“Let yourself be silently drawn
by the deeper pull of what you
truly love.” – Rumi
What is calling you forth?
If you cannot see that vision of your future self
follow that which brings you to life
where tears of feeling pool in your eyes
your heart so full that
even the water from the faucet
flows out in slow motion.
© Ali Grimshaw
The running shoes you left behind
positioned like you evaporated from them
angled as if deserted mid-step
have me wondering
were you ready
to move on to an unknown life
stuffing skills and memories in a backpack
experiences overflowing from unzipped pockets
your back receding into the distance
I have learned the answer to
Are you ever ready?
© Ali Grimshaw
Step away from this dark corner
let your heart lead the way.
Thinking in a box of fearful thoughts
afraid of the other,
leads to imprisonment with defined edges,
slashing at silhouettes that only appear
as the enemy.
Walk away from this shadow
follow the music of trust in love.
What you think is the opposition
is only just another
scared and searching
no different than the face in
your bathroom mirror each morning.
© Ali Grimshaw
Open-minded – Discovery Challenge
When the questions hurt,
air thick with despair.
join together.
link your hearts.
© Ali Grimshaw
You may believe that I am with you
facing the sea side by side.
Yet I am hidden away
oceans from this place,
traveling without a suitcase.
My vessel left behind.
I don’t need a ship to carry me
to the places I am visiting.
© Ali Grimshaw
I will sing you comfort when your voice forgets the notes.
I will sing you a clearing in the forest,
a place to feel the warm sun on your back.
I will sing you courage for days when you
need to hear the music again.
© Ali Grimshaw
As he walks away,
the unknown grows inside me,
a tightness inside my chest.
His graduation is a forced exhale and I
breathe in the flight to come.
It was an illusion that he was ever mine,
from the start. He never belonged to me.
I was always ever the warm nest
from which he would someday fly.
Alicia Grimshaw
Dedicated to all of the parents of graduates. Yes, part of your heart is stepping out into the world to touch the lives of others. Let it go. Part of it will stay with you forever. What a privilege to experience this amazing journey of expanding love. Congratulations.
Like drops of rain
your temporary presence is
sliding away in moments
reflected in your eyes.
I ache with holding the love
and the loss to come
while we dance in this final day.
What is there to say
that we have not already lived?
The moment will soon arrive
a storm inside me
words a jumble on my tongue
there is no good way to watch you
walk back to your other life.
© Ali Grimshaw 2016
The path we share sometimes forks.
Here a place to pause among trees.
Conversations in layers like leaves on the forest floor.
Shadows arrive, shake us with views of separate routes.
I kiss your hand with love as I release it.
Fly above the forest if you are called to.
I will not let you deny yourself
to keep us on the same path.
Together we can travel
only if
you will still seek.
© Alicia Grimshaw revised version 2017
Why is it that the words on your lips
do not match your face?
A perplexing incongruence
leaving me wondering which to trust
the sweet promise of your mouth or
the words my soul knows to be the truth.
© Ali Grimshaw
flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw 