Tandem – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

July 19, 2019July 19, 2019 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 12 Comments

photo of bicycle parked beside wooden door — Photo by Ali Arapoğlu on Pexels.com

Head down, back bent
climbing back into yourself
fear perspires on your forehead.

Looks like you could use a lift.
Travel forward with me
I will steer for awhile.
You can coast.

I will pedal out the questions.
You can consider answers.
Life can be different
on a bicycle built for two.

First published on Versewrights.

Looking Glass

March 16, 2019March 30, 2019 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 33 Comments

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With the brokenness

there is a choice

to hear the mirror
or bury that which you won’t face.
Without any proof
I know you can do the hard things.
It is courage coupled with action
that matters after we fall.

Brave has always

lived inside of you,

printed in bold letters.
Step forward
cloaked in courage to

pick up only the pieces that

are worth keeping.

Cee’s Black and White photo challenge

Forgiving Connects

The Architecture of Conversing

February 2, 2019February 8, 2019 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 36 Comments

Beside me, your mummers begin
repetition of words to form
a solid, something to hold on to.

As you hammer a picture in sound,
letters arrange in audible order
to hear who you are.

To speak building blocks, stack phrases
scaffold words of steel
structures to withstand tomorrow.

I am silent witness
to the rebuilding of yourself.

“The most visible creators are those artists whose medium is life itself. The ones who express the inexpressible ~ without brush, hammer, clay, or guitar. They neither paint nor sculpt. Their medium is simply being. Whatever their presence touches has increased life. They see, but don’t have to draw… Because they are the artists of being alive… – Donna J. Stone

Unravel an opening

September 3, 2018September 21, 2018 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 48 Comments

It is a continual process to unweave
that which is truth from story. I pull

a thread, remove one line, observe how
the fabric changes, notice the new spaces

breathing between essential threads
that remain, a skeleton of existence

until extracting the unneeded
leaves what is left, sparsely resilient

penetrable light of a future once blocked
by memories tightly woven.

CB&W Photo Challenge

Forgiving Fridays

The Gift of Chaos

Quote ~ July 21, 2018 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 11 Comments

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With all that is currently happening in the U.S. and the world, I feel the need to reshare this poem, Visiting With Chaos.There is an opportunity in the messiness of life. Will we choose to be loving learners or give up to fear?

Thank you to Vita Brevis, The Modern Poetry Magazine for publishing my poem. Click on the link to read it. – Visiting With Chaos

Sending love and a reminder that you are not alone.

Ali

Option – a thing that is or may be chosen

July 15, 2018July 21, 2018 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 28 Comments

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What if you believed it would all work out?

Would your breath come with ease
would you giggle at yourself, delight in the breeze
raise your waving hand, yell out “me too,”
with the aliveness of your five year old self?

Would you skip across the parking lot
dressed in sequins, colors that say, “I have arrived.”
Would you walk long enough to greet the dusk
stepping lightly until it kissed the sky goodnight?

What if you did?

Let me

July 2, 2018 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 22 Comments

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I will sing you comfort when your voice forgets the notes.

I will sing you a clearing to feel the warmth on your back.

I will sing you courage for days when you need to hear the music again.

I will sit in silence listening to your song

when you have forgotten it exists.

Dwelling Place

March 25, 2018March 27, 2018 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 17 Comments

Inside the conversation of contribution

my favorite place to dwell

walls like soft bubble gum that can expand

with the breath of new ideas

to watch you poke, prod, punch

a fist through the wall

on your face the surprised realization

of the awe-filled fluidity, stretched elastic

boundaries you once believed to be walls of stone.

How a soft blow, like cooling off your tea too hot

can open up a whole new room. High rounded ceilings

with space to grow into.

My favorite place to be is inside a coaching conversation listening for another’s dreams. This was a tough idea to capture in a photo. Photo Challenge: Favorite Place