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Awakening – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 10 Comments 
I expect to wake each morning.
Safely carried through night's passing.
How have I not noticed this?
Before dreams retreat, my feet finding floor.

Safely carried through night's passing.
Pixelating myself onto this day's screen.
Before dreams retreat, my feet finding floor.
I have taken wholeness for granted.

Pixelating myself onto this day's screen.
Standing in this ordinary.
I have taken wholeness for granted.
Movement is my freedom to be.

Standing in this ordinary.
How have I not noticed this?
Movement is my freedom to be.
I expect to wake each morning.

© Ali Grimshaw 2023

Join us at dVerse for Open Link LIve #348, this Saturday, October 14 at 7:00 AM PST or wherever you are in your time zone. Come to listen or read a poem. Visit dVerse Poets’ Pub HERE for details. See you there.

5 Directions to the Next – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 6 Comments 
“Travel is about the gorgeous feeling 
of teetering in the unknown.” – Anthony Bourdain
One, listen for the sound of water moving freely
it finds a way forward without argument
over moss, between stones.

Two, follow the rain slicked planks
built to cross this earthy beauty
in curved rather than straight lines.

Three, notice how many shades of green exist
chartreuse, emerald cucumber, pine. 
Look again, then again.
Name some of your own making
watermoss.

Four, feel mist envelope 
as raindrops greet
you are water too.

Five, sing forth your internal compass
join the hum of molecules
one song is enough.

© Ali Grimshaw 2023

Written in Response to "Five Directions to My House" by Juan Felipe Herrera. Hear him read his poem HERE. This prompt came from dVerse Poets' Pub. Come join a friendly, welcoming community of poets.

Photograph taken at Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia.

Morning Arrival in Mljet

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 18 Comments

Arched islands like backs of resting animals

cooling in the sea.

White ships glide as water skippers

to cross morning skin of blue shimmer.

An impressionist scene of morning

as bikes are unloaded with laughter and Croatian directives.

One man leaning over the boat railing.

One man below.

One bicycle at a time.

Until the two-wheeled collective has left the ship.

They create a peloton premonition on the sidewalk below.

My anticipating heart beats in synch

with the surrounding islands

as the sky opens.

I have been traveling by boat and by bicycle in Croatia. What a gorgeous country.

The Many – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 12 Comments 

Lavender dusk of sky

mingles with the sweet breath

of gardenia mist view.


Hush scatters across them all

so as not to forget it's tenderness.


A blanket for the many 

homeless wanderers

in need of comfort tonight.


© Ali Grimshaw 2023

A few years back I wrote a post it note for myself. It lives on my bathroom wall. This note is to remind me how to get back on track when I feel out of sorts. It says, “Whenever I am in service to others I know exactly who I am.” If I am confused or down all I need to do is get in action to serve someone else. Love is an action and when I take authentic action to serve others I regain my footing in life.

Jump into August – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 20 Comments

Dipping skinny-style, screaming out in glee, we entered the river to revive. Jumping away from the heated August afternoon only to return to the warm rocks and bask like turtles. Then followed hours of our rinse and repeat cycle as sunlight slid down the river. Summer freedom was its own kind of happy without the constraints of parents or the weight of planning for the future to come. We flew through the air trusting the pools to welcome us with a generosity that had held so many before our time. There were no thoughts of tomorrow.

bubbled free

water nymphs laze

summertide

©Ali Grimshaw 2021

Brooklyn Bridge – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 14 Comments 
four bicycles, four riders
"let's make a memory"

breezes of golden summer
delight our pedaling legs

freedom like five-year-olds
without wonderings for tomorrow

(half-way across the bridge I pause 
to snap this photo
even knowing it will
never capture this preciousness)

coasting clear of any fear
spontaeous spirits led us here

four of us riding toward
a view in transition

one point of light arriving at a time

© Ali Grimshaw 2023

This photo was indeed taken halfway across the Brooklyn Bridge in the summer of 2019. It is a memory I treasure.

Held – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 23 Comments 
"The answer is always a question. 
There is no truth more true than wonder." - Andrea Gibson

Is there anything that I hold
that isn't also holding me?

cool air breathing me alive from the inside

the back of the chair supporting me
as my weight is upon it

the trusted walls enclosing me 
as I hold space for myself to be

outside my window weighted limbs layered with frost

holding you in my thoughts
I wonder widely
while held within the hands of change
as twilight slowly surrounds me.

© Ali Grimshaw 2023

Join me for Open Link Night
on dVerse Poets' Pub
OLN #342 information HERE. 
Come share a poem.
Saturday, July 22, 7:00 am PST.

Summit – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 30 Comments 
how many ways
can a mountain be climbed?

sometimes rocky
sometimes layered years of the fallen
soften this upward trail

are you yearning for the peak panorama?

questioning clarity of sky
quickening pace as noon's rising?

befriend pine-scented warmth
each ascent like none before

© Ali Grimshaw 2023 - Photo taken on a recent Montana hike.

Happy 12th Anniversary 
dVerse Poets' Pub
Join us with a quadrille
HERE.

When you are handed sunshine in capital letters- Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 16 Comments 

when those letters came into view
capitals singing out a future
I had not yet thought of 

I pulled that idea into my heart
tucked it carefully in tight
not to lose a single drop of glee

as I turned to skip a beat
down 
the 
street

belief landed before
I ever met your eyes

© Ali Grimshaw 2023

Glorious - By Ma Muse
Give this song a listen. 
It is my celebration song of the week.

Don’t Forget to Send Your Reply – Poem By Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 16 Comments 
You asked for a poem but left before 
I got a chance to inquire about preferred flavors.

Are you in need of savory words to awaken, 
or rich, creamy expressions to nourish dreams
ease your anxious heart?

I could choose a random flavor for you
but that would invite my worries in.

So I am choosing to write out a mixed assortment,
courageous squares of coconut glee,
rounds of morning daybreak delight, 
cinnamon memories combined with almost burnt
toast, and 
the encouragement of toffee's complexity.

This sampler will help me to better
understand your tastes.

Please reply with honesty, start with
the flavors that bring a sigh.

© Ali Grimshaw 2023