Windstorm

knocked down

like a tree after a storm

my trunk horizontal

broken limbs at odd angles

body left with jagged holes exposed

pieces scattered near and far down the lane

some parts even seem to have disappeared

now I think I understand how humpty dumpty felt

there isn’t a way to put the pieces back together

it is time to start again

look for fertile soil

plant myself where sunlight will reach me.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2017

 

 

 

Long before…

In the unfinished

before the credits scroll past

can you choose acceptance

without an end,

before the conclusion

without approval from the crowd?

Between the ribs, within

deeply, a voice

the one you used to hear

before you thought the others

were the ones that mattered.

Knew better and overruled your soul.

Before you decided

who you weren’t going to be.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2017

 

 

Don’t believe everything you think.

When you visit the land of your own thinking.

Shocked by what you see

tip toe between the lines of your history

so as not to waken them

these tales from the past

will inquire of your intentions.

 

Take a flashlight

when you visit your thoughts.

It can be eerily dark inside,

a tangle of paths to lose your way.

No one to question doubts

remind you of the courageous act

of responsibility taken just last week.

 

Step with care, lightly

as you lift, poke and dig.

Leave some music playing in the room

to find your way out.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2017

 

 

 

 

Refusal

Hold in place. Unwavering as the hurricane blows. Stand still when faced with a slap. Unbreakably bolted down. Absolute. Never cringe away. Stay. Forward one small step, your time. Crawl if you must. Claim your life. Take the hand that is offered then rise again. Unwilling to be swallowed, drug into the past. Drowned. Face toward what your heart holds true. Like a mountain through the seasons, remain.

Living refusal

thoughts chosen to unify

imprisoned by none

© Alicia Grimshaw 2017

My first attempt to write a Haibun (俳文, literally, haikai writings) a prosimetric literary form originating in Japan, combining prose and haiku. For those of you who are know this craft well, please understand this is a humble beginning.

imagesnational poetry month

Each Morning

IMG_4304

IMG_5252

“The best poetry has a magical quality—a sense of being more than the sum of its parts—and even when it’s impossible to articulate this sense, this something more, the power of the poem is left undiminished.” – How to Read a Poem from Poets.org

Happy National Poetry Month 2017

© Alicia Grimshaw 2017