A love note to my mother. In appreciation of the love mothers give every day.
© Ali Grimshaw 2018
love
Soul Box
Stars could fade, darkness
like nothing, this world without
you as my heart light.
© Ali Grimshaw 2019
THE SOUL BOX PROJECT is a national community art project calling for the making of one hand-folded paper box to represent every person killed or injured by gunfire in the U.S. since 2014. Hundreds of thousands of these Boxes will be displayed together in massive art installations to reveal the staggering number of gunfire victims.
If you are near Portland, Oregon you can fold boxes on the second Wednesdays of the month from 4 – 6:30 pm at the THE CENTER FOR SPIRITUAL WELLBEING, 7100 SW HAMPTON ST SUITE 126 PORTLAND, OR 97223
Find out more at SoulBoxProject.org
“The point is, art never stopped a war and never got anybody a job. That was never its function. Art cannot change events. But it can change people… because people are changed by art – enriched, ennobled, encouraged – they then act in a way that may affect the course of events… by the way they vote, they behave, the way they think.” – Leonard Bernstein
Beyond shore
She never failed
to float him beyond
the current of his day.
He never resisted
slipping away with her
curved sides just right
perfect in their holding space
arcs to part waves
when he needed release
she took him far from shore
her motor always finely tuned
of that he made sure never to neglect.
© Ali Grimshaw 2019 (Rewrite from 2017)
I’m so excited that it’s NaPoWriMo again. NaPoWriMo is an annual poetry challenge that takes place in April. The idea is to write a poem a day resulting in 30 poems in total. The NaPoWriMo site provides prompts if you want to use them. I have added to this challenge by reading poems every day of the month from several different sources. Click on the icon above to join in.
Allow
Thank you to AMETHYST REVIEW for sharing my poem, Allow, this week. I hope that it brings new possibilities into your day.
Unfurl toward the sunlight,
Ali
Parallel
craters of care
shadow marked attempts
deeply rutted thinking paths
(your footprints alongside mine)
from days of trying again and
our laughter in piles around the room
you are there in all the footsteps
of my mind.
© Ali Grimshaw 2019
“footsteps of the mind” – Tuesday writing challenge at Go Dog Go Cafe
Looking Glass
With the brokenness
there is a choice
to hear the mirror
or bury that which you won’t face.
Without any proof
I know you can do the hard things.
It is courage coupled with action
that matters after we fall.
Brave has always
lived inside of you,
printed in bold letters.
Step forward
cloaked in courage to
pick up only the pieces that
are worth keeping.
© Ali Grimshaw 2019
Recycled
Seeing them together
caused my pause
to write a gift for you
on scraps found. My pen
pulled my hand along
(it is braver than I).
It knows how to lay
my heart wide open,
like a prairie to the sky
nowhere to hide
expansive and still,
miles from adequate
for what I wish to give.
© Ali Grimshaw (rewrite 2019)
A moment’s gift – poem by Ali Grimshaw
a time to keep silence near
exhale’s companion
a sound of not needing
to hold on,
open palm invitation
to allow the next
while nestled in cocooned cotton
like snowflakes in your hair
layers of white quiet, an offering
you didn’t have to earn
© Ali Grimshaw 2019
Quadrille for d’Verse – Turn, Turn, Turn
Some of the Time
I want to give a shout out to The Drabble for sharing my poem today, Some of the Time. I am always honored to have my voice shared. The Drabble at WordPress, is a fun site dedicated to publishing original fiction, non-fiction, and poetic works of 100 words or less. Please travel over and visit my poem by clicking on this link, Some of the Time I would love to hear your feedback on this poem. It is all about hanging on through whatever life throws our way. If you are going through tough times today, hold on, this too shall pass.
Thank you for helping me to shine my light.
Ali
Melting
© Ali Grimshaw 2017
flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw 