The first bowl of summer strawberries picked from my backyard.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
Uncategorized
Dialogue
Random thoughts collect in her hair.
Ideas shed by passers by
printed in fonts, large and small
nestled in her curls.
Within the crowd ideas conflict
like a crash of cymbals.
She swallows them all
continues to shift the molecules
search for a new formula
that makes sense.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
Taking Flight – Graduation Day
Transitions are in the air… some are leaving the nest for flight. Sending this out for all who are celebrating graduations. Your heart may feel full to bursting as your traverse this new road.
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.
Doubt
Why?
One word with the power to
kick my brain from the inside.
Why did I pick this?
Why is it important to me?
Without this one word question
procrastination can run amok.
Why does finishing this matter?
Will anyone care?
Is it worth it?
I am just one
among billions.
Just plain old me.
What if I don’t?
What will be lost?
Will I cease to exist?
The why of
is always
the essential.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
Inspired by Nikki’s post titled “Doubts and Dreams” – Flying Through Water
Background Story
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
What is Left of You
I am resharing this poem in honor of all the parents attending graduations this month. Congratulations. New adventures await.
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
Courage rides the train
They stepped onto the train that day
unaware of the choice the ride included.
When the voice of hate screamed
the two stood as stone, unwilling to look away.
Unified strangers woven into a safety net
flung over the young ones
a protective cover given without request
those two hearts knew what freedom
to live without fear was worth.
The cost of standing up,as the train moved into tomorrow
was life itself.
In this morning’s memory mirror
I wonder if I would be brave enough
to ride as they did.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
Dedicated to the men who died a year ago in Portland, Oregon as they stood to defend two young women. My heart breaks for the loved ones of Ricky Best, father of four and US Army veteran, and Taliesan Namkai-Meche a recent college graduate. In honor of these two and the countless others who have stood up against hate please join me in acts of kindness wherever you live. Love is the only answer.
For more information read this Washington Post article, ‘Final act of bravery’: Men who were fatally stabbed trying to stop anti-Muslim rants identified
In reflection… Memorial Day
When you signed
put life on the line
with handwritten ink bleeding on the page,
did you realize the sacrifice
a mother’s wail to follow in the night
before your feet left this land?
My heart cracks with the thinking of it
pain leaking out slow.
The life you donated for others
unknown to you
makes me know without doubt
love is brave.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
Thank you to all who have given their lives for others.
Forbidden Separateness
Never adrift
always within arm’s length
inseparable as far back
as memory will reach,
weathered worn wise
with fantasies of
chain breaking
to float free.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
A different view
flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw 