dVerse OLN

She led me to… Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 40 Comments 

She led me to
the library, fed stories to my ears
taught me how to keep the family blood circulating
to pull my shoulders back, stand proud

she showed me laughter around the table
camping in cold rain, beauty beyond lipstick
the effective use of stubborn determination

she made a million meals without consideration
flowered apron ready dinners with a smile
Did she even enjoy cooking? 
I don't remember anyone asking her.

She washed clothes, replacing them in drawers
a revolving door of dirty to clean
just another behind the scenes devotion.

How much did we notice the way
she kept the boat afloat
watching for leaks while we slept.

© Ali Grimshaw 2024

This poem is in honor of my mother, grandmothers, and all the mothers in my family tree who made me who I am today. Thank you.

Happy Mother's Day

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Make A Moment To Remember – Poem By Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 46 Comments 

When did your heart get trampled by disbelief 
forgotten in rushing reactivity
pushed aside by survival?

Are you willing to let it be revived?

You don't need to decide today.

I will take you with me, barefooted
brave and heartskipping.

Let's find a butterfly to wonder about.
Then later I can remember it with you
in the pictures of my mind.

© Ali Grimshaw 2024

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Photo taken at Tuscon Botanical Gardens. They have an delightful butterfly exhibit. When was the last time you hung out with butterflies?

Wintertide – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 32 Comments 


In winter's grasp, we linger, longing for spring's embrace.
Does the waiting make arrival all the more precious?
A glowing light across the street reminds me of companionship.
Within these cold days gathering, we are the light for each other.
Together is our way forward toward blooming.

Often wintertide darkness can seem a season too long.
I cradle reminders of past flowers, new growth of green
wrapped in warm memories of meandering meadows wide.
While frost edges my windows in delicate design.
In winter's grasp, we linger, longing for spring's embrace.

© Ali Grimshaw 2024

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and just when I think, “How much could it matter?” – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 23 Comments 


How many days can you claim bold aliveness
on an airstream of love 
where wordclouds hover to make shadows?

What sweet relief to witness the magesty of 
bloom on blue, a gathering of cells 
multiplying magnificent.

"I'll miss you," he said in a whisper. "How many ways 
can a mountian be climbed?"

Dipping skinny-style, screaming out in glee
we entered the river to revive.

Lavendar dusk of sky
arched islands like the backs of resting animals.

Oh, what can be unfolded inside my twisted heart
by sunlight on water if each person is a light
if we are billions of shades shifting into place.

© Ali Grimshaw 2024

Join in dVerse Poets' Pub OLN #354
Learn how HERE.

This poem was inspired by Laura's prompt - Last Year's First Eleven
I chose one poem from each month and used the first line to make
this new poem. All of these lines were from poems I posted in 2023. 
Writing this was like a word puzzle.

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.

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.

The Gift of Goodbye – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 33 Comments 

I'll miss you, he said.

3 words that land large within me.
I let them soak inward
pausing, to embrace this moment.

I'll miss you, he said.

Within these words I hear.
      I noticed you while you were here.
      I have felt your presence.
      You mattered,
      a space will be left here after you have gone.

I'll miss you, he said.

How wonderful to be able to hear these words, 
words I didn't know how to hear
before

tears on my smiling face.

© Ali Grimshaw 2023

Photo taken on my journey to France, 2019.

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Purposeful Pause – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 10 Comments 
when will the subtle 
silent, shadows of sureity
be noticed in your day

will your eyes always be drawn away
suduced into following flash floresent
the orange-red of fake fire
immediate over postponed desire

will you try on the bluegreen lined in lime
a cool energy alternative 
worthy of afternoon considerations 

oh, I understand more than you know
this would require stopping
and
you don't have time for that

© Ali Grimshaw 2023

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Morning Forecast – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 22 Comments 

The wordclouds hover above
to make a shadow on my morning.

Looking up I wonder, how am I to decipher
which are fact or which are fiction?

Layered marks of truth and dare
like a novel netted weather pattern

and I am no meterologist,
just someone looking

for a small clearing in the sky.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2023

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for Open Link Night on 
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Revisiting Beliefs- Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 29 Comments 
Your belief in aloneness
is your greatest mistake.

You were born into the hands 
of the world, for us 
to sing you through.

Mountains to call you upward
rivers to bring forth and release.

For what you are made of, I am made of
elements of rock, sky and sea.

Your error is not that you are broken
It is that you have yet to see
your wholeness.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2023

Join a welcoming community of poets
for Open Link Night on 
dVerse Poets Pub, HERE.