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Nikki Grimes

@poetnikki.bsky.social

3.1K followers 750 following 420 posts

Poet, novelist, general word-nerd, gardener, photographer, foodie, film lover. My favorite people on the planet are children, which is why I write for them. Oh! And I'm a freak for roses, watercolor, and collage. Author of Ordinary Hazards, a memoir.

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Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · Nov 13

So glad to be here! Let's start with this:

Laughter loosens the logjam.
Little by little,
words temporarily halted
by despair
once again
begin to flow.
Can the rapids
be far behind?

Copyright 2024 by Nikki Grimes.

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 2d

Banning books is not the end, but you can see it from here.

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 3d

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 4d

One of the ugliest "B" words in the English language. You know which one I mean.

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 5d

Eggactly! (So, I've got a thing for eggs. So what?)

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 6d

Future Tense,
the land I live in.
Time to go away
on a brief holiday
to breathe in the land of Now.

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 7d

A friend shared an Annie Dillard quote about the importance of taking time to notice the world around us. Her last words will reverberate in my head & heart for awhile. Explaining why we are meant to notice even the smallest shell, she writes "Otherwise, creation would be playing to an empty house."

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 8d

Practicing presence is a challenge. Life is relentless & our minds take up real estate in tomorrow. I'm juggling deadlines, festivals, conferences, book launches, overseas travel from now till May—all great stuff. Still. Today often gets lost in the mix. How do you keep yourself tethered to Now?

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 9d

Excited to find Bedtime for Sweet Creatures on this list! Kudos to my illustrator, Elizabeth Zunon and our publisher, Sourcebooks.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/b...

52 Great Books for Toddlers

www.nytimes.com

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 9d

I don't care so much about the insult. I do care about the disservice being done to our kids.

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 9d

I know. Behind the scenes censorship.

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 9d

Exactly.

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 9d

I was asked permission to edit one of my books, eliminating a homeless shelter, & a child's sadness. What the hell? I write books with characters living in shelters so homeless children feel seen, know they're worthy of being in a story & sad characters show readers it's okay to not always be okay.

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 9d

Headlines

"Fascist hellscape",
literary stones thrown at
the country once known
as a democracy.
I'd call it a lie if I could,
but Chicken Little had it spot-on:
The sky is falling!
The sky is falling!
King David whispers in my ear:
"Is your slingshot
at the ready?"

Copyright 2025 by Nikki Grimes

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 10d

Headlines

"Fascist hellscape",
literary stones thrown at
the country once known
as a democracy.
I'd call it a lie if I could,
but Chicken Little had it spot-on:
The sky is falling!
The sky is falling!
King David whispers in my ear:
"Is your slingshot
at the ready?"

Copyright 2025 by Nikki Grimes

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 10d

Happy Book Birthday to Traci N. Todd and all the contributors to This is Not A Small Voice: Poems by Black Poets! I'm in great company, here, including Carole Weatherford and Amanda Gorman, among others. Congrats, Traci! Thank you for this beautiful book with gorgeous illustrations by Jade Orlando.

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 12d

Salina Yoon comes to Corona! Whaaat? We caught up over a great dinner after visiting friends at the Corona Library Book Festival! Life is good.

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 12d

This feels emotionally of the moment.

...since when
is the murder of a man
unarmed, subdued
begging breath
asking for his mama
considered official
police business?
...Not that I could
staunch the tears...
Not that I could breathe myself...
Not that I could scream.

Copyright 2020 by Nikki Grimes.

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 14d

Head heavy in my hands,
I wonder what shape
today's blasphemy will take,
which vulnerable humans
will have their dignity crushed
beneath the hellish heel of him
who would be king.

Nikki Grimes

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 15d

Back to the Santa Fe Farmer's Market. The flowers were glorious, of course. And the produce! Oh, my. But those ladies playing marimba? They killed it! I'd go back for that, alone!

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 16d

Have to do a redo on this post! January can't get here fast enough. That's when my first collab, and my first book with Heartdrum, finds its way into the world. On board: Stacy Wells and illustrator E.B. Lewis! Want the story behind the story? nikkigrimes.com/backstory/st...

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 17d

The paperbacks are here! The paperbacks are here! I'm excited. Can't you tell? I'm so proud of this book.

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 19d

Not your average farmer's market! More, please. A great way to end my Santa Fe sojourn.

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 20d

When all else fails, look up.

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 26d

Stories unbound.
Who will continue to tell them?
I will.
Freedom to Write.
Freedom to Read.

Nikki Grimes @poetnikki.bsky.social · 27d

Authors who've used Between the Lines:Jodi Picoult, Meredith Spies, Lindsay Ward, Sarah R. Chapman, Kristo Iozef, me. Read Between the Lines: Jo Knowles, Rachel Carey, Charles Singleton; There's Teaching Between the Lines, You Between the Lines...hundreds of such titles. Research! Lesson learned.