soft
giggles
like crumbs of encouragement
warm
murmurs
like holding a shaking hand
pillows of
intention
there to catch you
if,
just if.
©Ali Grimshaw 2025
Photo of a happy summer memory and young lovers.
We are stronger together.
writing
How might you join another? – Poem by Ali Grimshaw
Inosculation, a natural wonder, encapsulates the extraordinary process where parts of two distinct trees, often of the same species but not exclusively, grow together, forming an intimate bond through self-grafting and the sharing of life-sustaining nutrients. This botanical phenomenon, with roots in Latin—ōsculārī, meaning “to kiss”—brings to life a narrative of mutual support, resilience, and interconnectedness in the realm of nature. from – Nature’s Eternal Embrace: The Extraordinary Bond of Inosculation
by Hasan
togetherness
makes the impossible
look like magic
lean in to believing
reach with both hands
trust in love
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
Poetry Has Arms – Poem by Ali Grimshaw
Poetry has arms
to reach beyond borders
stretch across isles
swim channels of shame
while handing our fresh hankies
for tears of lost love.
Poetry has arms
to hold, comfort, and allow
for all to be felt
the sharp, the cut wide open
poetry pushes no one away.
All are welcome
through this doorway.
© Ali Grimshaw 2025
I started writing circles with the desire to reach just a few, share my flashlight, and listen with compassion. The last four years have brought your voices on the breeze, across seas stanzas sailed, flew and walked themselves beyond boundaries. I have heard your hearts.
Throughout my facilitating of writing circles I have witnessed authentic sharing and heartfelt listening. I believe the practice of writing and reflecting together is a powerful agent of change. At an event I attended recently Mark Nepo said, “Global humanity’s health depends on healthy souls keeping the literacy of the heart alive.” This resonated with me. Let’s come together and do this in the writing circle.
Are you curious about exploring possibilities through poems? Are you seeking a sisterhood to write and reflect? Are you wanting a loving space to purposefully pause?
Listening for Possibility – Writing Circle Series With Ali
Three Saturdays: January 25, February 8, February 22, 2025
9:30 – 11:00 am PDT on Zoom
During each session we will listen to poems and each other, listen inward for the needs of the heart and explore the doors we want to open next.
This group will be held to six participants to allow deep listening and sharing.
$75 for the series
Payment through PayPal paypal.me/LIfeByDesignOR or Venmo at Alicia-Grimshaw
Whether you are inspired to join me or not I would love to hear from you. I am looking for ways to be of service to others through writing.
Wishing you wellness and peace,
Ali
Belief in Planting – Poem by Ali Grimshaw
“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” – John Muir
As I dug deeply down to tuck you in safely, one by one, in softness, grounded for growth with care and wishes for your survival. (Awareness of my lack of qualifications and experience crowded into the activity like a boisterous neighbor who wasn’t invited. “This won’t work. You don’t know what you’re doing.”)
As I put my shovel away, I am thinking about internal resistance. My resistance to planting, to bothering with placing all of you in the earth. My head saying, “You’re doing it wrong. You will be disappointed.” My heart replying, “Let’s try. I need to wonder.”
Now I am pondering, curious actually, what would it be like to live without a belief in planting. Realizing I already know. I have been there and don’t want to go back.
I am seeding a future I cannot see. I am planting hope in the dark cold of winter. This includes garlic cloves and my belief in loving action to grow the next. Stepping into the unknowable with a curious heart that knows it doesn’t always work out and planting it anyway.
Later that day I found three more cloves in my pocket. Three that escaped planting day. Their potential is not lost. I will find time to tuck them to bed too.
Cover them with leaves.
© Ali Grimshaw 2024
Thank you Stephanie Matlock for nurturing my inner farmer and gifting me garlic to plant. You are the Garlic Master! Cobblestone Farms, LLC.
Cross My Fingers – Poem by Ali Grimshaw
To see, feel, hold, wake
determination cycles, knowing mistakes
enduring without audience
multi-stepped blossomed awareness
winging it
drenched ducks in a row
elation evaporation
mind marathons
love injects herself into the race
- all this comes after
promising
if your words are
tattooed as you
© Ali Grimshaw 2024
Join a welcoming community of poets
for today's prompt - promise. HERE.
Rebalancing – Poem by Ali Grimshaw
“Noticing you’ve lost your balance is part of finding it again. Recognizing (and normalizing) imbalance is part of rebalancing.” – Lea Seigen Shinraku
Check out Lea’s free Love Yourself Now With Art Journaling Workshop on October 6 HERE.
Rebalancing
when she noticed her tilt
an unequal stance leaning toward tumble
she was lucky enough to remember
and send herself love to reorient,
instead of judgement
when the rainstorm arrived
she welcomed it without resistance
befriending her tipping vessel
rebalancing was just part of living
she could find her way drenched,
as well as, dry
I have found writing with others to be a beautiful way to rebalance. Join me for an upcoming circle of poems, writing, and reflective listening. Email to register at coaching@aligrimshaw.com
Upcoming Writing Circles:
Saturday, October 12, 9:30 – 11:00 am PDT $20
Saturday, November 2, 9:30 – 11:00 am PDT $20
Saturday, December 7, 9:30 – 11:00 am PDT $20
Some of the Time – Poem by Ali Grimshaw
Sometimes the light turns red before we have left the intersection leaving our tail end vulnerable sometimes our brakes don’t work, spinning on black ice with blurred windows of reaction sometimes we must go slowly, inching through the fog in faith blinded by dense thoughts sometimes breakdowns leave us on the rainy roadside unpacking resourcefulness sometimes forgiveness shows up like an invitation an off-ramp never seen before sometimes we just need to stay on the road grip and steer This was written in 2019 and still resonates with me today. This driving metaphor definitely places me in a car-centered culture. Each of us is navigating our way through the day. Be kind and assume the best intentions of others.
Join a welcoming group of poets for Open Link Night -dVerse Poets’ Pub HERE.
I took this photo in Lisbon, Spain. Such a fun curve in the street.
Posted on The Drabble in 2022. You can find some great short poems on this site.
Growing With The Trees – Poems by Ali Grimshaw
before becoming
Mother Bird, she heard forest
leaves speak layered peace
© Ali Grimshaw 2024
Photo taken on a walk in the Karura Forest, Kenya.
She led me to… Poem by Ali Grimshaw
She led me to
the library, fed stories to my ears
taught me how to keep the family blood circulating
to pull my shoulders back, stand proud
she showed me laughter around the table
camping in cold rain, beauty beyond lipstick
the effective use of stubborn determination
she made a million meals without consideration
flowered apron ready dinners with a smile
Did she even enjoy cooking?
I don't remember anyone asking her.
She washed clothes, replacing them in drawers
a revolving door of dirty to clean
just another behind the scenes devotion.
How much did we notice the way
she kept the boat afloat
watching for leaks while we slept.
© Ali Grimshaw 2024
This poem is in honor of my mother, grandmothers, and all the mothers in my family tree who made me who I am today. Thank you.
Happy Mother's Day
Join a welcoming community of poets
at dVerse Poets' Pub, HERE
for Open Link Night. Share one poem
of your choosing and read what other's
share.
Shall We Take A Vote? – Poem by Ali Grimshaw
a dazzle of zebras
a tower of giraffes
and the alligators gathering
a congregation
how did these words arrive
and who says we can't
extend the collectives
I'm voting for a blaze of
cherry tomatoes
still sunwarm at dusk
a party in every bite
© Ali Grimshaw 2024
I first learned about a dazzle of zebras on a trip to Kenya in 2023. What a great word. This poem led me down a rabbit hole to learn more about the history of collective nouns. Here is a fun article if you are curious, A Shrewdness of Apes? Collective Nouns Are a 500-Year-Old Language Fad
Join a welcoming community of poets
at dVerse Poets' Pub, HERE. Tonight's challenge - write a quadrille using the word blaze.
flashlight batteries - Ali Grimshaw 