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Wingbeats

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I could tell you

never close your eyes

it is us

and us only

who carry the iron

and dismiss ourselves from the cross

Where is home?

Can you answer me

in this month of sensuous summer?

When we love

is it enough

to entice the dead from their settled sleep?

I once heard the sound of pain

in an old man’s voice

It was real

the magic of song

milk from a mother’s swollen breast

the authentic desire

for union

Every vineyard

has its legend

Every someone

wanders protected and important

in this long age of insanity

Nearly all dancers

have hesitated,

felt their passions, suspicious

unnatural impulses

depleting their strength

But so –

heaven is not a womb

nor a winter’s twilight

intense but brief

I once saw a golden eagle

repeat its wingbeats

alone in the breeze

flapping

as if to say:

I know myself

completely.

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Copyright © 1989 by Allison Grayhurst

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Joshua’s Shoulder was published  in 1989 by The Plowman, written by Allison Grayhurst under the pseudonym of Jocelyn Kain.

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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Published in “Sacred Chickens” August 2017

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First published in “The Plowman: A Journal of International Poetry” 1989

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You can listen to the poem by clicking below:

https://allisongrayhurst.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/wingbeats.m4a?_=1

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“Rich images and complex, shifting metaphors drive Allison Grayhurst’s poems. She focuses on sexual love and interior landscapes, widening to include the heart, eternity and all.” – Next Exit

“Grayhurst’s rapturous outpouring of imagery makes her poems easily enjoyable … Like a sear the poet seeks to fathom sensual and spiritual experience through the images of a dream.” Canadian Literature

“Allison Grayhurst is a poet whose work is characterized by startling imagery and uncompromising emotion, whose pieces have appeared in prestigious magazines. Lights, darks, colors, and passions intertwine throughout the pages of her work,” – Louise E. Allin, Literature and Language

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