One Sky
art
Come write with me.
Writing is all about connection. Letters arranged to reach out across miles or decades. Voices being heard. Acknowledgement of experiences. Fantasy. Dreams on paper that can fly. Feeling another’s mind like jumping into a clear mountain lake. This is why I love writing with others. It is about a shared authentic experience that anyone can participate in.
If you are in the Portland, Oregon area during the month of October come visit the Multnomah Arts Center Gallery where I will have some poems displayed in public for the first time as a guest of artists Erin Leichty and Martin Levin. I am also holding a FREE community event.
Connecting Through Shared Writing
You are invited to connect with others through shared writing. We will use poetry to listen, write and reflect together. Participants do not need to have any writing background just a willingness to listen and embrace a fun learning experience. You will leave inspired by the art and words as we gather in the gallery space at the Multnomah Arts Center on Sunday, October 15 from 3:00 – 4:00 pm. FREE
ERIN LEICHTY & MARTIN LEVIN On Display October 6 – 24, 2017
Paintings & Metal Sculpture, Featuring Poetry by Ali Grimshaw
“Holding Space” & “Meditations on the Platonic Solids”
Reception: Friday, October 6 • 7 to 9 pm
Footprints
As I traverse
what do my footprints say?
Those who walk beside
a step behind and to the left will
see them. Mud messages dried
to become solid.
When my legs no longer walk
my tacks will speak out
a decodable message.
I hope you decipher
“Don’t give up.
Keep looking for the footprints
I am with you.”
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
In dedication to Mother Teresa (1910 – 1997) “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
Around the Corner
She overcame
her internal screaming toddler,
“I don’t wanna. I don’t wanna.”
Will Power offered a hand
linking her arm in his
to lead around the corner.
Her first step through
this now open door
a route unavailable
to her past self.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
Photo taken in Lisbon, Portugal 2017
Inhale
Breath from within me
floats out to join yours,
to settle on the brown ground beside
join the atmosphere’s chorus
sing with your exhale.
The tree we sit beneath
is not excluded
from this song.
Lightly soft it hums
new life down upon us.
Static on the radio
world leaders move their pieces,
play the game of war.
Under the tree
we continue to breathe each other.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017/Rewrite 2019
Nose Above Water
Just enough oxygen.
Not a breath more,
than what is needed
for life to continue.
Her body floats in liquid blue.
Hair feathered out
on the surface like tentacles
reaching for a firm grip,
a holdfast,
to keep from
going
under.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
Will you reconsider?
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
Awakening
My eyes upon
what my body can do
in this now.
Gratitude for fingers that write.
Legs that walk me into the world.
A hand that can hold yours.
This migrating temple I possess.
A shell washed clean on sand
Your lips brushed across mine.
The aliveness that quickens.
Awe to wake up again.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
It starts inside you…
© Alicia Grimshaw 2016
Resharing this post from a year ago. Still seeking peace.
Between Places
The need that will not stop
the need to create for ourselves
speak with our hands
scribble with our minds.
Make, shape, build
add colors from inside.
Be
bolder than
we trust ourselves to be.
We share wisps of tender fear
kept hidden from view
like a shield of insecurity
tucked behind the ear.
Wary of those that come
with a look unfamiliar.
Remember
the power of the
impermanent paint
to include.
Lines drawn
to dare a crossing
or
to encircle all.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
Street art – Lisbon, Portugal
flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw 