Wrap yourself in the miracle of this sunrise.
Open eyes
Open ears
Open heart
Cry for even one life that is not yet free
unable to see the sun.
A stranger arrives at the bus stop.
“How’s your morning going?”
Look into his eyes, instead of away
as he answers.
Ask him if he saw the sunrise.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
I am grateful to VerseWrights for sharing two more of my poems today. Follow the link to find them. VerseWrights is a wonderful online poetry journal. I especially enjoy listening to the PoetryAloud section. There are so many poems to listen to and it gives me a sense of comfort to connect with another’s words.
We all have gifts to share. Please keep shining your unique and essential light in the world.
“The best poetry has a magical quality—a sense of being more than the sum of its parts—and even when it’s impossible to articulate this sense, this something more, the power of the poem is left undiminished.” – How to Read a Poem from Poets.org
Happy National Poetry Month 2017
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
Cut yourself free
from the weight of all you have not forgiven
vitality constricted by past failures
a tangle of rope, that does not allow a full breath.
Tightening with each memory
of a time you did not stop it,
held mute as the words were flung your way,
didn’t stand up tall enough for yourself.
You carry fault for letting it happen.
Patterns of knots encircle your being.
Twisted, tight, wound round, a strangle of heavy.
If you would have been smarter, stronger, better …
tried just a little harder…
if you had only been more.
Use the knife, cut yourself free.
© Ali Grimshaw 2017
I am taking a stand to eliminate violence against women. Thank you to all of the organizations who reach out to help women in need each day.
#BeBoldForChange – International Women’s Day 2017
In the solitude of these chambers
my heart remembers how to breathe.
Cool air pulled in, an inflation of freedom
expansion completed. To rise and fall,
again, again, again…
My internal rhythm,
muscles in unison,
ceaselessly at work,
to fill me from toes to earlobes,
without my acknowledgement
or praise.
An intake of peaceful,
taken for granted,
to keep this heart beating
another day.
© Ali Grimshaw 2017
Celebrate #Loveuary with the blog But I Smile Anyway
Dressed in white, they gather
a sacred opening, shared hush
They lean in to listen for what is to come.
My eyes honored guests to witness their glory.
One of few who will attend this party today.
© Ali Grimshaw 2017
Not qualified, no certificate, diploma
just a person, regular, no one special.
Who me? I don’t know how. Where would I start?
Listen. Open your heart. Look. Open your eyes.
An opportunity right in front of you. Yes, right there.
It won’t matter. I don’t count. It’s too late.
No one ever tires of a rainbow coming through the clouds.
Your colors impossible to see from an internal view
vivid in the eyes of those waiting.
© Ali Grimshaw 2017
Dr. Maya Angelou – Thank you for reminding me that I can be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud and to take all the rainbows of my life with me wherever I go.
Rainbow photo thanks to pixabay.com/en/rainbow-kelvenne-national-park-1372108/
As we stand together
the ocean’s roar a comfort
lullaby of constant.
You squeeze my hand.
I echo the motion.
Reliable rolling waves,
we count on
when the world is crashing.
© Ali Grimshaw 2017
The Daily Post Photo Challenge – Ambience
What do you hold onto
when the bottom drops out
leaving you foundationless?
Your roof carried away by a tornado.
Left only with blankness and a pen
you forgot was in your hand.
I draw myself a new house
windows of openness, a tin roof to hear rain
a welcome door without requirements
with the hope that you feel safe enough to visit.
Uncensored, just as you are not
when you leave the premises.
© Ali Grimshaw 2017
flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw 