writing 2016

Visiting With Chaos

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 14 Comments

Spills splattered the walls.

Counters filled with clutter,

multiple piles creating a new geography in the room.

There is a relief to cleaning it all away.

Everything in order. Repair and replace.

The seduction of a new cycle, sparkling clean.

Free from marks of history.

 

What if we could sit with Chaos

for just a little minute?

Feel the wind in our ears.

Hearing her secrets of cleverness.

Soaking in the learning of this undone space.

Before an opportunity is erased.

A past disinfected before she can author her story

from which the plot differs from

perpetual duplicating.

© Alicia Grimshaw 2016

Chaos – Photo Challenge

 

 

 

 

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Exiting The Maze

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 6 Comments

She could think about something else

a distraction from the pain

another new form of an old approach,

all temporary fixes,

that will return her to the same spot in the maze.

Unfortunately familiar torment.

Hands clenched to aching,

nails biting skin,

jaw clenched.

Her body’s defiance to the status quo.

Suffering unnoticed by a hurried world.

“Not this time.” She whispers. “This time

I will make my own exit.”

© Alicia Grimshaw 2016

 

Dirty Knees

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 9 Comments

image

When she fell

in her pain she was grateful,

to all those along the way who

patiently taught her how to rise to her feet.

showed her how to dust off,

heal the wounds,

start again.

After years of practice

she wasn’t afraid of falling anymore.

Dirty knees were honorable.

© Ali Grimshaw 2016

 

 

 

Replay

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 10 Comments

Before I walk away,

returning to a new season of my life,

let’s rewind this journey for one

last view. The thrills, near misses,

and countless conversations melted together,

making me the true color I have become.

Wherever I am

is your home

to come back to.

© Alicia Grimshaw

The Aha

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 5 Comments

Once balanced on their ends

the squares fall, one nudging the other.

A tumbling of memories,

replaying like a film made from still pictures.

held together by a plot that used to make sense.

Now I hold a new appreciation for the structure

that held them in place for  years. The straining sides

that were keeping order, now dissolved,

layers becoming a ferris wheel of change

arriving as a new shape on the floor.

© Ali Grimshaw

Strength Training

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 5 Comments

Today

I possess the power

to return your judgemental gaze

with full ownership of who I am.

“Yes, this is me.”

A me of mistakes,

fearless learning,

repeated crashing and rising,

heart wide open

scars and wounds visible

capable of the unimaginable

love of Herculean strength.

I won’t ever fit in your box.

I am my own coloring book.

© Ali Grimshaw

Shades of Gray

~ Ali Grimshaw ~ 8 Comments

Between the light and dark lie many shades of gray,

easily misunderstood by those not interested

in searching the sky for shapes.

With curiosity comes an acceptance of the continuum

from silver ash to smokey midnight.

Shades that vary only by a brushstroke of ink,

yet change a life in ways that can never be turned back.

The dark that challenges us to grow

and pushes the fearful through the door.

The light that illuminates

on the other side.

© Ali Grimshaw

Pic to word Challenge – Grey