wanting full sun while full well knowing I am a shade plant
as hours of sunlight in our landscape keep shifting
seeing us wilting
I am willing to consider transplanting
while irrigating with honesty
wondering weeds away
trusting rainclouds and the pollination between us
© Ali Grimshaw 2025 - Photo taken on a lovely Colorado farm.
Join a welcoming group of poets at dVerse Poets’ Pub. Quadrille Monday. HERE
"Imagine a garbage can," she said, "whatever size you desire."
My garbage can was the extra large green container the type you pull to the curb so big you can't lift it. I saw myself throwing in rocks of worry, dirt clods of sorrow, and flinging feelings of anxiety. All these emotions turned into things I could hold and heave. They all landed in the can with a satisfying sound.
"Now watch it be hauled away by the truck."
I wanted that relief of seeing it all carried away but instead I said, "I need another one."
Her voice replied, "You can have as many as you need."
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
Photo taken in Amsterdam, 2019.
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
Celebrating my mother, all mothers, and Mother Earth, who nurtures us all.
I have fallen out of practice.
This morning I missed seeing the beautiful distraction
that you are, that you have always been.
You grinning at the hummingbird in the window.
You stomping down the stairs to begin the day
rushing in to kiss me on the cheek.
You humming while sweeping through the doorway
I missed the generosity of you
and now
it is Thursday already.
When did I fall so heavily asleep
to have lost my noticing?
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
Join us over at dVerse Poets' Pub for Open Link Night. Link one poem of your choice and have fun reading the poetry of others in this welcoming community. - HERE.
Photo taken in Lisbon, Portugal. I fell in love with the murals there.
feed fear with unreal reels
worry about my forgetfulness
get rid of the unwanted flab under my arms
build my knowledge of astrophysics
whiten my teeth or make my oven sparkle
catalog boxes of dust collectors
perfect the way I manage my time
hesitate to sing regardless of location
find a way to get him to talk to me
obsess on how to be better balanced
wait for better weather to begin
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
Join us over at dVerse Poets' Pub for Open Link Night. Link one poem of your choice and have fun reading the poetry of others in this welcoming community. - HERE.
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.
Dancing across language barriers
hands collectively repair.
We reside just a hoot and a holler away
from each others' doorsteps.
We are Team Earth,
shining golden against gunmetal gray.
Let's shovel out resignation
plant a tree, then another.
I will bring the watering can.
©Ali Grimshaw 2025
I created this small artwork based on my love of trees. Team Earth, I am always on your side.
Join a friendly community of poets HERE
at dVerse Poetry Pub for a fun quadrille challenge.
What do you give a hoot about?
A big thank you to editor Barbara Leonhard for publishing my poem, And if we did. This poem came from an inquiry about what I assume and the power of sitting with the question, “What am I assuming to be true?” I invite you to visit MasticadoresUsa to read the poem, enjoy the poetry of others, and share your thoughts.
Thank you to the many, many poets who keep our hearts alive during challenging times.
Join in Open Link Night at dVerse Poets’ Pub HERE. Share a poem of your choice and meet a friendly community of poets.
In the grocery store parking lot I stopped.
I stopped when I saw her shining above.
What glory, she captivated the sky
and the cold felt fresh, an awakening to
the noticing. The beautiful that no one
can ever take away. The moon, a bright planet
accompanying her, together in the dark
stilled my breath. How lucky that the noticing
still lives within me. So many have forgotten
to look up.
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
In these dark times it is more important than ever to share you light. Sending you mine.
flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw 