How is it that water
is such an crafted artist?
Consistently she reflects
the whole of light and darkness
blurred grays and
watery wavering waves.
Then offers still contrasts
days of no wind
that stop time for me.
Photo taken on my trip to Amsterdam 2019.
© Ali Grimshaw 2019
OFMARIAANTONIA – Photography Challenge, Contrast
she wished to glue
leaves of color back onto the limbs
unprepared for season’s shift
then her dormant suitcase looked up
with eyes of grace, a reminder
of past orbits around the sun.
© Ali Grimshaw 2018
Quiveringly quiet,
with anticipation of freedom,
framed by the sturdily built doorway,
she waits to greet dusk,
smelling the wind of tomorrow coming.
Once outside, she will never wear
that heavy cloak of blame again.
Even her shadow will no longer
be the same.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2019
dVerse quadrille – Quiver
We can not walk
without placing our
feet upon a past life.
Leaves layered, give
way to decay
to nourish the next.
What ground can I
cultivate with shelter
for those neglected seeds
that are tomorrow’s hope?
© Alicia Grimshaw 2019
Without you, Howard
I may have forgotten
these ten fingers of mine
are printed like no other.
Like a tree with many sturdy limbs
who has forgotten
that it gives shade to smaller ones
where nests reside holding blue eggs.
– Howard Thurman
Painted leaves sing in unison
Unlike music, their song
is soundless harmony.
This orchestra of color
soothes the tempo
an internal pounding
from a day of instruments
that refused to play
the same song.
Fall catches me
with muted volume
a serenade of equilibrium.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2018
absent stood out
on the page of my day,
like sharp yellow highlighter,
biting bright contrast,
to your slight soft smile.
Remembering our laughter
mixed with the warm sunlight smell
of blackberries, overripe
with the end of this season,
some clinging to the vine.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2019
As we shift to the next, there is a tension of holding on and letting go. I feel this as I experience goodbyes and new places. Sending love to anyone who is saying farewell and transitioning with this season. Let’s welcome in the new colors that arrive with this change.
Just as she reached for the door
tear stained cheeks accompanied trembling
a last glance back.
Too numb, her sadness departed months ago.
The ringing phone called out to her
a nick of time, just right hesitation
before the unchangeable conclusion
could be undone.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
“Sometime round about the 1580s the phrase in the nick or in the very nick began to be used for the critical moment, the exact instant at which something has to take place. The idea seems to have been that a nick was a narrow and precise marker, so that if something was in the nick it was precisely where it should be.” http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-nic2.htm
National Suicide Prevention Week – click here for resources
Where to go to return
to the tranquil, a friend
you used to know so well?
Hours spent creekside
holding rocks, one by one
their colors glow wet with water
slowing your breath with
the simple love for a moment
of just being alive.
© Alicia Grimshaw 2017
flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw 