Leaving without him

August 17, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 45 Comments

“i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)”
– E.E. Cummings

Twisted deeply within the realization 
of this being the day of goodbye
A warm sorrow reverberates through my limbs 
down to my heavy steps homeward. 
This is the part of loving wholeheartedly 
that I wish I could skip over. 
When the sunset arrives and takes you with it 
far from where I am.

From the first time I laid eyes on you
your inner charm worked magic on me
a spirit who dared to explore, 
balancing fences, tree limbs, to rooftop scrambles
while others shouted, "There is a kid up there."
You never were the "play it safe" kind.
I knew the someday would come
of releasing you to fly in the wind.

This motherhood thing sucks
just when you've spent 18 years
falling in love with your boy
(even on days when you didn't feel like it)
he turns into a man you adore with your
whole heart proud, filled with keeping.
Just then, it is time to share him
with the world.

It would be greedy of me not to share
but in this moment I don't want to
play by the rules, where sons grow up.
Instead let me rewind; all aches, pains and joys
to live again the rollercoaster of mothering you.
Your journey of magnificent learnings,
dares and caring that accumulate into
you as the tower beside me.

No matter where you walk upon the earth. 
I hope you hear my whispers in your ear,
I carry your heart
I carry it in my heart.

© Ali Grimshaw 2020

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Shadows and reflections

Reflecting on life in photos and words.

Passageways – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

July 12, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 34 Comments

Actions taken from love
can never be regrets
only open doors 
of possibility 
to step through.

Doorways for light 
to shine in 
to shine out
or meet in amplification.

Welcoming visitors 
you once viewed
as strangers
now family members.

An invitation to leave
a room that doesn't serve you
or is keeping you small.

This door is locked 
on the inside
a wish come true.
You are free to leave
anytime.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2020
Photo take in on a trip to Amsterdam, 2019. 

Cee’s B&W Photo Challenge
Word of the Day Challenge: Wish

If I read you like a poem.

June 14, 2020June 27, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 40 Comments

If I brought poetry to your exhale
how would you breathe?

If you brought poetry to my cooking
how would it taste?

If we brought poetry to our conversation
what would we hear?

Would we notice the moan of wind 
escaping our arguments,

notice the water from our pipes is at a trickle, 
and our neighbors don’t stand in the front yard anymore

hateful weeds encroaching upon our edible garden
while voices overrun each other with lawn mower loudness?

A muffled fear, like cotton balls in our ears
falls free revealing the unison of our currents.
 
If I lived poetry
could I see the heart
underneath your skin?

Would you see me as a life 
as valuable as your own?
 
© Alicia Grimshaw 2020

“Poetry, whether the writing itself is explicitly political or not, always seeks a better way to respond, to think, to live.” – E. Ce Miller, writer, journalist

dVerse Poets Pub Open Link Night - share your poem and explore the poetry of others.

Unconditional

May 10, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 20 Comments

When it overflows,

clean and soothing.

A caress down your shoulders,

like fresh falling rain

a compassion of gentle

feathered touch.

The way you wished

your mother had held you

Hold yourself now,

embraced by love.

Within your own

two arms.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2020

Entryway

April 7, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 28 Comments

And though it may seem
like never opening your eyes
will protect you.

Grief’s gentle hand
closing your eyes
to sleep the days away.

If you don’t awaken
there is no way for the love
to get in.

Put your OPEN sign back up.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2020

dVerse Quadrille #101

“The risk of love is loss, and the price of loss is grief — But the pain of grief is only a shadow when compared with the pain of never risking love.”

– Hilary Stanton Zunin

Pep Talk – poem by Ali Grimshaw

March 12, 2020March 12, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 41 Comments

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” – Mother Teresa

Show up.
Be your
unique colors.
That’s enough.

Even when you doubt.
Even when you think it won’t work.
Even when you’re scared.

Show up.
That’s enough.

Those that came before
did just that.
Day after day
after day.

Show up.
Stand up.
Speak up.

Stop to listen from your heart.

Breathe.
You are ok.

Now repeat.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2020

Photo taken in NYC July 2019

dVerse Poets Pub – Lists Challenge

Singing through the cracks

March 6, 2020March 12, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 24 Comments

Image may contain: outdoor, possible text that says 'Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack in everything That's how the light gets in. Leonard Cohen LIFE' A DANCETM'

And they sang
through the cracks of pain
through the wandering worries
through the regrets, determined desires
to be true to their calling hearts.

And they sang
because song was needed
because together their voices lifted
because all else didn’t make sense
because they could.

And others joined the circle

and they sang.

Join me at the next song circle. Simply Singing Song Circle in Portland, Oregon with Carole Marie Downing

“Nothing accesses the inner world of feelings, sensations, memories, and associations as directly as music does,” says Diane Austin, adjunct associate professor of music therapy at New York University and executive director of the Music Psychotherapy Center in New York. “The voice is like a bridge from your heart to your head. Singing freely releases what’s locked up in your body.” A pilot study published in the British Journal of Nursing found that singing therapy could greatly reduce the anxiety and depression patients can experience following a major surgery. – Sing Two Songs and Call Me in the Morning by Sari Harrar

Temporary – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

February 27, 2020March 5, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 57 Comments

Your phrases landed
on the floor between us.
I didn’t know how to catch them.

Your breathless words carried
a story of near miss.
One collection of minutes
that almost
restructured my life.

Like flower petals
blown away by the wind
altering forever

their attachment
to the stem.

Never again to unite in bloom’s beauty.

A reminder of
the impermanence of us.

dVerse prompt – Poetics: Impermanence

May you notice – poem by Ali Grimshaw

February 14, 2020February 14, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 29 Comments

enlight1

It doesn’t need

to be earned

fought for, proven.

It cannot be purchased

or owed.

True love is given

just because.

I hope that you notice

that love has landed on you today.

I hope you let yourself feel it.

Thank you to all my readers for the love you share in the world. I see your hearts strong.

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

© Alicia Grimshaw 2020

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

And though it may seem like never opening your eyes will protect you.

Grief’s gentle hand closing your eyes to sleep the days away.

If you don’t awaken there is no way for the love to get in.

Put your OPEN sign back up.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2020

“The risk of love is loss, and the price of loss is grief — But the pain of grief is only a shadow when compared with the pain of never risking love.”

– Hilary Stanton Zunin

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” – Mother Teresa

Show up. Be your unique colors. That’s enough.

Even when you doubt. Even when you think it won’t work. Even when you’re scared.

Show up. That’s enough.

Those that came before did just that. Day after day after day.

Show up. Stand up. Speak up.

Stop to listen from your heart.

Breathe. You are ok.

Now repeat.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2020

Photo taken in NYC July 2019

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

And they sang through the cracks of pain through the wandering worries through the regrets, determined desires to be true to their calling hearts.

And they sang because song was needed because together their voices lifted because all else didn’t make sense because they could.

And others joined the circle

and they sang.

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

Your phrases landed on the floor between us. I didn’t know how to catch them.

Your breathless words carried a story of near miss. One collection of minutes that almost restructured my life.

Like flower petals blown away by the wind altering forever

their attachment to the stem.

Never again to unite in bloom’s beauty.

A reminder of the impermanence of us.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2020 (Rewrite of a poem shared in 2017)

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

It doesn’t need

to be earned

fought for, proven.

It cannot be purchased

or owed.

True love is given

just because.

I hope that you notice

that love has landed on you today.

I hope you let yourself feel it.

© Ali Grimshaw 2020

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

Your silhouetted resilience

of an almost ageless traveler

with kid’s eyes of curious.

Ready for all that is,

wildly wondrous.

Unwilling to miss a viewpoint

be it window wide

or mountaintop.

Fractured city lights illuminate

all the bold and beloved

I see in you.

© Ali Grimshaw 2020

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

And though it may seem
like never opening your eyes
will protect you.

Grief’s gentle hand
closing your eyes
to sleep the days away.

If you don’t awaken
there is no way for the love
to get in.

Show up.
Be your
unique colors.
That’s enough.

Even when you doubt.
Even when you think it won’t work.
Even when you’re scared.

Show up.
That’s enough.

Those that came before
did just that.
Day after day
after day.

Show up.
Stand up.
Speak up.

Breathe.
You are ok.

And they sang
through the cracks of pain
through the wandering worries
through the regrets, determined desires
to be true to their calling hearts.

And they sang
because song was needed
because together their voices lifted
because all else didn’t make sense
because they could.

Your phrases landed
on the floor between us.
I didn’t know how to catch them.

Your breathless words carried
a story of near miss.
One collection of minutes
that almost
restructured my life.

Like flower petals
blown away by the wind
altering forever

their attachment
to the stem.

A reminder of
the impermanence of us.