Poetry

Come write with me.

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 9 Comments

 

Erin Leichty Martin Levin

Writing is all about connection. Letters arranged to reach out across miles or decades. Voices being heard. Acknowledgement of experiences. Fantasy. Dreams on paper that can fly. Feeling another’s mind like jumping into a clear mountain lake. This is why I love writing with others. It is about a shared authentic experience that anyone can participate in.

If you are in the Portland, Oregon area during the month of October come visit the Multnomah  Arts Center Gallery where I will have some poems displayed in public for the first time as a guest of artists Erin Leichty and Martin Levin.  I am also holding a FREE community event.

Connecting Through Shared Writing
You are invited to connect with others through shared writing.  We will use poetry to listen, write and reflect together. Participants do not need to have any writing background just a willingness to listen and embrace a fun learning experience. You will leave inspired by the art and words as we gather in the gallery space at the Multnomah Arts Center on Sunday, October 15 from 3:00 – 4:00 pm. FREE

ERIN LEICHTY & MARTIN LEVIN On Display October 6 – 24, 2017

Paintings & Metal Sculpture, Featuring Poetry by Ali Grimshaw

“Holding Space” & “Meditations on the Platonic Solids”

Reception: Friday, October 6 • 7 to 9 pm

 

 

Footprints

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 13 Comments

image

As I traverse

what do my footprints say?

Those who walk beside

a step behind and to the left will

see them. Mud messages dried

to become solid.

When my legs no longer walk

my tacks will speak out

a decodable message.

I hope you decipher

“Don’t give up.

Keep looking for the footprints

I am with you.”

© Alicia Grimshaw 2017

In dedication to Mother Teresa (1910 – 1997) “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” 

Layered

Harmony in the Trees

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 11 Comments

image

The tree colors sing in unison

settle my rattled soul

unlike any music

ever heard.

This orchestra of leaves

soothes the tempo

that pounds from a

day of instruments

that refused to play

the same song.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2017

Leaf

 

Axis Tilt

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 14 Comments

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Could this be the final day

of an autumn that I thought would last?

A mellowing of red between us

once crackling emotions now dust bits

collected in a whirling dervish

carried away in the wind.

Now I am an empty street waiting

for the street light to click on.

Predictable and ever awed

by the chance

to begin again.

© Alicia Grimshaw  Reposting from 2016

 

 

 

 

 

Learning to Dive

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 16 Comments

 

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One day I finally knew that I could swim

in the blue of the sky.

That I was as strong as I declared myself to be.

That my fears were teachers made just for me.

That there would always be cracks to slip through

times of trembling, shaken awake to fall again.

 

Then I stood next to the lake,

a mirror of blue sky wholeness,

arms wide with acceptance

I, the problem and solution

dove into a

reflection of release.

 

© Alicia Grimshaw 2017

Take in Varenna, Italy 2016

Recreate

 

Emotional Gravity

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 31 Comments

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Awakened to the heaviness. A push

to breathe through a cage too small.

Despair sits on her chest, hands over her mouth.

Alone on this journey, he is no companion

just a magnetic pull toward the mattress

that she wishes never to leave.

He knows what others do not.

That she can’t put it down.

An unseeable stone she carries alone.

How much easier to be pulled under

than to keep afloat.

A desire for lightness like dust

in a ray of light.

 

If she only knew

invisible hands surround.

Waiting. Just waiting.

For her to say the word.

Help.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2017

National Suicide Prevention Week  September 10 – 16, 2017

http://stopasuicide.org/index.php

Reach out. Listen. You could save a life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 7 Comments

image

I remain

steadfast

on the shoreline

tethered, weathered

yet still afloat.

My life preserver

ready to be thrown

your way.

Waiting

for your signal.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2017

National Suicide Prevention Week  September 10 – 16, 2017

http://stopasuicide.org/index.php

Reach out. You could save a life.

Photo Challenge – Waiting  Photo taken in Varenna Italy, 2016.

Temporary – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 19 Comments

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Your phrases landed on the floor

between us. I didn’t know how to catch them.

Strings of words, a story of near miss.

One collection of minutes that almost

restructured my life, like petals

blown away by the wind

never again to unite in beauty.

A reminder of the impermanence of us.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2017

Structure – Photo Challenge

Around the Corner

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 28 Comments

IMG_5769

 

She overcame

her internal screaming toddler,

“I don’t wanna. I don’t wanna.”

 

Will Power offered a hand

linking her arm in his

to lead around the corner.

 

Her first step through

this now open door

a route unavailable

to her past self.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2017

Corner Photo Challenge

Photo taken in Lisbon, Portugal 2017