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A Way To Survive
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A butcher’s knife
wielding at living flesh to accommodate
someone’s feast, is like
a quarrel behind a condemned man’s eyes
and the ingratitude of those born beautiful.
Rise from the stone,
out of the slumber of guilt
and inadequacy, rise as
the lilies between the weeds
and know that nothing matters
but the flame. The debris and mud and
labour of our hours spent motionless,
defeated in the dream, is just an exile
from the necessary drink, is part of the sea
that takes us in under its waves
of chaotic waters.
Often I have stood naked and
have seen nothing more than my shadow. Often
I return to the window, bearing my memories like a shield.
The sky is my witness. Let me fall in love all over again,
let my head be turned, and let the world outside be
my saved translucent spider.
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Copyright © 2002 by Allison Grayhurst
amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst
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First published in “The Artistic Muse” and “Poehemians Issue 1”, 2012
http://www.theartisticmuse.com/september-2012-archives.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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