I will sing you comfort when your voice forgets the notes.
I will sing you a clearing in the forest,
a place to feel the warm sun on your back.
I will sing you courage for days when you
need to hear the music again.
© Ali Grimshaw
As he walks away,
the unknown grows inside me,
a tightness inside my chest.
His graduation is a forced exhale and I
breathe in the flight to come.
It was an illusion that he was ever mine,
from the start. He never belonged to me.
I was always ever the warm nest
from which he would someday fly.
Alicia Grimshaw
Dedicated to all of the parents of graduates. Yes, part of your heart is stepping out into the world to touch the lives of others. Let it go. Part of it will stay with you forever. What a privilege to experience this amazing journey of expanding love. Congratulations.
Like drops of rain
your temporary presence is
sliding away in moments
reflected in your eyes.
I ache with holding the love
and the loss to come
while we dance in this final day.
What is there to say
that we have not already lived?
The moment will soon arrive
a storm inside me
words a jumble on my tongue
there is no good way to watch you
walk back to your other life.
© Ali Grimshaw 2016
The path we share sometimes forks.
Here a place to pause among trees.
Conversations in layers like leaves on the forest floor.
Shadows arrive, shake us with views of separate routes.
I kiss your hand with love as I release it.
Fly above the forest if you are called to.
I will not let you deny yourself
to keep us on the same path.
Together we can travel
only if
you will still seek.
© Alicia Grimshaw revised version 2017
Sometimes I think back on that night.
Your eyes intent on explaining, a look of determination,
of wanting to give.
I remember trying to hear you,
wanting to understand and failing to understand.
With each new telling, static filling the room.
Making adjustments to find your frequency.
Unable to tune you in.
Now I am left wondering.
What was it you so badly wanted me to know.
Feeling like I couldn’t get to the airport in time,
before your message took flight.
© Ali Grimshaw
You are a blue sky.
A color that I love to get lost in.
A consistent and ever-changing
backdrop for others,
and stand alone marvel.
Sometimes filled with challenging clouds
opening my eyes
to visions of blue
I’ve not seen.
© Ali Grimshaw
Oxygen continues to enter,
passing straight through fear.
Love will continue to breath for you,
when you cannot breath for yourself.
© Ali Grimshaw
flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw 