and if
and if she had not become
quite so tame
what trees might she be at the top of now?
how many times has her heartvoice been drowned out
by training wheels and forced rewrites of others?
it is never too late to nourish, curve toward the sun
she is a flower like all flowers
her wildness knows how to bloom
without advice
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
Sitting with a bowl of fresh picked blueberries, I pop a handful in my mouth. Holding their sweetness, closing my eyes to absorb the flavor. I have waited months for this taste and will not take it for granted. This small celebratory act seems like the perfect way to honor Andrea Gibson whose words always reminded me to be present to the gifts of being alive. Tears fall for the loss of this poet today; mine, and many, many others. Andrea is someone I have never met and someone who changed me. How beautifully unimaginable to have lost someone so dear after only knowing them from their poems that offered a rope of connection, courage to live heart wide open, inspiration to keep going. I will cherish my small bowl of blue magic in honor of all the words Andrea put into the world.
soar on dear poet
I will keep adding stretch marks to my heart
fly free
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
Read A List of Things I Love by Andrea Gibson
I am grateful to be a part of the Stafford Challenge Anthology 2024-25 which includes 200 poems from an international community of poets who committed to writing a poem a day for a year.
Featuring original work from acclaimed poets like Kim Stafford, Naomi Shihab Nye, CMarie Fuhrman, and more, this collection represents just a fraction of the thousands of poems written between January 17, 2024, and January 16, 2025, by the poets of The Stafford Challenge community. Inspired by the daily writing practice of William Stafford, these writers—from seasoned poets to those discovering their voices—dedicated themselves to this yearlong poetic journey, and each poem here stands as a tribute to that commitment.
This collection is a celebration of the creative spirit, dedicated to anyone who has ever felt the deep pull of language, creativity, and the desire to express something potent and true.
The Stafford Challenge 2024-25 Anthology can be found in both paperback and ebook formats at all major bookstores and retailers. Please use the links below for our preferred purchasing options.
wanting full sun while full well knowing I am a shade plant
as hours of sunlight in our landscape keep shifting
seeing us wilting
I am willing to consider transplanting
while irrigating with honesty
wondering weeds away
trusting rainclouds and the pollination between us
© Ali Grimshaw 2025 - Photo taken on a lovely Colorado farm.
Join a welcoming group of poets at dVerse Poets’ Pub. Quadrille Monday. HERE
"Imagine a garbage can," she said, "whatever size you desire."
My garbage can was the extra large green container the type you pull to the curb so big you can't lift it. I saw myself throwing in rocks of worry, dirt clods of sorrow, and flinging feelings of anxiety. All these emotions turned into things I could hold and heave. They all landed in the can with a satisfying sound.
"Now watch it be hauled away by the truck."
I wanted that relief of seeing it all carried away but instead I said, "I need another one."
Her voice replied, "You can have as many as you need."
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
Photo taken in Amsterdam, 2019.
I have fallen out of practice.
This morning I missed seeing the beautiful distraction
that you are, that you have always been.
You grinning at the hummingbird in the window.
You stomping down the stairs to begin the day
rushing in to kiss me on the cheek.
You humming while sweeping through the doorway
I missed the generosity of you
and now
it is Thursday already.
When did I fall so heavily asleep
to have lost my noticing?
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
Join us over at dVerse Poets' Pub for Open Link Night. Link one poem of your choice and have fun reading the poetry of others in this welcoming community. - HERE.
Photo taken in Lisbon, Portugal. I fell in love with the murals there.
and they signed up to become listeners for the collective
pledging their ears to receive the full telling of each
without rejection of a single tale or truth
a willingness to learn this craft of the heart
essential for survival of the whole
most understood this was more than an occupation
it would become their way of being for a lifetime
to cradle the words of each speaker
holding tender the unthinkable
without judgement
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
Photo taken in Croatia 2023.
A big thank you to editor Barbara Leonhard for publishing my poem, And if we did. This poem came from an inquiry about what I assume and the power of sitting with the question, “What am I assuming to be true?” I invite you to visit MasticadoresUsa to read the poem, enjoy the poetry of others, and share your thoughts.
Thank you to the many, many poets who keep our hearts alive during challenging times.
Join in Open Link Night at dVerse Poets’ Pub HERE. Share a poem of your choice and meet a friendly community of poets.
In the grocery store parking lot I stopped.
I stopped when I saw her shining above.
What glory, she captivated the sky
and the cold felt fresh, an awakening to
the noticing. The beautiful that no one
can ever take away. The moon, a bright planet
accompanying her, together in the dark
stilled my breath. How lucky that the noticing
still lives within me. So many have forgotten
to look up.
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
In these dark times it is more important than ever to share you light. Sending you mine.
teapot with toaster
smokey skies, lost hope
bridges, boundaries
hints of forgiveness, open passageways
returning again to locked doors
rainboots greeting purposeful puddle stomping
associations that may or may not
be related depending on who is listening
what will you put with that word?
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
Visit a friendly poetry community at dVerse Poets’ Pub for Quadrille Monday.
Join the fun HERE.
Photo taken of the St. John’s Bridge, Oregon.
flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw 