Today I wrote a gift for you
my pen pulled my hand along, (it is braver than I)
it knows how to lay my heart wide open,
like a prairie to the sky
nowhere to hide, expansive and still
miles from adequate for what I wish to give.
© Ali Grimshaw 2017
February is the month of love. I will be celebrating with love poems all month long.
#Loveuary – inspired by Ritu at But I Smile Anyway…
Photo credit to Nicolas T.
Waking to a foreign experience
like a transplanted language
that spread through the city while I slept.
I used to trust myself to know the way
right turn, then straight, always on course.
Within my country, I thought I knew where I was.
Now my GPS offers no help. No translation available.
Consistent landscape. Buildings in place
yet unrecognizable to my inner navigation.
My compass now cracked, unable to orient
true North now lies
inside me.
© Ali Grimshaw 2017
Discovery Challenge – Conventional Wisdom
Dressed in white, they gather
a sacred opening, shared hush
They lean in to listen for what is to come.
My eyes honored guests to witness their glory.
One of few who will attend this party today.
© Ali Grimshaw 2017
Not qualified, no certificate, diploma
just a person, regular, no one special.
Who me? I don’t know how. Where would I start?
Listen. Open your heart. Look. Open your eyes.
An opportunity right in front of you. Yes, right there.
It won’t matter. I don’t count. It’s too late.
No one ever tires of a rainbow coming through the clouds.
Your colors impossible to see from an internal view
vivid in the eyes of those waiting.
© Ali Grimshaw 2017
Dr. Maya Angelou – Thank you for reminding me that I can be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud and to take all the rainbows of my life with me wherever I go.
Rainbow photo thanks to pixabay.com/en/rainbow-kelvenne-national-park-1372108/
As we stand together
the ocean’s roar a comfort
lullaby of constant.
You squeeze my hand.
I echo the motion.
Reliable rolling waves,
we count on
when the world is crashing.
© Ali Grimshaw 2017
The Daily Post Photo Challenge – Ambience
What do you hold onto
when the bottom drops out
leaving you foundationless?
Your roof carried away by a tornado.
Left only with blankness and a pen
you forgot was in your hand.
I draw myself a new house
windows of openness, a tin roof to hear rain
a welcome door without requirements
with the hope that you feel safe enough to visit.
Uncensored, just as you are not
when you leave the premises.
© Ali Grimshaw 2017
© Ali Grimshaw 2017
When the last leaf has fallen,
and I am left on my own,
my sorrow will have no company.
You took the colors with you.
You took the colors with you,
my questions left alone in the air.
Bleached silence, no reply.
I gave away too much again,
White walls with no solutions,
an empty palette in my hands.
© Ali Grimshaw
After I posted the above poem printed in red. The Original Phoenix asked me this question, “How do you find the new colors?” What a wonderful question to consider. Today I dedicate this expanded poem to her for inspiring me to dig deeper and bring the rest to life. Although I still didn’t answer her question, I continue to ponder it. Thank you! Check out her blog, CONFESSIONS OF A REBORN GIRL. Never underestimate the power of offering feedback. We all need each other.
© Ali Grimshaw 2017
flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw 