Poetry has arms – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 21 Comments 
Poetry has arms 
to reach beyond borders
stretch across isles
swim channels of shame
while handing our fresh hankies
for tears of lost love

Poetry has arms
to hold, comfort, and allow
for all to be felt 
the sharp, the cut wide open
with acceptance
Poetry pushes no one away

All are welcome
through this doorway

© Ali Grimshaw 2021

Come write with us.
Self-Compassion Through Poetry: Writing Circle
Fri, May 7, 2021 10:00 - 11:30 AM PDT
Click HERE for more information

Let me hold space for your voice.

Someday – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 12 Comments 
When I grow up
I want to be a river

a flow of ease
clear and welcoming

reflecting forest green.

I want to feel the slide 
and shine over pebbles

smooth and freely 
wandering 

down the mountainside

no obstacles

only friends.

© Ali Grimshaw 2021

Day 12 of Na/GloPoWriMo. 
I went rouge with my urge for freedom and didn't follow the prompt.

What the Grieving Seek – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 24 Comments 
you believe that saying the right thing
will dissolve the pain, that you should
know how to ascend the sunken

afloat in powerlessness without
the words to reach the aggrieved
restore their hearts to harmony

don’t be swallowed by your lacking
the right words never have been
what the grieving seek

sufficient is whole face listening
eyes intent to bridge being
ears strong enough to hear
without changing the subject

and you can do that
anyone can
make that choice

First published on VITA BREVIS PRESS 2018


For those are are grieving today. I send this to you with love.

Wonderment Training – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 16 Comments 
walking through

fields of bright questions

I pick whys

and hows, bloom

gold awes for consideration

wonderment training


© Ali Grimshaw 2021

A shadorma (a six-line, 26-syllable poem or stanza) for National Poetry/Global Poetry Writing Month - Day 7. 

Visit this site for prompts all month long, napowrimo 

Join me for my next writing circle.
Self-Compassion Through Poetry: Writing Circle
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Photo taken in Munich, Germany 2019.
~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 9 Comments 
these blooms like candy cotton
appetizing limbs of pink deliciousness 

always have been reliable 
unique for sugar coating the sadness of a regular day
living blossoms I reach for

true in their offering of layered light
for satisfying the crave of weightlessness
the yearning for lift

Perhaps with forgiveness. Maybe with increased observation

their magic will prevail. My scavenger hunt continues.

© Ali Grimshaw 2021

Day 5 of National Poetry Click HERE for daily prompts 
Global Poetry Writing Month

Today's challenge - to find a poem, and then write a new poem that has the shape of the original, and in which every line starts with the first letter of the corresponding line in the original poem. I chose Wet Spring as my jumping off place. This was a stretch that led to a wonderful escape.

Wet Spring

The practical castle is cold.
All around it the world is a stream bed.

A few well-placed openings
under the windows
let rain weep back outward.

The rain is string
for wrapping a package no one knows
the inside of, they just keep trying to mail it.

Perhaps it is licorice. Perhaps it is kindness.

The package so large even wetness becomes an umbrella.

by Jane Hirshfield

While wandering – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 28 Comments 
"Without poetry, we lose our way." - Joy Harjo


the future of my day is coming from 
where yours has already taken a seat

while I wake, you are closing the book 
to rest your head in a country covered by stars

Here on this pondering path of forest
synchronized with the slow passing of light
this fern comnunity reaches toward many 

more than any one person can see
and one of them is me

a gathering of condolences for this 
time of separation, green fronds reach
to surround me in a forest embrace

our fiddlehead hearts, 
together while apart

your voice sits with me, uncurling
I am moss damp with missing you

© Ali Grimshaw 2021

Join a welcome community of poets at dVerse for Open Link Night - HERE

30 Ways to Celebrate the 25th Annual National Poetry Month
Day 3 of National Poetry & Global Poetry Writing Month

I used to hold his hand – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 39 Comments 
Your separation started with a small knot, 
then the winding began.

Strings of storybooks, twined through nights
and days of countless fresh starts, repeating circles.

The looping of stories wound through our shared days. Up and down 
on the life school rollercoaster, back when I used to hold your hand.

Our faces in the wind a side by side scream of surprise
moments you reached out, adding to yourself
adding another layer of becoming.

While some saw mangled routes and loose ends 
I envied your brave expanding, overlapping leaps 
of curiosity to solidify your center.

Now you roll down new streets
with layers of perseverance over boyish charm
a masterpiece touching lives I will never meet.

I hope you never stop winding over that small knot,
tied while I watched.

© Ali Grimshaw 2021

This poem is dedicated to my two amazing sons. I am grateful to be your mother.

dVerse Open Link Night - Join a welcoming community of poets HERE.

Poems from the Circle

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 17 Comments 
Where to Write From

You might think that
to be a poet
you must have a 
way with words
You can keep thinking that
more room for me
You might think you 
must reach way down 
in the weeds
pulling out muddy roots
from your sodden brain
or recall in detail
places of distinction
You might think you 
must go heart searching
to find phenomenal
fodder for verse
or have personal connections
with the waves, the sun, 
the moon and the stars
There are those 
who have done that
But really you might be
content to write frilly froth
of fabled fellows
Or maybe, just maybe 
you’ll surprise yourself, 
crawl down deep like an 
a spelunking explorer
to places in yourself
you haven’t been
or yet even noticed 

By Lilli Ann Carey

I am grateful for Lilli Ann's permission to share her poem 
from a recent writing circle. Writing together provides a 
mirror for us to process life in a safe place. Each of us has
words that matter. Within the writing circle we nourish them.
Curious? Email met at coaching@aligrimshaw.com

The Reasons

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 11 Comments 

I love the Oregon Coast. This photo is from my most recent visit. It is often while walking down the beach that my mind travels off on inspirational tangents. I have been thinking a lot in the past year about the reasons that we give after something has happened. Those seeds grew into a poem. This poem, The Reasons, is up on Visual Verse where each month they supply a compelling image and invite writers – published or unpublished – to submit a piece in response. There are so many wonderful writings this month. I encourage you to head over there for some entertaining reading. Consider giving the writing challenge a try next month. Here's the link, Visual Verse

Thank you to Visual Verse for sharing my voice.

Handwritten on March 7 -Poem By Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 34 Comments 
What if I wrote what could not be spoken of
words of depth, concise sentences of discomfort
and truth, looped them together with my hand
a signatured message unique, like my voice.
Left on your desk, enclosed by the folded paper,
to find tomorrow or in a haste of reorganizing,
leaving you to wonder when it arrived. 
Would you recognize the writing or disregard 
then discard it as scrap, all while maintaining
focus on achievements of a workplace that doesn't 
have time for cursive communication?

©Ali Grimshaw 2021

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