clowns Poking out their tongues, Flapping signs of slogans With hammers, sickles, swastikas — She believes – ¡Sí, se puede! Morning shivers her awake again, Stumbling to the bathroom Where the mirror flashes In her face that same terrible fish That has been catching her dreams And throwing them back As she chases each $, Never quite able to grasp enough.
“When the yogi, like a tortoise withdrawing its limbs, can fully retire his senses from the objects of perception, his wisdom manifests steadiness.” —Bhagavad Gita II:58
Will you still love me if I finish first?
Slow as I am to you whose speed is your god, I move. Admiring really your shell-less existence— On my back it’s sometimes hard to right myself. In the soup they call me a delicacy, So I praise vegetarians, Though I myself sometimes snap At insects, small fish, & moving fingers.
But what’s a creature so heavy-laden to do?
O, lest I sound maudlin Or sorry for my webbed feet, I withdraw my questions Along with my head & legs And drop out of your race.
2 Starvers
for K. R.
She starves Her body & her mind Stands vacant haunted She’s dying To be thin She’s not Concerned With curves She wants Angles Points Narrow Hollow Spaces What she craves All starvers Understand A bulge around the middle Is a sin against God Thighs that spread out over a chair bottom Make you sick Breasts that mound under a sweater Make you gutter for breath Round arms full face big calves wide hips double chin A mighty army marching over your skeleton Capturing your pleasures Holding your life hostage You’re a prisoner in a guardhouse A dog in a pound Weight and measurement Are not useful tools They are obsessions She has starved Her body Thin But she cannot Exorcise that last Ghost of flesh That ghost that keeps adjusting the damn mirror that throws Back a size in your face a size that screams Just a little smaller Just a little thinner And then Everything Will be OK . . .
8 Metaphysical Reminders
Where that brain stores its loot There stands a cabin by the river, Where it dreamed a body too good For flesh and bones, Too good for breath and blood Where the clock spills stars, Hands that milk until honey flows, And a mouth that torches neck to toe.
And as it worked itself out there On that bed of river mud Squeezing and kneading Lust from every pore, As hips pushed and crushed, The end of an era seemed at hand, And if you slept through the night, You would awake with the clock And a note on your pillow Telling you to get yourself out of there— The river is rising.
24 Greek Skin
for my mother’s father, Gus Johnson
In a Kentucky coal mine he fell across the track and a loaded coal car cut off his right arm.
This world offers no shelter to nervous pilgrims; this world takes a dim view of pain even as it inflicts it, as if some people were meant to starve, as if some people were meant to speak English with a Greek accent, but my mother loved him so much that his death became her deepest grief, and when she crossed the bridge that connects this world with his, I hope he met and greeted her with both arms, he won’t let her fall through a hole in the sky, will he? And though he never had the chance to speak a word to me, I think he must have been a multitude of races and climates, my blood senses his Greek skin was tinged with Africa, my mother’s darkness and my father’s whiteness left me an odd shade of gray. It’s not so much confusion as an unwillingness to pray— Yet many fold their hands when trees lash in the violent air.
But if he knew my concern, he could wipe from my mind the dust that blew in from faraway places where they cut down all the trees and cut off the hands of innocent thieves and Greek slaves slaughtered each other to entertain a Roman tyrant.
92 Alex as Artist
It’s a dog’s life.
When he curls up beside me on the couch and settles into steady breathing, his ease of comfort flows like a polished sonnet. He has mastered the art of comfort.
When I cook, he perfects his craft of begging. Taking bits of food off the ends of fingers requires precise placement of teeth and tongue. He’s mastered the art of eating.
Some say he’s cowardly, but he’s just careful. The artist’s eye and ear perceive the world to be a dangerous place, so he’s crafty to run from loud noises and sudden moves.
Some say he’s dumb, but he’s just deliberate. He wants to keep body and soul together and retire a well-matured craftsman.
Unlike schemers, shams, and fantasizers, he takes his art quite literally,
and he has learned to simplify: beg food, bark, and sleep sleep sleep.
Since publication of Turtle Woman & Other Poems, I have revised “Alex as Artist” into the form of an American-Innovative sonnet:
Alex as Artist
It’s a dog’s life.
When he curls up beside me on the couch and settles into steady breathing, his ease of comfort flows like a polished sonnet. He has mastered the art of comfort.
When I cook, he perfects his craft of begging. Taking bits of food off the ends of fingers requires precise placement of teeth and tongue. He’s mastered the art of eating.
Some say he’s cowardly, but he’s just careful. The artist’s eye and ear perceive the world to be a dangerous place, so he’s crafty to run from loud noises and sudden moves.
Some say he’s dumb, but he’s just deliberate. He wants to keep body and soul together and retire a well-matured craftsman.
Unlike schemers, shams, and fantasizers, he takes his art quite literally, and he has learned to simplify: beg food, bark, and sleep sleep sleep.
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