organic prizes tended affectionately
primed by summer’s passionate heat and BB King’s blues
quenching warmth, a gathering of sunlight kisses
red ripe to tango with your tongue and mine
slip into my backyard to delight in this tender flesh
this ready to please moment soon closed for the season.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2018
if I could hand out
flying with clouds, beyond pain,
relief your eyes seek
© Alicia Grimshaw 2018
It is a continual process to unweave
that which is truth from story. I pull
a thread, remove one line, observe how
the fabric changes, notice the new spaces
breathing between essential threads
that remain, a skeleton of existence
until tweezing out the unneeded
leaves what is left, sparsely resilient
penetrable light of a future once blocked
by memories tightly woven.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2018
you beside, never
behind, together we face
forward fearlessly.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2018
Senryu
In the dark kitchen while all lay asleep
I stood shorter than the countertop
determined to throw away my blanket of comfort
self worn to soft holding of me.
The mouth of the garbage can
that lived under the sink
hungry for layers of softness
swallowed them down easily.
My four year old self threw away weakness
like an explorer sailing to uncharted seas
I declared myself ready for the mystery of the grown up.
Without need for a fall back into security
how sure I was of my power to leave the shore
of my dearly loved comfort layer.
Where did the urgency come from
to stop leaning
depending on
go it alone without reliance?
Years later in my cold bed determined and proud
still I wonder why I needed to prove my toughness
hurry away from childhood.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2018
National Relaxation Day
What a wonderful activity for Sunday night. I really soaked in these haikus and the community reflecting upon them. With the hope for all living things on our planet being cherished, here is my entry.
a revolving home
with contrast of lives who wake
under the same skyThanks Vita Brevis for bringing us together through poetry.
Vita Brevis is hosting a four-day haiku competition–taking place entirely in the comment section of this post!
Here’s What You Need to Know:
How to Submit:
1. Submit one nature-themed 5-7-5 haiku as a comment on this post
2. Reblog this post on your blog or write a post announcing that you’ve entered it
3. (Optional) Give good feedback on other commenters’ work!
Theme: Nature
Reward: We’ll publish the winning poet, featuring their haiku on the front page of our online magazine with a link to their blog.
When: Starting right now (08/10), ending Monday night (08/13)
Questions: Use our Contact Us page–I’ll get back to you soon!
I’ll try to respond to as many of you as I can–get writing and have fun!
