Before I walk away,
returning to a new season of my life,
let’s rewind this journey for one
last view. The thrills, near misses,
and countless conversations melted together,
making me the true color I have become.
Wherever I am
is your home
to come back to.
© Alicia Grimshaw
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
I miss the days of your eyes
a yearning treasure seeker
when I was the X on your map.
© Ali Grimshaw
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
Without you
he will be an island that I cannot reach
an evolving door
a language untranslatable.
You are the bridge, an extension
carrying my voice to him.
Without you
will the connection be severed?
Just a recorded message
at the other end.
This line is now disconnected.
© Ali Grimshaw
Discovery Challenge – Connection
Say your words,
don’t let your voice whither inside.
Weariness can talk you into thinking that your voice doesn’t matter.
The past may try to convince you that your voice doesn’t count.
Resignation will yell,
“No one will listen any way, so save your breath.”
Say your words
clearly and just loud enough.
Say them for yourself and for the one
that isn’t willing to be the first to speak,
but can and will be the second.
© Ali Grimshaw
sometimes a regret comes back to life
emerging as a poem.
morphing as it translates into words
pain blossoming
on a single stem
each petal overlapping
some parts me
some parts you
forming an image fixed in time
an elixir of us
I drink in
to set us both free.
© Ali Grimshaw
Discovery Challenge – Shared Journeys
flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw 