topsy-turvy – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

August 4, 2020August 4, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 5 Comments

Which way out?
Down is upside down
up is not what it used to be

Which way to the familiar 
where the predictable
seemed to be real?

Which way to rise
above the untaught history
which left us blind?

Which way forward
to undo, redo, or never do
again what once we did?

What we weren't ready for
or maybe never are, 
let's help each other rise
let us begin again.

© Ali Grimshaw 2020

Writing together provides a mirror for us to process life in a safe place where we have all agreed to listen with compassion. Thank you to all of you who have written with me in the last few months. I am so very grateful to share this journey with you. I have added this new date and time to open up the invitation to others in different time zones. Let’s connect across the boarders. Stay safe my friends.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/listening-inward-writing-as-a-tool-for-self-reflection-tickets-115939290539

What has yet to Appear – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

May 25, 2020May 25, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 48 Comments

We are balancing between the blocks of our days large and small. Squares filled with the demands of our days and squares now left open. Boxes where plans once sat in happy company with future anticipation. Now canceled without pattern. Just scattered openings in the grid. Emptiness at first look, then disbelief. As we walk farther down the street, grief standing next to disappointment. Finally we turn the corner and see a tiny new patio garden. Someone is intent on growing beauty from strong willed, concrete pots. The first sprouts are just reaching free.

Determined seeds rise

there is always a crack, wide

enough for thriving

This Haibun Monday over at dVerse Poets Pub we have a visual prompt. It was an new adventure for me. Click here to join the challenge.

Quarantine Quadrille – poem by Ali Grimshaw

May 4, 2020May 4, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 33 Comments

As the virus
careens,
spinning down
our long road.

The dust has yet
to settle
from the wheels

Slow motion,
particles falling,
We sift sillily
through,
glittered remembering.

Was that last week?

As I am here,
reaching
you are there,
still
only through airwaves.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2020

dVerse Poets Pub – Quadrille Challenge – silly

Saplings

Quote ~ May 3, 2020May 3, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 6 Comments

A beautiful poem of hope from MISTYROADS

Saplings

And so we grow,
In winds bent back
Against the storms
And lightning strikes.
Headlong,
Rise up,
Unfurl
In splendour
And well-lit grace
Of Swift footsteps
That forever change
And twist
In those brief sorrows
Of untrained reach
And growth in silent tears;
That dry in hope
And sunlight given.

Click here for more from MistyRoads Blog

End of the Rope – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

March 28, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 21 Comments

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The rope winds gently around my waist,
twisted, smoothly strong by years of mistakes,
trying again, doubt and wondering how.

Thick with memories of others who
believed with the strength of solid ground.
Believed that all earthquakes eventually stop shaking.
Believed in soil’s ability to grow what we need next.

The end of this rope was handed to me long ago.
A generous lifeline offered for free
to keep me on the planet.

Now I look down at the rope in my calloused hands,
threads of the millions, an explosion of frayed ends,
their forgivings, endurance,
the woven learnings of my ancestors.

The rope loops back and around me,
over and over,
then off into the distance.

I don’t need to see the end now
to trust it is anchored deeply somehow.

© Ali Grimshaw 2020

Inspired by William Stafford’s poem “The Way It Is”

dVerse – Final Couplet Prompt

Photo taken in on my last trip, Château de Suscinio in France.

Because Now – poem by Ali Grimshaw

March 21, 2020May 30, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 40 Comments

on the beach I begin
because now I am ready
and so are you

to turn our fear into fuel
build a bonfire to bring warmth
for all now sitting in cold darkness

I start with kindling of prejudice
add sticks of anger
a log of fear
a heavy round of anxiety
watch the flames ignite to hot glow

come close and sit with me now
add your logs to this burning pyre
hate and terror blaze brightly with heat
finally an efficient use for their energy

let’s watch
as flames of love
devour all that we
believe we cannot face
to singe away, char and reform
all that has been holding us back

love knows how to transform
create a burning
to warm us all through
this dark night.

come to the beach
now we are ready

© Ali Grimshaw 2020

Hopeful Intention

December 12, 2019 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 52 Comments

What do you hold onto
when the bottom drops out
leaving you foundationless?

Your roof carried away by a tornado.
Left only with blankness and a pen
you forgot was in your hand.

I draw myself a new house
openness of windows, tin roof to hear rain
a welcome door without requirements

with the hope that you feel safe enough to visit
uncensored, just as you are not
when you leave the premises

“Active Hope is a practice.

Since Active Hope doesn’t require our optimism, we can apply it even in areas where we feel hopeless. The guiding impetus is intention; we choose what we aim to bring about, act for, or express. Rather than weighing our chances and proceeding only when we feel hopeful, we focus on our intention and let it be our guide.”

– Joanna Macy, respected voice in the movements for peace, justice, and ecology.

dVerse – Open Link Night

Tomorrow – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

October 20, 2019 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 13 Comments

We can not walk

without placing our

feet upon a past life.

Leaves layered, give

way to decay

to nourish the next.

What ground can I

cultivate with shelter

for those neglected seeds

that are tomorrow’s hope?

Slightly to the right – poem by Ali Grimshaw

December 17, 2018 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 27 Comments

walk-2635038_1280

One step to the right

not a stretch, just a nudge

shift of weight to the side.

One step away, between

worry and what if?

Landscape of exhaustion

or a horizon of possibility.

Not a marathon, nothing to train for,

just one

small

step.

Get your shoes on.

wonder is waiting.

Resharing one the most liked posts from this year.

Sending the light of hope your way.

Fall Will Catch You – a poem by Ali Grimshaw

September 23, 2018October 12, 2018 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 28 Comments

Painted leaves sing in unison
Unlike music, their song
is soundless harmony.

This orchestra of color
soothes the tempo
an internal pounding

from a day of instruments
that refused to play
the same song.

Fall catches me
with muted volume
a serenade of equilibrium.

flashlight batteries – poetry

Emergency lighting for times of darkness and fear

hope

topsy-turvy – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

What has yet to Appear – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

Quarantine Quadrille – poem by Ali Grimshaw

Saplings

End of the Rope – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

The rope winds gently around my waist,
twisted, smoothly strong by years of mistakes,
trying again, doubt and wondering how.

Thick with memories of others who
believed with the strength of solid ground.
Believed that all earthquakes eventually stop shaking.
Believed in soil’s ability to grow what we need next.

The end of this rope was handed to me long ago.
A generous lifeline offered for free
to keep me on the planet.

Now I look down at the rope in my calloused hands,
threads of the millions, an explosion of frayed ends,
their forgivings, endurance,
the woven learnings of my ancestors.

The rope loops back and around me,
over and over,
then off into the distance.

I don’t need to see the end now
to trust it is anchored deeply somehow.

© Ali Grimshaw 2020

Inspired by William Stafford’s poem “The Way It Is”

dVerse – Final Couplet Prompt

Because Now – poem by Ali Grimshaw

on the beach I begin
because now I am ready
and so are you

to turn our fear into fuel
build a bonfire to bring warmth
for all now sitting in cold darkness

I start with kindling of prejudice
add sticks of anger
a log of fear
a heavy round of anxiety
watch the flames ignite to hot glow

come close and sit with me now
add your logs to this burning pyre
hate and terror blaze brightly with heat
finally an efficient use for their energy

let’s watch
as flames of love
devour all that we
believe we cannot face
to singe away, char and reform
all that has been holding us back

love knows how to transform
create a burning
to warm us all through
this dark night.

come to the beach
now we are ready

© Ali Grimshaw 2020

Hopeful Intention

Tomorrow – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

Slightly to the right – poem by Ali Grimshaw

Fall Will Catch You – a poem by Ali Grimshaw

Send a poem to your friends.

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Send a poem to your friends.

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Send a poem to your friends.

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The rope winds gently around my waist, twisted, smoothly strong by years of mistakes, trying again, doubt and wondering how.

Thick with memories of others who believed with the strength of solid ground. Believed that all earthquakes eventually stop shaking. Believed in soil’s ability to grow what we need next.

The end of this rope was handed to me long ago. A generous lifeline offered for free to keep me on the planet.

Now I look down at the rope in my calloused hands, threads of the millions, an explosion of frayed ends, their forgivings, endurance, the woven learnings of my ancestors.

The rope loops back and around me, over and over, then off into the distance.

I don’t need to see the end now to trust it is anchored deeply somehow.

© Ali Grimshaw 2020

Inspired by William Stafford’s poem “The Way It Is”

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

on the beach I begin because now I am ready and so are you

to turn our fear into fuel build a bonfire to bring warmth for all now sitting in cold darkness

I start with kindling of prejudice add sticks of anger a log of fear a heavy round of anxiety watch the flames ignite to hot glow

come close and sit with me now add your logs to this burning pyre hate and terror blaze brightly with heat finally an efficient use for their energy

let’s watch as flames of love devour all that we believe we cannot face to singe away, char and reform all that has been holding us back

love knows how to transform create a burning to warm us all through this dark night.

come to the beach now we are ready

© Ali Grimshaw 2020

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

The rope winds gently around my waist,
twisted, smoothly strong by years of mistakes,
trying again, doubt and wondering how.

Thick with memories of others who
believed with the strength of solid ground.
Believed that all earthquakes eventually stop shaking.
Believed in soil’s ability to grow what we need next.

The end of this rope was handed to me long ago.
A generous lifeline offered for free
to keep me on the planet.

Now I look down at the rope in my calloused hands,
threads of the millions, an explosion of frayed ends,
their forgivings, endurance,
the woven learnings of my ancestors.

The rope loops back and around me,
over and over,
then off into the distance.

I don’t need to see the end now
to trust it is anchored deeply somehow.

on the beach I begin
because now I am ready
and so are you

to turn our fear into fuel
build a bonfire to bring warmth
for all now sitting in cold darkness

I start with kindling of prejudice
add sticks of anger
a log of fear
a heavy round of anxiety
watch the flames ignite to hot glow

come close and sit with me now
add your logs to this burning pyre
hate and terror blaze brightly with heat
finally an efficient use for their energy

let’s watch
as flames of love
devour all that we
believe we cannot face
to singe away, char and reform
all that has been holding us back

love knows how to transform
create a burning
to warm us all through
this dark night.

come to the beach
now we are ready