Daybreak – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

August 20, 2022 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 24 Comments

Each day a chance
for new green to reach us
for listening to happen in a way
that has never happened before.

For air to clear.
And for us to come together
instead of apart.

For healing to blossom
forgiveness heard, shame shifting
to break the cycle of old chains.

For mirroring your love
revealing how your eyes
have seen me forward.

For rebalancing of Earth and sky
an atmosphere where all living things
breathe without fear of suffocation.

For dormancy to begin again
or throw off its covers
to jump out of bed.

For someone to return home
or find a home
or be welcomed to a home
for the very first time.

©Ali Grimshaw 2022

This poem first published in, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women, available HERE (kindle & paperback) This poetry anthology is a testament to both the challenges that women face in our society, and to their power to overcome them. A memorable collection of over 200 poems by more than 100 authors. Thanks to the work of by Gabriela Marie Milton and Ingrid Wilson.

Have you heard? – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

July 17, 2022 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 9 Comments

say what you find in the deep moss of your feet
a lush immersion of aliveness long forgotten
like leaves caressing your childhood cheek

follow the movement of this forest vocabulary
a language that you have yet to dance with
are you willing to give yourself over 

to sit with the fallen nurse logs
to listen for the tall evergreen guardians 
to days of foresttime 

absent from hours or minutes ticking
filled instead by croaks, sways, gurgles
music accessible to the practiced ear

you will feel it coming
a cooling shift of rainclouds
the beginning of your roots
being welcomed in

©Ali Grimshaw 2022

Join me on earthweal 
for open link weekend HERE

Buoyancy – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

July 11, 2022 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 39 Comments

dawn goddess
celebrator of the hopeful 

Aurora offers cresting radiance
beams definitively sky filled
breaking over mountains dim

a daily gesture of newness
of beginnings yet to be

let her shine on you
morning overflowing

fill your cup with levity 
walk lightly through heaviness

©Ali Grimshaw 2022

Join me in celebrating the 11th Anniversary 
of dVerse Poet's Pub, - HERE.
Quadrille # 155, Let's Celebrate

Sipping – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

May 26, 2022May 29, 2022 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 31 Comments

she didn't need to know how to pronounce the name
of what grew before her delicately vivid

she didn't need to understand how it pollinated
or the temperatures it withstood last winter

she didn't need to know why it arrived 
who brought it from afar or how it survived

her eyes saw the magenta magnificence
drank in the sweet joy of bloom in a cup

tasted the miniture petals
an elixer of revival

©Ali Grimshaw 2022

Join a friendly community of poets for Open Link Night
at dVerse Poet's Pub HERE

Water Heal My Soul – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

March 7, 2022March 14, 2022 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 47 Comments

My words were inspired by this nourishing song, The River,

written and performed by Coco Love Alcorn. Please give it a listen.

river's spirit sings
rhythm without age
it knows flow
where to go
it helps me trust the way

with eyes closed, receiving
I open to the waterway
joining streamlets, runnels, rivulets
rushing away

Mother Earth's teaching
receding or overflow 
returning is
river's way to go

©Ali Grimshaw 2022

Join us at dVerse - Eyeing the Quadrille #147 HERE

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.