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Traces

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In the whisper of tomorrow

the wood is burning and the trees

have died. A swallow is perched

on the fence as the twilight nears.

I have taken the hinges

off the door, waiting to see what enters,

waiting as my hunger works like

midnight in my stomach, dictating

the flavour of the coming stars.

Daunted, branded by the heaving wind,

alone with my prayers and the telephone turned

up high – will the answer come before the grave

or will obscurity greet me every new dawn

like a hand unheld or a gate torn down?

It is humming, the sound of this underground sorrow.

It hums of poetry and the earth and the bug eaten leaves.

It burns and cannot bloom in bookstores, will not bloom

in the silence of a single decade or in the darkness of

a closed drawer.

Outside, the children go inside, readying for sleep.

I tread waterways in my mind

and send my kisses mid-air.

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Copyright © 2002 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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First published in “Leaves of Ink”, 2013

http://www.leaves-of-ink.com/search/?q=allison+grayhurst

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You can listen to the poem by clicking below:

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“Allison Grayhurst intertwines a potent spirituality throughout her work so that each poem is not simply a statement or observation, but a revelation that demands the reader’s personal involvement. Grayhurst’s poetic genius is profound and evident. Her voice is uniquely authentic, undeniable in its dignified vulnerability as it is in its significance,” Kyp Harness, singer/songwriter, author.

“Allison Grayhurst’s poems are like cathedrals witnessing and articulating in unflinching graphic detail the gritty angst and grief of life, while taking it to rare clarity, calm and comfort. Grayhurst’s work is haunting, majestic and cleansing, often leaving one breathless in the wake of its intelligence, hope, faith and love amidst the muck of life. Many of Allison Grayhurst’s poems are simply masterpieces. Grayhurst’s poetry is a lighthouse of intelligent honour… indeed, intelligence rips through her work like white water,” Taylor Jane Green, Registered Spiritual Psychotherapist and author.

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