Silky Owlet / Photographed in Papua New Guinea / Michael Sammut
She is different from me
yet we share a desire of forests
deeply shadowed with a hundred greens.
What do her eyes see?
I think she is teaching me how to land
make steady a fragile footing
from leaf to leaf
beautifully balanced
and I am captivated.
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
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Melissa has invited us to celebrate art in nature.
You can check it out HERE.
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.
Published in Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women
Editor Gabriela Marie Milton 2022.
This poem rings more true to me than ever. Let's keep creating a vision of love for the future.
Join us at dVerse Poets' Pub for Open Link Night. Share a poem and join in the reading of other's work. You can find us HERE.
“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” – John Muir
As I dug deeply down to tuck you in safely, one by one, in softness, grounded for growth with care and wishes for your survival. (Awareness of my lack of qualifications and experience crowded into the activity like a boisterous neighbor who wasn’t invited. “This won’t work. You don’t know what you’re doing.”)
As I put my shovel away, I am thinking about internal resistance. My resistance to planting, to bothering with placing all of you in the earth. My head saying, “You’re doing it wrong. You will be disappointed.” My heart replying, “Let’s try. I need to wonder.”
Now I am pondering, curious actually, what would it be like to live without a belief in planting. Realizing I already know. I have been there and don’t want to go back.
I am seeding a future I cannot see. I am planting hope in the dark cold of winter. This includes garlic cloves and my belief in loving action to grow the next. Stepping into the unknowable with a curious heart that knows it doesn’t always work out and planting it anyway.
Later that day I found three more cloves in my pocket. Three that escaped planting day. Their potential is not lost. I will find time to tuck them to bed too.
Cover them with leaves.
© Ali Grimshaw 2024
Thank you Stephanie Matlock for nurturing my inner farmer and gifting me garlic to plant. You are the Garlic Master! Cobblestone Farms, LLC.
when I feel that nothing matters
I will name it despair
and when a wave comes
I find quiet like
wind on my face
with the passing of the wave through me
(realization like a form of sleep apnea)
my breath returns as a gasp of awareness
unfolding the letting go is part of the wave
the part that reminds me, I am the water too
fighting to keep myself afloat is unnecessary
all depths of love are still finding us
do not fear
© Ali Grimshaw 2024
Here I stand on hope street keeping my hearthope alive.
Ms. Sunset is visiting earlier
Mr. Freeze is on his way
Who, how, and what
will get you through
nightchill of dark dampness?
His voice warming?
Her listening light from miles away?
Spotify playlists, kitchen dances
singing in candlelight?
What'll it be?
Suggestions welcomed.
© Ali Grimshaw 2024
If you have experienced SAD then you know if can be very impactful. If you haven't yet made a plan to support yourself through the dark months then there is no better time than today. Don't hesitate to reach out for support along the way. You are not alone.
It’s Quadrille Monday at dVerse Poets' Pub.
Come join the fun HERE.
Before I walk away,
returning to a new season of my life,
let’s rewind this journey
for one last view.
Our thrills, near misses,
and countless conversations melted together,
weaving me into the true color I have become.
Wherever I am
is your home
to come back to.
© Ali Grimshaw 2024
Photo taken in a small town in Colorado. Humans create amazing spaces.
To see, feel, hold, wake
determination cycles, knowing mistakes
enduring without audience
multi-stepped blossomed awareness
winging it
drenched ducks in a row
elation evaporation
mind marathons
love injects herself into the race
- all this comes after
promising
if your words are
tattooed as you
© Ali Grimshaw 2024
Join a welcoming community of poets
for today's prompt - promise. HERE.
A red geranium
purposefully glowing
among the fallen leaves
lusciously living among the crisp.
It will not
be denied its time of bloom
long past summer's farewell.
I want to be a mark of love on this world
just like that.
© Ali Grimshaw 2024
This week I am challenging myself to grow by speaking with people I don't know with the hope that I will make a heart connection. The world needs each of us to show up. Whatever you have got to give, don't doubt the value of giving it.
Keep shining your light.
Ali
Let's linger
in Autumn glow
befriending dusk on its way
to cloak us with comfort
ease our worries loose
to fall.
Pausing here
we become one with this
seasonal scene of hush
before continuing our saunter
harvesting what matters most
from this day.
© Ali Grimshaw 2024
“Noticing you’ve lost your balance is part of finding it again. Recognizing (and normalizing) imbalance is part of rebalancing.” – Lea Seigen Shinraku
Check out Lea’s free Love Yourself Now With Art Journaling Workshop on October 6 HERE.
Rebalancing
when she noticed her tilt
an unequal stance leaning toward tumble
she was lucky enough to remember
and send herself love to reorient,
instead of judgement
when the rainstorm arrived
she welcomed it without resistance
befriending her tipping vessel
rebalancing was just part of living
she could find her way drenched,
as well as, dry
I have found writing with others to be a beautiful way to rebalance. Join me for an upcoming circle of poems, writing, and reflective listening. Email to register at coaching@aligrimshaw.com
Upcoming Writing Circles:
Saturday, October 12, 9:30 – 11:00 am PDT $20
Saturday, November 2, 9:30 – 11:00 am PDT $20
Saturday, December 7, 9:30 – 11:00 am PDT $20
flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw 