Alongside the Tent – poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ 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

~ 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.

Leaving without him

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 45 Comments

“i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)”
– E.E. Cummings

Twisted deeply within the realization 
of this being the day of goodbye
A warm sorrow reverberates through my limbs 
down to my heavy steps homeward. 
This is the part of loving wholeheartedly 
that I wish I could skip over. 
When the sunset arrives and takes you with it 
far from where I am.

From the first time I laid eyes on you
your inner charm worked magic on me
a spirit who dared to explore, 
balancing fences, tree limbs, to rooftop scrambles
while others shouted, "There is a kid up there."
You never were the "play it safe" kind.
I knew the someday would come
of releasing you to fly in the wind.

This motherhood thing sucks
just when you've spent 18 years
falling in love with your boy
(even on days when you didn't feel like it)
he turns into a man you adore with your
whole heart proud, filled with keeping.
Just then, it is time to share him
with the world.

It would be greedy of me not to share
but in this moment I don't want to
play by the rules, where sons grow up.
Instead let me rewind; all aches, pains and joys
to live again the rollercoaster of mothering you.
Your journey of magnificent learnings,
dares and caring that accumulate into
you as the tower beside me.

No matter where you walk upon the earth. 
I hope you hear my whispers in your ear,
I carry your heart
I carry it in my heart.

© Ali Grimshaw 2020

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Shadows and reflections

Reflecting on life in photos and words.

Buoyancy

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 26 Comments 
once you were sure of steadiness
that capsizing only happened to others

then the tilting began, a slow 
deep lean to the left side of righteous

how easily the water seeped in, coldly 
chilling you from the inside out 

like the world had forgotten that you
had always been the floating kind

once you were rescued for no reason
and you never forgot that any boat can sink

when balance is lost at sea.

© Ali Grimshaw 2020

dVerse Poetry Challenge - Come Sail

Leap – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 40 Comments 
She had forgotten
the gleeful falling feeling 
of freedom

what it was like to jump
on purpose,
instead of being pushed

the bold thrill of 
shoulders back, above it all
strong standing tall 

the moment when 
fear collides with aliveness
a smirk of, "just watch me,"
on her face.

She had forgotten
why jumping had
mattered to her.

© Ali Grimshaw 2020

Photo taken years back in Maui. After I wrote this I had to go searching to find this photo again. A happy memory is always worth searching for.

topsy-turvy – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 16 Comments 
Which way out?
Down is upside down
up is not what it used to be

Which way to the familiar 
where the predictable
seemed to be real?

Which way to rise
above the untaught history
which left us blind?

Which way forward
to undo, redo, or never do
again what once we did?

What we weren't ready for
or maybe never are, 
let's help each other rise
let us begin again.

© Ali Grimshaw 2020

Writing together provides a mirror for us to process life in a safe place where we have all agreed to listen with compassion. Thank you to all of you who have written with me in the last few months. I am so very grateful to share this journey with you. I have added this new date and time to open up the invitation to others in different time zones. Let’s connect across the boarders. Stay safe my friends.

Register on Eventbrite

Ripen – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 28 Comments

dVerse ~ Poets Pub OLN – Come and explore this great community of poets.

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tended affectionately
organic prizes plumped
primed by summer's passion
heat and BB King's blues
quenching warmth 
gathering of sunlit kisses
red ripe to tango 
with your tongue and mine
slip into my backyard 
delight in this tender flesh
this ready to please moment 
of this temporary season.

© Ali Grimshaw 2020 (rewrite from 2018)

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Listening Inward

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 7 Comments

A online group journaling experience with Ali Grimshaw.

Tuesday, August 11, 4:00 – 5:30 pm PDT

The world needs the unique light that only you can shine. Keep your light on through the renewal of shared writing. Writing together can surprise us with new insights and guide our own journey.

  • Explore writing as a tool for self-reflection.
  • Slow down with yourself in space of self-care.
  • Be inspired by the words of others.

Testimonials from my past writing circle participants:

“Thank you for your loving energy, leading us to a place within ourselves that we either didn’t know was there or had been untapped for sometime. Your deep listening is a gift, and I feel held in it.” – Carrie

“I loved your focus on being intentional, hearing the voices of other women and your positive energy. You are a light and an inspiration.” – Diane

Register Below.

Register on Eventbrite

I am… – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 48 Comments 
When you choose what follows
I am ...
pick your words with care.
I am brave can make walls disappear.
I am enduring can see you through troubled times.
I am curious can allow you to travel on a floating leaf
without leaving the front yard.

Sometimes others want to choose our words for us.
You are trouble.
You are incapable.
You are unworthy.

The secret is
words won't stick to you if you don't want them.
If you look closely they can be found.
Those unwanted words are removable.
Peel them off
Brush them away
or gently blow them into the breeze
like seeds of the dandelion. 

You never have to keep the words
unless you want them. 

So, what words will you choose
to follow 
I am...?

Passageways – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 34 Comments 
Actions taken from love
can never be regrets
only open doors 
of possibility 
to step through.

Doorways for light 
to shine in 
to shine out
or meet in amplification.

Welcoming visitors 
you once viewed
as strangers
now family members.

An invitation to leave
a room that doesn't serve you
or is keeping you small.

This door is locked 
on the inside
a wish come true.
You are free to leave
anytime.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2020
Photo take in on a trip to Amsterdam, 2019. 

Cee’s B&W Photo Challenge
Word of the Day Challenge: Wish