Lost Shadow

Lost Shadow

When the song started

and the dream was torn from its socket

then placed on the sidewalk,

the light from the window broke

and in came the lost shadow.

I saw that shadow but stared it down

thinking it would only last a short season.

The shadow stayed, made its way behind

bookshelves and old picture frames.

Since then I can’t say what is a reflection

and what is truly bright.

The favourite plan has burned in the meadow,

the secondary one has too.

If we are right, we cannot touch it.

If we are wrong, the sum of all our efforts

and discoveries is naught.

I enter the shadow then I too am left without definition.

At times there is nowhere else to go but further in,

further obliterating my clarity.

That is a grey day for the dream.

Other days I hold my own

and count my gifts. That is the day of perfect weather

when the shadow stays under the bathtub

and tomorrow is fine.

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

First published in “Carcinogenic Poetry”

http://www.carcinogenicpoetry.com/search?q=allison+grayhurst

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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.