Today
I possess the power
to return your judgemental gaze
with full ownership of who I am.
“Yes, this is me.”
A me of mistakes,
fearless learning,
repeated crashing and rising,
heart wide open
scars and wounds visible
capable of the unimaginable
love of Herculean strength.
I won’t ever fit in your box.
I am my own coloring book.
© Ali Grimshaw
Between the light and dark lie many shades of gray,
easily misunderstood by those not interested
in searching the sky for shapes.
With curiosity comes an acceptance of the continuum
from silver ash to smokey midnight.
Shades that vary only by a brushstroke of ink,
yet change a life in ways that can never be turned back.
The dark that challenges us to grow
and pushes the fearful through the door.
The light that illuminates
on the other side.
© Ali Grimshaw
Outside the window
traffic below crawls away from all that matters.
Amongst the jammed up colors,
a pedestrian easily weaves through the congestion
slipping through the heavy flow of life.
gracefully he continues while surrounded by the unmoving,
often pausing to look up.
He alone sees the clouds above the tall buildings.
No one else remembers the sky.
© Ali Grimshaw
A need for self protection
more fierce, more essential
than life itself.
The consuming energy of keeping her heart safe.
The waning strength to keep the walls fortified.
To give without receiving.
To live without wanting
A game of survival that she only knew
how to play alone.
© Ali Grimshaw
I miss the days of your eyes
a yearning treasure seeker
when I was the X on your map.
© Ali Grimshaw
It is not too late to share your words of peace to create a world of peace.
You chose me
when I couldn’t choose myself.
When I was swimming in darkness,
awash in ink,
blocking out the love.
You remained beside me
when my words didn’t make sense.
You stayed. Listening.
Seeing who I would become
and already was in the moment.
You opened up a new vista
where we stood together,
our backs to the past.
© Ali Grimshaw
Alone is different
than loneliness.
connection, a link, from one to the other.
not trusting, disbelief, an arm’s length away.
impenetrable invisible cushion
keeps me hidden even
when you think I am there.
Will I let you know me?
The jury is still out.
© Ali Grimshaw
flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw 