Go hear it for yourself – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 9 Comments 
An invitation, a welcoming offer,
to close our eyes 

to listen for the awe of movement
unseen exhilaration

a sound like no other heard before.

This offering of cool misted glory
to replace heated conflicts 
the relentless humidity of this day.

That is what the water gave us.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2026

This photo was taken at Iguazu Falls in Argentina, 2026. The power of nature is astounding. Sometimes we forget to listen instead of just looking.

Join dVerse Poet’s Pub for Open Link Night. HERE
You can link up one poem of your choice. The prompt is optional.

Inspired by the work of Frida Kahlo, “What the Water Gave Me.”

Time Zones – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 11 Comments 


I run from myself
catch a corner of feeling
accept this moment of liberation

as skin of bruised clouds darkens
a prickling tingle goosebumps my arms
airwaves gather energy sparks

our tilted world revolves
a turning we have never
been able to feel
yet know as truth

a shift occurring between/from
who are the others
who are the us

we ride around the sun
evolving regardless of our position
or noticing

recycled drops of rain



This poem was first published in MasticadoresUSA  2022. 

May poems continue to help us understand the many experiences of human beings. May poems continue to help us learn to pause and listen. May poems help us celebrate the gift of being alive.

Happy Poetry Month.
Ali

The elders of the forest emerge – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 20 Comments 

and now they are telling the story
of a new season

their trunks and branches like bones bearing 
tendergreen new notions.

While walking 
we breathe them in 

desperate for another way to see.

Creek waters accompany us
while heartbeats slowly join

writing another generation.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2026

This photo was not generated by AI. It hasn't been altered. Last summer my husband, some friends, and I hiked to this lovely blue pool in Oregon. Those are my purple shoes. Seeing this felt like the miracle, like a new idea feels when it comes from the heart. Keep seeking, my friends. 

This poem was inspired by De Jackson's prompt for dVerse Quadrille. You can read others' poems by following the link, HERE.

Forward – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 32 Comments

“Following love always asks us to be brave and to be brave in ways we don’t imagine we have the wherewithal to be.” – David Whyte

How you draw me in 
eyes flitting back and forth between
the stillness of height and fractured light

shining a wonder of blue perception
lines still, lines rippling
to capture my full exhale.

In this reflection, I see myself 
braver, standing taller than yesterday
aligning with the tall ones in the background

All I can say is, thank you 
for a window forward.

And yes, I will try.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2026

Join dVerse Poet’s Pub for Open Link Night. HERE
You can link up one poem of your choice.

This is a live edition, with an opportunity to join on Saturday at 10 AM New York Time. The session will run on Google Meet. Please click on the link below to join us on Saturday: 
https://meet.google.com/vbr-xvjw-eay

Photo taken at the Desert Botanical Garden, Arizona, 2025. My husband and I spent three hours here, delighting in the plants. I adore reflections and therefore have photographed many.

Planting – Poem By Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 15 Comments

“But it is not enough to weep for our lost landscapes; we have to put our hands in the earth to make ourselves whole again. Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.” ― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

In the wind
a yearning hunger

exhales united in pain
gather into traveling rain. 

Storm clouds of resistance
blanketing the vulnerable.

We plant the seeds
again, again

as our grandmothers before us.

Apple trees to feed a future
we will never see.

Believing abundance

possible.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2026

Join dVerse Poet’s Pub for Open Link Night. HERE This poem was inspired by the quadrille challenge – Hunger.

Photo taken at my aunt and uncle’s home in Oregon. It was a great apple harvest that year.

One is Enough – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 17 Comments 

a flower
a focus
a place to lean your eyes

for a moment

when the world is blurred brutal
consider carefully your viewpoint 

follow a flower's form
find its simple scent

in a day of temperatures rising
feel the stones strongly cool
your feet

© Alicia Grimshaw 2026

This photo was taken in Croatia. When the world’s hate feels like too much, I can always trust in nature for moments of respite. Find a flower and follow its lead.

Join a friendly community of poets at dVerse Poetry Pub. Write a quadrille (44-word poem) to share with the group HERE.

What a curtain in the wind can teach you – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 14 Comments 


"All that sadness. All that anger. It is the smoke that gets in your eyes. If you do not blow it away, how can you hope to see?"
- Anthony Horowitz 


To be a curtain in the breeze.
Joining the flow of air
rising, falling,
lifting, lowering
gathering, and letting go.

I will be a curtain
hate will not inhabit my heart. I will not hold it.
Instead it will travel like airflow. 

(I expect to falter, I am only human after all. Yet, I continue to observe all that can teach me how to keep my heart soft.)

Like the curtain welcomes all that arrives,
letting it pass through 
while remaining light. 
© Ali Grimshaw 2026

Join a welcoming group of poets on dVerse Poets Pub for open link night and share a poem of your choosing HERE.

Hiking in Argentina and thankful for this time in nature.

We are Held – poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 24 Comments 


By our Mother 
you are held.

With your feet firmly grounded 
you can feel her foreverness.

Lost is a choice you don't need to make.
Claim yourself free,

choose your stance, your pace, 
and rest in the arms of her winds.

- With love for the many vulnerable.

© Ali Grimshaw 2026
Lush vegetation on a trail near Puerto Varas, Chile. The canyon of green breathing.

Mt. Osurno, Chile.

Finding Our Way – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 35 Comments 
I am a lighthouse who sometimes 
has a broken bulb.

I fear for the ships that are navigating 
dark shorelines without my beam.

I hold responsibility for safe passage 
while boats toss hand to hand by a storm. 

I appreciate you noticing my blackened filament
seeing my burnt days without judgment

offering a replacement orb to restore my beacon.

I return to rusting hulls along the shoreline with my light
watch the shadows change their appearances.

I wonder what difference my listening light
could have made in their journey.

Yet, losing our way is also how we find each other.

In darkness, trust your heartbeat navigator 
the light is there, and you will find it.

© Ali Grimshaw 2026


Please join a welcoming group of poets at dVerse Poets Pub. It is Open Link Night. Share one poem of your own HERE.

Please join us for our first LIVE session of 2026 on Saturday, January 17th, from 10 to 11 AM EST.
Click on the Google Meet link below to join us with audio and video:

https://meet.google.com/ens-tohx-wjq 

Come sit in on our LIVE (video and audio) session. Read aloud a poem of your choosing, join in the informal conversation OR simply sit in and listen. We always have people from around the globe, all speaking in English.

This photo was taken on the Oregon Coast near Coos Bay.

My Hibernaculum – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 34 Comments 

within a velvet-soft interior
with a rocking chair enhancement

humming songs of ease
murmurs of a river echoing back

pine-warmth abundance of fresh
beginnings welcoming endings

encircled by a clear frozen glaze
of quiet just rightness

overflowing contentedness
safety of the heart

© Ali Grimshaw 2025

Join a welcoming group of poets 
at dVerse Poets’ Pub 
for Quadrille #238- HERE

Hibernaculum – a noun for a winter shelter or place of hibernation