within a velvet-soft interior
with a rocking chair enhancement
humming songs of ease
murmurs of a river echoing back
pine-warmth abundance of fresh
beginnings welcoming endings
encircled by a clear frozen glaze
of quiet just rightness
overflowing contentedness
safety of the heart
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
Join a welcoming group of poets
at dVerse Poets’ Pub
for Quadrille #238- HERE
Hibernaculum – a noun for a winter shelter or place of hibernation
How lucky am I to wake this bright morning?
Safely carried through night's passage.
Like steadfast mountains often forgotten.
While dreams retreat, my feet find the floor.
Safely carried through night's passage.
Joining the color stream of these hours.
While dreams retreat, my feet find the floor.
River stones are worn smooth with time.
Joining the color stream of these hours.
Letting love's current ease my way.
River stones are worn smooth with time.
Hand in hand is our way forward.
Letting love's current ease my way.
Like steadfast mountains often forgotten.
Hand in hand is our way forward.
How lucky am I to wake this bright morning?
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
Join a welcoming group of poets
at dVerse Poets’ Pub for Open Link Night. HERE
Photo taken during a stunning mountain hike in Montana.
2025
This calm is only an illusion
a photographic alteration
of a moment, where
leaves confetti-whirl, flutter fly, fancifully
surfing wild winds with surrender.
Smiling, I accept their invitation to frolic
following one golden riffle
then a tangerine-red
in beautiful celebration
of all things temporary.
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
Join a welcoming group of poets at dVerse Poets’ Pub.
Quadrille Monday. HERE
Photo taken on one of my many walks through Amsterdam in 2019.
“We have an inner window through which we can see the world, and though it gets cloudy in life, it’s our job to wipe it clean and see things as they really are.” – Sebastian Koch
It is the season of contemplation
a time of wanting to flee while knowing stillness is the way forward.
I am seeking windows of all sizes
expansive with weatherproof panes, outlooks rippled with time.
Views to heal my confusion between rain and questions.
A skylight to observe the assurance of passing moon.
As the headlines continue to scream, I find another window holding
steadiness of trunks wide and wise from centuries, leaves of rainshine.
Curtains of my imagination sway with a peaceful breeze.
There is another way, another view, a possibility of love yet found.
I unshutter pain to let the air in.
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
The seed of this poem came from a prompt on dVerse Poets Pub and this inspiring view from a cabin in Oregon. Every time I return to this photo it settles me.
Come join a welcoming group of poets for Open Link Night - HERE. Link a poem of your choosing.
Within the pages she is flying to another world.
Between the pages he is trying on a new character.
They are finding a way forward through angst, despair
wanting to belong.
He is reconsidering his past through their eyes.
She is listening to his reasons for forgiveness.
Living in another time and place
trying on the suits, gear or gowns.
Gently turning or furiously flipping to find the next
wonder or conclusion.
Is there a safer way to explore than within a story
laid out for your eyes to absorb
a world
that you have never seen?
To try on the life of another?
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
“I merely wish to point out that in the face of such a world you have only yourselves to rely on. You have only the decision you must make, each of you, alone. And will you contribute to the indifferent forces that ceaselessly conspire toward injustice? Or will you stand up against this endless tide and in the face of it be truly human?”
― David Guterson, Snow Falling on Cedars
This poem was inspired by a prompt from dVerse Poets Pub, and this quote from a book I loved. Come join a welcoming group of poets for Open Link Night.
This is just one of many books on the list of Most Commonly Challenged Books In the U.S. Although I read Snow Falling on Cedars many years ago, I can still remember how it touched my heart and made me think deeply.
This is a photo of a bookstore from one of my trips. Can’t remember where.
and if
and if she had not become
quite so tame
what trees might she be at the top of now?
how many times has her heartvoice been drowned out
by training wheels and forced rewrites of others?
it is never too late to nourish, curve toward the sun
she is a flower like all flowers
her wildness knows how to bloom
without advice
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
and they signed up to become listeners for the collective
pledging their ears to receive the full telling of each
without rejection of a single tale or truth
a willingness to learn this craft of the heart
essential for survival of the whole
most understood this was more than an occupation
it would become their way of being for a lifetime
to cradle the words of each speaker
holding tender the unthinkable
without judgement
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
Photo taken in Croatia 2023.
“The storm’s ravages had not only opened her eyes, but her heart and mind as well. What mattered was the present moment. The people she was with. She may never be fully free of the past, and the future might bring more struggle. But the here and now wasn’t a place to hide. It was hers to live.”
– from The Medicine Woman of Galveston by Amanda Skenandore
Distant views calmed her mind
these cliffs, twisted roads, rugged mountains were relatable.
A smooth life could not create this kind of beauty
and once again nature was teaching her how to navigate sorrows.
What remains an obstacle may depend on the point from which she observed the landscape.
Photo taken at Colorado National Monument 2024.
Today in the U.S. we honor Martin Luther King, Jr., and in his honor, I am reflecting on perseverance.
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
Join a welcoming group of poets
for Open Link Night HERE at
dVerse Poets' Pub.
Photo taken at Tuscon Botanical Gardens. They have an delightful butterfly exhibit. When was the last time you hung out with butterflies?
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
dVerse Poets’ Pub Open Link Night. Join a friendly group of poets, HERE.
flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw 