Wandering From Room To Room – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw 
outside my window some leaves still shine deep green while others
yellow to crisp edges

like differing rooms living through seasons of this house
holding a room of restful freshness
and outdated rooms yet to be revisited with today's view

a room of gatherings present and past
decades of dents and scratches, musicians and boardgames
voices absorbed by the grain of the enduring oak table

stairs where I have fallen with my hands full
and stairs where we held hands to steady the climb upward

there is a room where floating memories lighten as dust sparkles
another where music lives among the dancing shadows

today wet paint will secret away stories of the many inhabitants
while I alone remember the layers underneath

a treasured gratitude for a life within safe walls

when the golden leaves fall this September 
who might enter through my blue sky doorway?

© Ali Grimshaw 2025

Join a welcoming group of poets at dVerse Poets’ Pub HERE. This prompt was inspired by Albert Garcia’s poem “August Morning,”

This is not my house, but a blue door I photographed in France in 2019.

My house does have a blue door.

38 thoughts on “Wandering From Room To Room – Poem by Ali Grimshaw”

  1. I love the wonderful memories your room bring to us. Old houses are filled with stories left untold.

    I remember, as a child, my parents wallpapering some of the rooms in our house. They would simply add another layer over the one that was there. Just like stories in a book!

    Thanks for the memories!

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  6. Thank you for the note ** I was ready to move in with you! What a gorgeous image. Now for the serious stuff: I love the way you journeyed through your home, the sweet, the deep, the personal memorization … cheers, Ali.

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  7. I love that you began your poem, Ali, outside the window, with hints of autumn that link to the ‘rooms living through seasons’, and the ‘gatherings present and past / decades of dents and scratches, musicians and boardgames, so cosy and welcoming, and the ending. I especially love these lines:

    ‘there is a room where floating memories lighten as dust sparklesanother where music lives among the dancing shadows’.

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  15. I really love what you did here, the poem comes to life in these lines to me:

    “there is a room where floating memories lighten as dust sparkles
    another where music lives among the dancing shadows

    today wet paint will secret away stories of the many inhabitants
    while I alone remember the layers underneath”

    It’s a superb poem and a grand display of vivid descriptions and colorful phrases.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. trE,

      I truly appreciate your reflective response. It continues to be fascinating to me what lines speak to another reader.

      There was so much that I could say in this poem. I had a hard time choosing what to keep or leave out.

      Hope you are well.
      Ali

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  16. Ah, I love this. A beautiful walkthrough. Just don’t fall down any more stairs! I especially love this stanza:

    “a room of gatherings present and past
    decades of dents and scratches, musicians and boardgames
    voices absorbed by the grain of the enduring oak table”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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