When you have stomped on
the trust we had between us
flattening it
to a paper thinness so transparent
few fibers left to hold the oneness of us.
After the debris is cleared away, thorns and boulders
removed with the owning of your actions.
Damage control is called in
cracks that can only be filled
with risking to love you
again with my whole being.
No hesitation or waiting period required.
I am all in.
© Ali Grimshaw
Can there ever be too much whole face listening,
a time when acknowledgement was no longer needed,
when kindness was overdone?
No desire for extra hands to lighten the load?
A day when being vulnerable was a waste of courage?
Letting another see your frailty a chance not worth taking?
A moment of too much love?
Walk out onto your street and look.
Those downcast eyes are the reply.
Run now, its not too late.
© Ali Grimshaw
Who decides where you fit in?
Walking into a room full of others
feeling like you don’t belong, not one of them.
Severed, the other, a misfit.
Open faces smile, glance your way.
But you have already closed the door
on belonging.
Doors open both ways. Exit this one.
Return again with this knowing
you are not held separate. Proving your worth
was never a requirement. The family of all things*
has been waiting for you.
Take this place, a space saved just for you.
Anywhere in the room will work.
Acceptance comes from inside.
* Acknowledgement to Mary Oliver’s words from her poem “Wild Geese”
© Ali Grimshaw 2016 (photo taken on the Oregon coast.)
I will write you blue sky
sunlight on yellow flowers.
I will write you a single snowflake
magnified in all its delicate brilliance.
I will write you a cocoon of comfort
a blanket of love you have never known
a full envelope, arriving on the wind, for the day
you need it most.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2016
Photo taken on a family trip to Italy 2016.
He brings me leaves
one each day
a contrast in shape
varied vibrancy, coral to ripe peach
left on the kitchen counter
until evening arrives at our window.
Held in his palm
this single donation
color story of today
our eyes meet
the wrinkles, textured hues, imperfect edges.
Our hands hold a temporary prize between us
cherishing.
Trees give without expecting
something in return. Thankfully,
so does he.
© Ali Grimshaw 2016
May you find someone to share the beauty of nature with today. Happy Thanksgiving.
Could this be the final day
of an autumn that I thought would last?
A mellowing of red between us
once crackling emotions now dust bits
collected in a whirling dervish
carried away in the wind.
Now I am an empty street waiting
for the street light to click on.
Predictable and ever awed
by the chance
to begin again.
© Ali Grimshaw
You have landed
in your own pond
sending out rings
your circles overlapping those of
other rocks who have taken the plunge.
I cannot see the ripples
you will make in others’ lives.
Yet, I know they exist. As I have
felt your wholeness in our embrace.
I see you time and again, resurfacing.
The shine in your eyes,
never to be the same
only brighter.
© Ali Grimshaw
Head down, back bent,
climbing back into yourself
fear perspiring on your forehead.
Looks like you could use a lift.
Travel forward with me
I will steer for awhile.
You can coast.
I will pedal out the questions.
You can consider answers.
Life can be different
on a bicycle built for two.
© Ali Grimshaw
flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw 