Poets

A Poet’s Flame – Poem by Ali Grimshaw

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 17 Comments

“They started to burn the poets

But ash makes for more fertile soil.” – Khet Thi 


if they are only words
if they are only lines scratched in stone
if only poems from one heart 
how could they be so dangerous
to those with guns

so threatening 
that the flame of one 
must be put out

so powerful
that extinguishing one
wasn't enough

I hear the call of lost poets
their voices speak on 

to those willing to receive 

their light

I was stunned by this article, Where Poets Are Being Killed and Jailed After a Military Coup by Hannah Beech, New York Times. In honor of these lost poets I wanted to share their story. These words of mine feel so inadequate and that is why I am promising to remember the courage of these poets whenever I doubt the power of poetry.

May we find peace.

Join me for a writing circle

Self-Compassion Through Poetry: Writing Circle,

Friday, June 25, 10:00 – 11:30 am PDT Register here

Photo by Paul Bulai on Unsplash

If Poets Ruled The World

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 28 Comments

 

If you brought poetry to your exhale

how would you breathe?

If you brought poetry to your cooking

how would it taste?

If you brought poetry to your singing

how would it sound?

If we brought poetry to the conversation

what would we hear?

Would we notice the moan of wind outside our arguments

that the water from the pipes is at a trickle, our absent neighbors

don’t stand in the front yard anymore, weeds thrive

overtaking the edible garden, while last year’s birdhouse

remains empty? A muffled fear

like cotton balls in our ears.

 

If I lived poetry

could I see the heart

underneath your skin?

 

© Alicia Grimshaw 2018

“Poetry, whether the writing itself is explicitly political or not, always seeks a better way to respond, to think, to live.” – E. Ce Miller, writer, journalist

Sharing this great quote from Moorezart