Let’s Get Lost in a Poem – Ali Grimshaw

February 16, 2021February 16, 2021 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 20 Comments

Poetry is truth in a universal language able to cross boundaries and reach the human heart. It is through our practice of listening deeply to poems, to ourselves and each other that the joy of connection is created within the writing circle. I am honored to hold space for your words and invite you to welcome them to the page. Let's get lost together as we write and reflect. Join me for an upcoming writing circle. Fill your heart. 

Let's get lost 
in beauty of the waves.
Put the needle on the record
of this day,
live simply so others may
simply live
to delight in all good things
wild and free.

© Ali Grimshaw 2021

Let Fall Catch You – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

October 4, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 29 Comments

Painted leaves sing in unison
Unlike music, their song
is soundless harmony.

This orchestra of glow
soothes the tempo
of an internal pounding

from a day of instruments
that refused to play
the same song.

Fall catches you
with muted volume
a serenade of equilibrium

let the blushing colors 
sing you home.

© Alicia Grimshaw (rewrite of 2018 poem)

4:00 am Inquiry – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

October 1, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 35 Comments

Whose fault is it?
Were you the one
who left it undone?

Did she really say
say it that way 
or was it just play?

Why didn't you leave
sooner rather than later?
Did it get better?

Was he to blame?
Should I feel shame?

When did it all start 
mattering so much?
Is it ok to touch?

What is there to do?
Are you wondering too?

Where is the starting line now?
What are the rules in play?
Are you even in the race?
Do you want to be?

© Ali Grimshaw 2020

dVerse Poet's Pub - Open Link Night. Come join us here.

topsy-turvy – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

August 4, 2020August 4, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 16 Comments

Which way out?
Down is upside down
up is not what it used to be

Which way to the familiar 
where the predictable
seemed to be real?

Which way to rise
above the untaught history
which left us blind?

Which way forward
to undo, redo, or never do
again what once we did?

What we weren't ready for
or maybe never are, 
let's help each other rise
let us begin again.

© Ali Grimshaw 2020

Writing together provides a mirror for us to process life in a safe place where we have all agreed to listen with compassion. Thank you to all of you who have written with me in the last few months. I am so very grateful to share this journey with you. I have added this new date and time to open up the invitation to others in different time zones. Let’s connect across the boarders. Stay safe my friends.

Ripen – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

July 28, 2020August 8, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 28 Comments

dVerse ~ Poets Pub OLN – Come and explore this great community of poets.



tended affectionately
organic prizes plumped
primed by summer's passion
heat and BB King's blues
quenching warmth 
gathering of sunlit kisses
red ripe to tango 
with your tongue and mine
slip into my backyard 
delight in this tender flesh
this ready to please moment 
of this temporary season.

© Ali Grimshaw 2020 (rewrite from 2018)

What has yet to Appear – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

May 25, 2020May 25, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 48 Comments

We are balancing between the blocks of our days large and small. Squares filled with the demands of our days and squares now left open. Boxes where plans once sat in happy company with future anticipation. Now canceled without pattern. Just scattered openings in the grid. Emptiness at first look, then disbelief. As we walk farther down the street, grief standing next to disappointment. Finally we turn the corner and see a tiny new patio garden. Someone is intent on growing beauty from strong willed, concrete pots. The first sprouts are just reaching free.

Determined seeds rise

there is always a crack, wide

enough for thriving

This Haibun Monday over at dVerse Poets Pub we have a visual prompt. It was an new adventure for me. Click here to join the challenge.

Faith in Seeds – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

April 29, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 20 Comments

I live as gardener
to your dreams yet to come

listening for the tender seeds
sprouted new or just planted warm

reminding you not to step on
fragile seedlings behind your feet

kneeling to show you their worth
weeding away your anxiety

clearing the way so you can see
small beginnings still there

offering gentle reminders
to look for new tips breaking ground
and compare them to last week’s arrivals

assisting with watering
during these times of drought
while waiting for blossoms together

© Alicia Grimshaw 2020

FREE VERSE REVOLUTION Prompt #5 Saplings

No Explanation Needed

April 26, 2020April 26, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 20 Comments

“A practice of gratitude is not about dismissing sadness, anger, fear, or confusion. Rather, it offers us the opportunity to see that we often experience multiple feelings at once; to welcome joy into the same places where we hold grief; to turn our attention to what is quietly growing and breathing day by day, which, to our possible surprise, includes ourselves.” – Kristin Lin, Editor, The On Being Project

No Explanation Needed

You don’t have to explain
how you know where to go or when

stillness brings discomfort.

You don’t have to explain
why sorrow comes and goes

tears visiting your eyes again.

You don’t have to explain
when it happened for the first time

why you feel a mountain sits upon you.

You don’t even have to explain
why it matters so much.

I never need more than just you

Just sit down
next to me, the weight
of your shoulder touching mine

Photo take in Lisbon, a trip with my sweetheart.

Finding Poems

April 23, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 36 Comments

The Jade Mountain listens

Voices in the air remind me

What’s worth knowing

First things first,

loving what is

blue shoes and happiness

images of the other

in the carousel of life

dVerse Poets Pub Challenge – Finding Poems in Bookshelves

Temporary – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

February 27, 2020March 5, 2020 ~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 57 Comments

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

I live as gardener to your dreams yet to come

listening for the tender seeds sprouted new or just planted warm

reminding you not to step on fragile seedlings behind your feet

kneeling to show you their worth weeding away your anxiety

clearing the way so you can see small beginnings still there

offering gentle reminders to look for new tips breaking ground and compare them to last week’s arrivals

assisting with watering during these times of drought while waiting for blossoms together

© Alicia Grimshaw 2020

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

No Explanation Needed

You don’t have to explain how you know where to go or when

stillness brings discomfort.

You don’t have to explain why sorrow comes and goes

tears visiting your eyes again.

You don’t have to explain when it happened for the first time

why you feel a mountain sits upon you.

You don’t even have to explain why it matters so much.

I never need more than just you

Just sit down next to me, the weight of your shoulder touching mine

© Alicia Grimshaw 2020

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

The Jade Mountain listens

Voices in the air remind me

What’s worth knowing

First things first,

loving what is

blue shoes and happiness

images of the other

in the carousel of life

© Alicia Grimshaw 2020

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

Your phrases landed on the floor between us. I didn’t know how to catch them.

Your breathless words carried a story of near miss. One collection of minutes that almost restructured my life.

Like flower petals blown away by the wind altering forever

their attachment to the stem.

Never again to unite in bloom’s beauty.

A reminder of the impermanence of us.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2020 (Rewrite of a poem shared in 2017)

Send a poem to your friends.

Like this:

I live as gardener
to your dreams yet to come

listening for the tender seeds
sprouted new or just planted warm

reminding you not to step on
fragile seedlings behind your feet

kneeling to show you their worth
weeding away your anxiety

clearing the way so you can see
small beginnings still there

offering gentle reminders
to look for new tips breaking ground
and compare them to last week’s arrivals

assisting with watering
during these times of drought
while waiting for blossoms together

You don’t have to explain
how you know where to go or when

You don’t have to explain
why sorrow comes and goes

You don’t have to explain
when it happened for the first time

You don’t even have to explain
why it matters so much.

Just sit down
next to me, the weight
of your shoulder touching mine

Your phrases landed
on the floor between us.
I didn’t know how to catch them.

Your breathless words carried
a story of near miss.
One collection of minutes
that almost
restructured my life.

Like flower petals
blown away by the wind
altering forever

their attachment
to the stem.

A reminder of
the impermanence of us.