Author: Ali Grimshaw

Courage rides the train

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 19 Comments

 

055eb2e0e0a92244d7e261898962b86c

They stepped onto the train that day

unaware of the choice the ride included.

When the voice of hate screamed

the two stood as stone, unwilling to look away.

Unified strangers woven into a safety net

flung over the young ones

a protective cover given without request

those two hearts knew what freedom

to live without fear was worth.

The cost of standing up,as the train moved into tomorrow

was life itself.

In this morning’s memory mirror

I wonder if I would be brave enough

to ride as they did.

 

© Alicia Grimshaw 2017

Dedicated to the men who died a year ago in Portland, Oregon as they stood to defend two young women. My heart breaks for the loved ones of Ricky Best, father of four and US Army veteran, and Taliesan Namkai-Meche a recent college graduate. In honor of these two and the countless others who have stood up against hate please join me in acts of kindness wherever you live. Love is the only answer.

For more information read this Washington Post article, ‘Final act of bravery’: Men who were fatally stabbed trying to stop anti-Muslim rants identified

 

In reflection… Memorial Day

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 10 Comments

When you signed

put life on the line

with handwritten ink bleeding on the page,

did you realize the sacrifice

a mother’s wail to follow in the night

before your feet left this land?

My heart cracks with the thinking of it

pain leaking out slow.

The life you donated for others

unknown to you

makes me know without doubt

love is brave.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2017

Thank you to all who have given their lives for others.

image8.jpeg

Closed Shutters

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 4 Comments

Light filtered through shutters, yet she chose darkness. 

For months she pushed it away, terrified 

of being consumed, eaten whole. 

Adamant in her refusal to sit with it.

 

Now she contemplates the dark.

Always kept at arm’s length

.

This unfamiliar,

meeting it for the first time.

It is not as cold to touch as expected.

 

Unwilling to go it alone, she invites 

Curiosity to accompany her

and this new nameless acquaintance

to hide under the blanket together.

 

She turns to face them,

leans in to hear their voices

more surprised than terrified.

 

© Alicia Grimshaw 2017

Photo taken in Amsterdam 2014

Forbidden Separateness

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 14 Comments

img_2168

Never adrift

always within arm’s length

inseparable as far back

as memory will reach,

weathered worn wise

with fantasies of

chain breaking

to float free.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2017

Adrift – The Daily Post Challenge

PIC AND A WORD Challenge #68

It was everywhere…

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 4 Comments

In the air,

on the surface of leaves.

Streaming down the street

into potholes.

It was in the exhale

of runners on the road.

It was like the mist, gentle yet

undeniable.

She wondered why

some still

could not see it.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2017

 

 

 

 

 

Windstorm

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 8 Comments

knocked down

like a tree after a storm

my trunk horizontal

broken limbs at odd angles

body left with jagged holes exposed

pieces scattered near and far down the lane

some parts even seem to have disappeared

now I think I understand how humpty dumpty felt

there isn’t a way to put the pieces back together

it is time to start again

look for fertile soil

plant myself where sunlight will reach me.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2017

 

 

 

Long before…

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 15 Comments

In the unfinished

before the credits scroll past

can you choose acceptance

without an end,

before the conclusion

without approval from the crowd?

Between the ribs, within

deeply, a voice

the one you used to hear

before you thought the others

were the ones that mattered.

Knew better and overruled your soul.

Before you decided

who you weren’t going to be.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2017