Lavender Fields – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

August 10, 2021 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 24 Comments

tending melancholy rows of dusk
swaying scented thoughts 
light eases away toward your side
of the world

barefoot
I close my eyes
to listen

our Mother Earth 
is singing us home

©Ali Grimshaw 2021

It is my dream to bring writers together from around the world to write together and listen with compassion. Join my for my next writing circle. All voices welcome.

Renewal Through Poetry: Writing Circle Monday, August 23, 2021 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM PDT

Register – HERE to write with us. We want to hear your words.

Eugi’s Weekly Prompt – Round the World – August 5, 2021. – Join the fun HERE.

Photo thanks to pixabay.com

Let’s Get Lost in a Poem – Ali Grimshaw

February 16, 2021February 16, 2021 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 20 Comments

Poetry is truth in a universal language able to cross boundaries and reach the human heart. It is through our practice of listening deeply to poems, to ourselves and each other that the joy of connection is created within the writing circle. I am honored to hold space for your words and invite you to welcome them to the page. Let's get lost together as we write and reflect. Join me for an upcoming writing circle. Fill your heart. 

Let's get lost 
in beauty of the waves.
Put the needle on the record
of this day,
live simply so others may
simply live
to delight in all good things
wild and free.

© Ali Grimshaw 2021

Alongside the Tent – poem by Ali Grimshaw

August 31, 2020September 3, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 34 Comments

My bare feet travel riverside down the dust talcum path. They feel the way forward while softly grounded in the fine dirt. As the bank of trees lean to shade, the river glides past, over and around rocks. Here it seems effortless for lives of birds, fish and plants to thrive together. None needing to shame or blame. Is it just my interpretation or have the living of the river ecosystem always known that there is enough for all, that everyone’s time will someday pass, that we will someday be nourishment for the next in line and there is peace in the acceptance of being a part of the changing cycle? There seems to be balance here. The kind of balance I am always seeking. As I hike up the pants, I have yet to grow into, I wonder if humans really are the more evolved species. It seems that I have so much to learn from the Osprey’s willingness to try again and the way rivers shift course without blaming the logs that have fallen to block their route. As I pack up my tent site I am already planning my return.

The river knows flow
transforming place without shame 
forgiving teacher

© Ali Grimshaw 2020

Haibun Monday, 8/31/20:Take a Hike! Join in the sharing at dVerse Poet's Pub.

Receiving – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

August 20, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 60 Comments

The messages kept landing
paper birds like folded airplanes from the sky.

Confetti of voices wanting to be heard
swirling of anger, colors of hurt, colliding confusion
spiraling to crash on the ground.

We hold our hands out to catch them
scattering in the street to pick up the fallen.

Each message, a precious life with wings
a paper bird in need of repair.

We sit in a circle and begin to unfold 
cupping our hands, just one at a time 
listening to its life of song.

It is like we have always known what was needed.
We knew we would stay as long as it took to give the listening
for each bird to be heard. It was clear. It was not a burden.

As we gently passed them from one hand to another, 
one by one around the circle, 
the sky opened to us all.
© Ali Grimshaw 2020

dVerse  ~ Poets Pub, Open Link Night with Linda
Share your voice and read the poems of others.

This poem is a reflection on the writing circles I have hosted. I will continue to offer a safe space of refuge for others to be seen and heard just as they are. Love is always the way forward.