What if you believed it would all work out?
Would your breath come with ease
would you giggle at yourself, delight in the breeze
raise your waving hand, yell out “me too,”
with the aliveness of your five year old self?
Would you skip across the parking lot
dressed in sequins, colors that say, “I have arrived.”
Would you walk long enough to greet the dusk
stepping lightly until it kissed the sky goodnight?
What if you did?
© Alicia Grimshaw 2018
© Alicia Grimshaw 2018
Worry wilted
thirsting for words
a poem to drink from.
Those 5 step directions cannot quench
my parched soul.
I seek the forest
sit as the birds sing me
verses of satisfaction
and the leaves shade
me with understanding
I have yet learned
to give myself.
Can two words be enough,
make a poem on their own
to shake the passers by awake.
Just a couple, woven into
the fabric of an ordinary day?
Please tell me they can.
© Ali Grimshaw 2018
Photo of a local high school fence, Oregon
what must we pay for
our history, a fresh start
seaward in one boat.
Na/GloPoWriMo – April is National/Global Poetry Writers Month
Her face follows the sun
an anchor of light, trusted to lead while she grew
a warmth of reassurance when her sight was lost
from darkness. A seed born with the knowing
yet unable to realize until the day of blossoming.
She held it all along. Resolve of love, strength to push
through the compacted soil of failure, to stretch
when trampled, to believe in the next dawn
while she remained in the shadow of night.
© Ali Grimshaw 2018 – photo taken on a roadtrip in Spain
“Like sunflowers that stop tracking the sun as they mature, we too begin to respond differently to life as we age. We learn to brave more parts of the day with our heads turned away from the sun, because we realize that we can only know who we are if we let the sun shine behind us and allow it to draw our shadow in front of us, so that we may see how we are really shaped.
We begin to realize how even darkness has its gifts, and how even if we don’t always bask in the light, we can survive.” – When Sunflowers Stop Following The Sun
I was inspired to write this poem after reading this thoughtful article. Never underestimate the power of sharing with careful words.
trusting sunlight, reach
disentangle tight petals
unfurl, face forward
I don’t usually share this type of post but this group really struck my fancy. What an incredible combination of creativity to bring poetry to the world in a new way. The Haiku Guys + Gals. write personalized haiku poems on typewriters at every type of event imaginable. Each interaction takes just a minute or two, and culminates with the creation of a custom gift for the event guest to take home or share. Some people have likened the experience to “a photo booth for the soul.” This is a haiku they wrote for a fellow blogger. It speaks to me and has me thinking about sharing poems in new ways.
your reach is as long
as your imagination
so untie your hands
May poetry touch your day,
Ali
Trust yourself. Your heart knows the way forward.
flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw 