Author Archives: Dr. Crystal Grimes

Beyond Our Skin #Decima #Poem #SixSentenceStories

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O come and look right through my skin
With eyes of otherworldly grace;
You’ll see our Essence in this face,
Inviting you to look within!
Kaleidoscope of time and place
Where future, past and present curl.
It’s yours and mine. Just give a whirl!
Let’s move beyond our circumstance!
Uncomfortable, yet here’s a chance
To let our tenderness unfurl!

—
Written for
Ronovan Writes Décima Poetry Challenge Prompt No. 45: (WHIRL) in the C rhyme line,
#Threethingschallenge #512,
and
#SixSentenceStories: Kaleidoscope.

Fire of Life

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I went out to the hazel wood, because a Fire was in my head.* What to do… What to do…

It was the Fire of Life, of Light, of Love. I had internalized the Fire, because it was as yet unshared. How could I use it to warm others? I must have something needed, even if I’m not conscious of its Presence.

I took a walk in nature to open my mind, expand my heart, and refresh my soul. I know the answer resides deep within me. That Something I have, needed by others, becomes clear.

I returned from the hazel wood, because a Fire was in my Heart! And I went on with my life, changed and aware, to spread the warmth of the Fire within!

—
127 words for
dVerse Prosery,
using the starred line by William Butler Yeats.

“Barbara Allen” #Music

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I first heard this 17th-century folk song as a child. Believe it or not, it was part of an Elementary School book and CD set we often used in music class. The version on the CD was sung a cappella by a solo tenor voice. It was hauntingly done, but I found the song disturbing, because of the
lyrics.
While I still think the song tells a bittersweet story, it’s a beautiful melody that never left me.

I hope you enjoy hearing “Barbara Allen” on Oriole (soprano) recorder and zither!

“I Surrender All” #Music

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You probably don’t recognize the name, Judson W. Van de Venter. I know I didn’t. However, you might recognize the hymn, “I Surrender All.” Written in 1896, it is one of his most famous hymns, still widely sung today. According to
Discipleship Ministries | History of Hymns,
this hymn was influential in the ministry of Rev. Billy Graham.

I hope you enjoy this contemplative arrangement played on lyre!

Deeper #Writephoto

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I’ve gone over the edge more than once. But who among us hasn’t? We all come to a bridge, a cliff, a drop, a precipice sometime–or many times–in our lives. It will happen, guaranteed.

You will reach a point, and another point, where it’s either stay or go, sink or swim, leap into the unknown or stay in your current situation. Stay, that is, until it becomes impossibly intolerable. And there you are again, faced with the same choice.

Do you enter that deep, dark water? Or do you remain on land, supposedly safe, yet unfulfilled?

In all kindness and hopefulness, I hope you jump into that water, even if you’re terrified! And I hope you swim deeper, ever deeper, to the fulfillment of your truest desires and the coming true of your dreams!

—
My response to Sue Vincent’s
Thursday #Writephoto Prompt: Deeper.