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In Front

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The line in front

is the line crossed

then left to rot under

the blazing day. The other side

is not to be feared but held

up like an appreciated toy.

The way out the door

is the door your father gave you when he died

and placed death’s rattle under your pillow

for the rest of your days. It is the door

that won’t let you forget

how short a season life is.

The chain around your neck

is a chain of small but frequent miracles

that has sustained and held poverty at bay.

It is to be counted on when the last of the nectar

has been spilled on the rug and indifference consumes

the eyes of friend and kin like roundworm, there

even in the most difficult of barren

January days.

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Copyright © 2006 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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First published in “Dead Snakes”

http://deadsnakes.blogspot.ca/2013/01/allison-grayhurst-three-poems.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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