A love note to my mother. In appreciation of the love mothers give every day.
© Ali Grimshaw 2018
family
If Poets Ruled The World
If you brought poetry to your exhale
how would you breathe?
If you brought poetry to your cooking
how would it taste?
If you brought poetry to your singing
how would it sound?
If we brought poetry to the conversation
what would we hear?
Would we notice the moan of wind outside our arguments
that the water from the pipes is at a trickle, our absent neighbors
don’t stand in the front yard anymore, weeds thrive
overtaking the edible garden, while last year’s birdhouse
remains empty? A muffled fear
like cotton balls in our ears.
If I lived poetry
could I see the heart
underneath your skin?
© Alicia Grimshaw 2018
Sharing this great quote from Moorezart
If only…
if I could hand out
flying with clouds, beyond pain,
relief your eyes seek
© Alicia Grimshaw 2018
Right by your side
you beside, never
behind, together we face
forward fearlessly.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2018
Senryu
Growth Spurt
In the dark kitchen while all lay asleep
I stood shorter than the countertop
determined to throw away my blanket of comfort
self worn to soft holding of me.
The mouth of the garbage can
that lived under the sink
hungry for layers of softness
swallowed them down easily.
My four year old self threw away weakness
like an explorer sailing to uncharted seas
I declared myself ready for the mystery of the grown up.
Without need for a fall back into security
how sure I was of my power to leave the shore
of my dearly loved comfort layer.
Where did the urgency come from
to stop leaning
depending on
go it alone without reliance?
Years later in my cold bed determined and proud
still I wonder why I needed to prove my toughness
hurry away from childhood.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2018
Let me
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.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2018
Remove one brick.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
Those that came before
We are held
by unseen hands
family that came before
to hack through the wild
make a trail.
We are held
by their stories, mistakes
and courage. Rightness,
who is to blame
the tinted glasses we wear.
We are held
within their intentions
by the invisible imagination
of their hearts.
© Ali Grimshaw 2018
Inspired by this quote from Moorezart “We all carry, inside us, people who came before us.” ― David Mitchell, The Cloud Atlas
Photo from Pixabay
My Guide
A love note to my mother. The one who lead me to the forest.
© Ali Grimshaw
Remembering
I miss the days of your eyes,
a yearning treasure seeker,
when I was the X on your map.
© Ali Grimshaw
Portugal 2017
flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw 