One Sky
Author: Ali Grimshaw
Come write with me.
Writing is all about connection. Letters arranged to reach out across miles or decades. Voices being heard. Acknowledgement of experiences. Fantasy. Dreams on paper that can fly. Feeling another’s mind like jumping into a clear mountain lake. This is why I love writing with others. It is about a shared authentic experience that anyone can participate in.
If you are in the Portland, Oregon area during the month of October come visit the Multnomah Arts Center Gallery where I will have some poems displayed in public for the first time as a guest of artists Erin Leichty and Martin Levin. I am also holding a FREE community event.
Connecting Through Shared Writing
You are invited to connect with others through shared writing. We will use poetry to listen, write and reflect together. Participants do not need to have any writing background just a willingness to listen and embrace a fun learning experience. You will leave inspired by the art and words as we gather in the gallery space at the Multnomah Arts Center on Sunday, October 15 from 3:00 – 4:00 pm. FREE
ERIN LEICHTY & MARTIN LEVIN On Display October 6 – 24, 2017
Paintings & Metal Sculpture, Featuring Poetry by Ali Grimshaw
“Holding Space” & “Meditations on the Platonic Solids”
Reception: Friday, October 6 • 7 to 9 pm
Footprints
As I traverse
what do my footprints say?
Those who walk beside
a step behind and to the left will
see them. Mud messages dried
to become solid.
When my legs no longer walk
my tacks will speak out
a decodable message.
I hope you decipher
“Don’t give up.
Keep looking for the footprints
I am with you.”
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
In dedication to Mother Teresa (1910 – 1997) “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
Harmony in the Trees
The tree colors sing in unison
settle my rattled soul
unlike any music
ever heard.
This orchestra of leaves
soothes the tempo
that pounds from a
day of instruments
that refused to play
the same song.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
Axis Tilt
Could this be the final day
of an autumn that I thought would last?
A mellowing of red between us
once crackling emotions now dust bits
collected in a whirling dervish
carried away in the wind.
Now I am an empty street waiting
for the street light to click on.
Predictable and ever awed
by the chance
to begin again.
© Alicia Grimshaw Reposting from 2016
Learning to Dive
One day I finally knew that I could swim
in the blue of the sky.
That I was as strong as I declared myself to be.
That my fears were teachers made just for me.
That there would always be cracks to slip through
times of trembling, shaken awake to fall again.
Then I stood next to the lake,
a mirror of blue sky wholeness,
arms wide with acceptance
I, the problem and solution
dove into a
reflection of release.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
Take in Varenna, Italy 2016
Emotional Gravity
Awakened to the heaviness. A push
to breathe through a cage too small.
Despair sits on her chest, hands over her mouth.
Alone on this journey, he is no companion
just a magnetic pull toward the mattress
that she wishes never to leave.
He knows what others do not.
That she can’t put it down.
An unseeable stone she carries alone.
How much easier to be pulled under
than to keep afloat.
A desire for lightness like dust
in a ray of light.
If she only knew
invisible hands surround.
Waiting. Just waiting.
For her to say the word.
Help.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
National Suicide Prevention Week September 10 – 16, 2017
http://stopasuicide.org/index.php
Reach out. Listen. You could save a life.
Waiting
I remain
steadfast
on the shoreline
tethered, weathered
yet still afloat.
My life preserver
ready to be thrown
your way.
Waiting
for your signal.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
National Suicide Prevention Week September 10 – 16, 2017
http://stopasuicide.org/index.php
Reach out. You could save a life.
Photo Challenge – Waiting Photo taken in Varenna Italy, 2016.
When discouragement arrives…
With forests burning, hurricanes and floods in the U.S. my heart goes out to all that are just trying to get through this day. Resharing this poem and sending a virtual hug.
Thirst
Parched again
cup empty
I guzzle gratitude
the only liquid
to quench the thirst
of fear.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw 