Original Poem: "My Divine Beloved" with Commentary

Because the word "God" brings with it much controversy, I usually try to employ terms that describe that Being more precisely, such as Divine Beloved, Beloved Creator, or simply Divine. Of course, even the term "Divine" may rankle certain atheistic mentalities. Those are invited simply to go elsewhere for reading material. Let's agree to live and let live.

My poem from Singing in the Silence: Poems of Faith offers a tribute to the season of spring—or more precisely the God who has created that marvelous season of rebirth, the time when many folks decide to change their lives along with the inspiring earthly rebirth.

And of course, beautiful spring is the season in which many folks get out and plant gardens so the summer will be filled with fresh vegetables. It is that divine season that encourages the speaker in this poem to offer her tribute to the Creator, whose Divine Hand directs all things eternally.

My Divine Beloved

When spring comes
Tilling the ground
I will plant seeds
And think of you
You are earth
You build my body.

When spring comes
Showering young plants
I will sing with raindrops
And think of you
You are water
You carry my life.

When spring comes
Warming my limbs
I will brown my skin
And think of you
You are fire
You inflame my heart.

When spring comes
Swirling on the wind
I will lean into it
And think of you
You are air
You clear my mind.

When spring comes
Rising from winter's tomb
I will sing devotion
And think of you
You are my Divine Beloved
You revive my soul.

This poem focuses on the earthly and heavenly elements of the Divine: earth, water, fire, air, and devotion. The last one is seldom considered, because you cannot see, smell, taste, hear, feel it, unless you learn to practice it.

Keep in mind that you also cannot see, smell, taste, hear, feel love, hate, anger, joy, or happiness. The results of those qualities you may sense, but that would be "Creation from Design," would it not?

First Movement: Body as Earth

When spring comes
Tilling the ground
I will plant seeds
And think of you
You are earth
You build my body.

So simply, the speaker begins: She realizes that she made of earth: "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return," as Genesis reports However, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow averred in his poem, "A Psalm of Life":

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal:
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Thus as a living, breathing human being, she also realizes by her soul nature that spring is a glorious season of renewal So when spring again comes she will plant her garden and think of the Divinity that has created her and all things.

Second Movement: The Water Feature

When spring comes
Showering young plants
I will sing with raindrops
And think of you
You are water
You carry my life.

Again, quite simply, the speaker acknowledges the fact that her body is 75% water. And when that glorious season of spring arrives, the garden she has planted will benefit from the rain that will nourish it.

Third Movement: Sunlight

When spring comes
Warming my limbs
I will brown my skin
And think of you
You are fire
You inflame my heart.

The skin-bound bodies of all human beings turn "brown" in the sunlight that the Creator has given. The speaker offers gratitude for the benefits of sunlight—it will also nourish her garden along with the rain. It will also nourish her body with Vitamin D.

Fourth Movement: The Whirl of Air

When spring comes
Swirling on the wind
I will lean into it
And think of you
You are air
You clear my mind.

Spring also brings much wind as the air is warming meeting the cold air of winter, causing a fierce swirling, sometimes in the form of tornados which can be deadly But the speaker is looking on the bright side, allowing the wind to blow away mental debris.

Fifth Movement: Rebirth

When spring comes
Rising from winter's tomb
I will sing devotion
And think of you
You are my Divine Beloved
You revive my soul.

Finally, the speaker addresses God as the Divine Beloved, who has allowed her and all things she senses to rise "from winter’s tomb. Spring is the time of rebirth for all things of earth. The speaker offers her gratitude for being allowed to experience one more change of season—one more Divine experience!

The Windmill Chapel

In the temple of silence
By the lake, we sit
In stillness, meditating
In divine Bliss.

Returning to our daily minds,
We walk out into the sunshine,
And the flowers greet us.

The Literary Life

Born Linda Sue Richardson on January 7, 1946, to Bert and Helen Richardson in Richmond, Indiana, Linda Sue grew up about eight miles south of Richmond in a rustic setting near the Ohio border.

After graduating from Centerville Senior High School in Centerville, Indiana, in 1964, Linda Sue Grimes completed her baccalaureate degree with a major in German at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in 1967. She married Ronald Grimes on March 10, 1973.

As a writer, Grimes focuses on poetry, short fiction, politics, spirituality, and vegan/vegetarian cooking, which results in her original veggie recipes.

Literary Studies

Although music was her first love, Grimes considers herself primarily a literary specialist as she creates her own poetry, studies the poetry and literary arts of classic writers, and writes commentaries about classic poems.

However, Grimes does continue to express her love of music by writing her own original songs, which she records, accompanying herself on guitar or keyboard. She shares her musical compositions at SOUNDCLOUD.

After completing the PhD degree in British, American, and World Literature with a cognate in Rhetoric/Composition at Ball State University in 1987, Grimes taught English composition in the English Department at BSU as a contractual assistant professor from 1987 until 1999.

Publishing History

Grimes has published poems in many literary journals, including Sonoma Mandala, Rattle, and The Bellingham Review. She has published three books of poems: Singing in the Silence, Command Performance, and Turtle Woman & Other Poems, and a book of fables titled Jiggery-Jee's Eden Valley Stories.

Grimes published her first cookbook in the spring of 2013, titled The Rustic Veggie-Table: 100 Vegan Recipes. She is working on a second cookbook and her fourth book of poems.

Currently, at Owlcation, Grimes (Maya Shedd Temple) posts her poetry commentaries. On LetterPile, she shares her creative writing of poems and short fiction, along with prose commentaries on each piece. She posts recipes resulting from her experimental cooking of vegan/vegetarian dishes. on Delishably. She posts her politically focused pieces at Soapboxie, and her commentaries focusing on music at Spinditty. Pieces on the writing process appear at Hobbylark.

Spirituality

Linda Sue Grimes has been a devotee of Paramahansa Yogananda and a member of his organization, Self-Realization Fellowship, since 1978. A Kriyaban since 1979, she has completed the four Kriya Initiations, and she continues to study the teachings and practice the yoga techniques as taught by the great spiritual leader, who is considered to be the "Father of Yoga in the West."

Grimes practices the chants taught by the guru accompanying herself on the harmonium. She serves at her local SRF Meditation Group as one of the chant leaders.

Online Literary Presence

In addition to the contributions of her literary works to Owlcation, LetterPile, and SOUNDCLOUD, Grimes also curates her original creative literary pieces at her literary home, Maya Shedd Temple, on Medium, where she features her creative writing without commentaries. Grimes also maintains an additional online presence on Facebook and Twitter.