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End

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I see the darkness fully. I face the sword

to slice clean the cancer blotting my soul.

I dive in the sewer, side by side with bacteria,

holding my face straight up. I let my fingertips be

severed so I can free the rest of my body.

I am frightened, looking beyond

the murky fear into a faith, small but glowing.

I have been the caterpillar. Not for one more day.

To get through it, I am going through it –

smeared like a bird by an oil-spill,

cut off from the sky.

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Copyright © 2004 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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First published in “BareBack Magazine”, 2013

http://www.barebacklit.com/2013-Poetry-June.html

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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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