Finding Our Way – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw 
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.

35 thoughts on “Finding Our Way – Poem by Ali Grimshaw”

  1. I love this Ali 💐

    I feel I have been in the dark too … especially as I haven’t been getting feeds from your site, along with several others. Sorry to have missed the 17th.

    I’m glad the light is on again. x

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  3. This is a good metaphor for all writers. We all sometimes have broken bulbs–electric bulbs have “life spans”! We all make mistakes and benefit from one another’s corrections.

    PK

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  6. Such beautiful and heartfelt expression in this poem, Ali. Your poems always touch something deep in me and this one is no different. It has been challenging to navigate my feelings with all of the world’s pain and ills. And yet, you write some verses that describe my challenging journey with my heart.

    Bless you for the love you offer with your beautifully woven words.

    ♥️🙏🏻💜

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    1. Carrie,
      Thank you so much for taking the time to send your reflection. It makes my heart lighter to know that my words spoke to you. I am grateful to know that you are shining your light just as you are, just where you need to be. Sending you love.

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  9. How beautiful, Ali. Avoiding sentimentality, getting to it and through it. A gorgeous bit of work. I found it so easy to read and easy to understand. That enabled me to really enjoy this poem. And of course, identify.

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  13. So many ways to read this wonderful poem…I’ve read it several times now. The guilt one can feel for making a mistake and not leading in the correct way, on whatever action has led to a sad or difficult situation. Or the person who is trying so hard to do the right thing…to light the way for others. Or a country without a strong light in the leadership role, leading the country in safety, following laws, inspiring with its beacon.A wonderful poem. Most importantly, I love the way it ends in affirmation…however one is responding to the words, the affirmation is there in the end: the light is there – you will find it.

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    1. Lillian, thank you for reflecting back the many ways you read this poem. What a gift.
      Hope is a choice, hope is an action, hope is a belief that love is stronger than any other force. It is with this hope that I wrote the ending.

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  15. Oh my goodness, I am so blown away with the power of this poem. A lighthouse with a dimmed light; a ship without its rudder; how do we navigate?  There will always be some solution along the way for all of us.  Continue to share your beautiful words.  We all need them right now. HUGS! Fredda

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