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As I Sleep
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No sun shone
on Adam’s breast
when first his strength
was bled.
When sharp like a lion’s tooth
the milk of dreams flowed,
half the sea perished
stale with prehistoric lineage.
And under the rafters where
unborn children wait,
I dreamed of a world
invincible with perfect hunger,
inching out of each curse –
all armour shed.
I dreamed a second life where
tenderness abounded. In every
pyramid, pavilion, parental hand,
the secret light was saved. The ones
who sought did not seek again for
desert and grave were one. And the
salt and bone in each breathing body bent
toward the sun. No angels came, neither did visions
that gave a full understanding.
For what was not accepted or surrendered
was broken, pierced
by a savage love.
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Copyright © 1997 by Allison Grayhurst
amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst
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First published in “Indigo Rising Magazine”, 2011
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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.
There are the odd rhymes – ‘shed’ / ‘bled’ and ‘one’/’sun’ – I was trying to work out how you structured the poem – liked it though!