Poetry

Taking Flight – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 26 Comments 
Transitions are in the air... some are leaving the nest for flight. 

As you join the others
a new word grows inside me,

a tight bundled joypain sits within
my chest cracking open to release 

the scent of baby powered damp hair

for the many practiced days have passed
the next migration is a solo flight.

Your sturdy shoulders of readiness 
experimental charm accompanied with grin

will be a gift many will appreciate.

Your graduation to come 
is a forced exhale and I breathe in 

the flight to come.

Shake off the illusion, you were never 
really mine from the start. 

You have always belonged to to the world.

I was always ever the warm nest
from which you would someday fly.

©Ali Grimshaw 2022

Join a welcoming community for Open Link Night at dVerse. HERE

Dedicated to all 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.

My light is shining

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 17 Comments

“A river no more begins at its source

than a story begins with the first page.“

– Once Upon A River

I am honored to have two new poems included in the anthology Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women. This highly anticipated anthology, edited by Gabriela Marie Milton (Short Prose) and published by Ingrid Wilson (Experiments in Fiction), debuts in early June 2022. Thank you so much, Gabriela and Ingrid, for all your efforts to bring these poems of strength to the world. I am excited to hold them in my hands.

Sipping – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 31 Comments 
she didn't need to know how to pronounce the name
of what grew before her delicately vivid

she didn't need to understand how it pollinated
or the temperatures it withstood last winter

she didn't need to know why it arrived 
who brought it from afar or how it survived

her eyes saw the magenta magnificence
drank in the sweet joy of bloom in a cup

tasted the miniture petals
an elixer of revival

©Ali Grimshaw 2022

Join a friendly community of poets for Open Link Night
at dVerse Poet's Pub HERE

Lessons from a Dogwood – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 54 Comments 
"Nature does not hurry
yet everything is accomplished."
-Lao Tzu

a flower
can be a poem 
all by itself

color replacing gray
newsroom days

each petal, lined hues
of good news

the glory of opening
ourselves 
to live again

©Ali Grimshaw 2022

Covid finally caught me and I am learning 
how to accept it as an uninvited guest. 
Sending you wishes for wellness.

Join me at earthweal 
this week: Lessons from the Wild

Photo taken on one of my neighborhood walks.

5 Answers to the Same Question – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 15 Comments 
1. Ease your body into 
a warm bath, stay long enough 
to forget why its ending and how
time ever mattered.

2. Get your shovel
plant your tears along with faith
flower seeds for tomorrow's
sky brightening.

3. Climb to the roof, listen for
birds from a different perspective
notice the variation in song
brings clearer thoughts.

4. Wander while feeling 
solid ground, allow disappointment 
to flee your swinging arms
until lightness of hope arrives.

5. Leave yourself behind
the one that didn't believe
your worth. Buy yourself
colored pencils, new sneakers.

©Ali Grimshaw 2022

For the 18th day of Na/GloPoWriMo 
- “Five Answers to the Same Question.” 

Photo taken in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Welcome – Poem By Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 33 Comments 
I stumbled upon this tree and she had much to share
"I'm twisted and far from upright but that won't stop me

from blue sky mornings, feeling the sun warm each layer
of my thick skin muffling me from the critics of all things

that don't look quite straight. Let the rain drip down 
your skin. What? You say you haven't stood naked in the rain?

You haven't lived until you've felt singular drops land cool
one, then another to awaken aliveness once lost to you.

Stick with me kid. There's no reason to return to the city.
Let me see your Tree Pose. Beautiful! Welcome to the grove."

©Ali Grimshaw 2022

For day 13 of Na/GloPoWriMo. Everything is going to be amazing.

Join us for dVerse Poets' Pub Open LInk Night - HERE

Photo taken in the desert outside of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. 
What a magical experience to meet this grandmother tree.

Topsy-turvy – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 19 Comments 
When green is stop
and red is go
yellow gets confused

and we collapse
into a dogpiled 
intersection
a puddle of hilarity

drippings of our whitewashed
cityscape, flowers bowed
or buried
a spot of fallen yellow


©Ali Grimshaw 2022
School is closed today, April 11, because of a snowstorm. What?! The world feels topsi-turvy.

Opening – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 12 Comments

“Poetry is the unexpected utterance of the soul that comes at times to renew us when we least expect it. Poems show us how we belong to each other and life. Like all forms of art, poetry marries what is with what can be. Poems show us our possibility. There is a mystical assumption of Unity underneath all poems. Every honest, heartfelt expression shows how being connected to life in all its forms allows each of us to be more fully ourselves.” – Mark Nepo

unexpected can be beauty with open eyes 

©Ali Grimshaw 2022

This Monoku, a single line poem consisting of seventeen syllables or even fewer, inspired by Eugi's Casuerie. 

The photo was taken on my recent trip to Mexico. I spent a lot of time just being, not doing, just hearing the heartbeat of the ocean. I wish this for everyone. 
Sending peace from my heart to yours.

Water Heal My Soul – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 47 Comments

My words were inspired by this nourishing song, The River,

written and performed by Coco Love Alcorn. Please give it a listen.

river's spirit sings
rhythm without age
it knows flow
where to go
it helps me trust the way

with eyes closed, receiving
I open to the waterway
joining streamlets, runnels, rivulets
rushing away

Mother Earth's teaching
receding or overflow 
returning is
river's way to go

©Ali Grimshaw 2022

Join us at dVerse - Eyeing the Quadrille #147 HERE