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Animal Sanctuary
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He turns his hawk head
to view the shells of turtles streaking
the still-shroud of water in tanks
as blue as sky.
He lifts a leg and talons tensed,
pivots to defend against an enclosing shadow.
With whitish eyes and an impossible urge
to fly, he hops along his man-made perch toward
the cages where squirrels leap
from metal to wood, scattering like leaves
in unpredictable flurry.
He listens to the ducks’ lipless sounds.
Spring, he will never experience again, nor know
the scent of a pent-up life released like
sunflowers blooming, or the feel of the moon,
colder but more comforting than being touched.
He is without time or tribe,
and like fire, he haunts
by just being.
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Copyright © 1998 by Allison Grayhurst
amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst
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Published in “The Poet By Day” November 2017
A Little Bit of Magic: That’s what happens when a singer/songwriter and a poet team up
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First published in “UC Review”, 1996/1997
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Published “Creative Talent’s Unleashed website” January 2017
https://creativetalentsunleashed.com/2017/01/02/author-allison-grayhurst-animal-sanctuary/
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Published in “Duane’s PoeTree” April 2017
http://duanespoetree.blogspot.ca/2017/04/allison-grayhurst-writes.html
You can listen to the poem by clicking below:
River – Songs from the poetry of Allison Grayhurst
https://dianebarbarash.bandcamp.com/
https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/dianebarbarash3
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/river-songs-from-the-poetry-of-allison-grayhurst/id1293420648
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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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Review of The Longing To Be:
“The contents of Allison Grayhurst’s book The Longing To Be are both personal and universal and are described in such thematic and golden terms that one can see that a lot of thought has gone into each line. The poems are written mostly in free verse throughout, with both rhythm and soul weaved into them. For some poems, the layout seems experimental, and there is definitely a playfulness in the way that the words and verses fall onto the page. Others do conform to a “norm”, whatever that is. All are dramatic and thoughtful. These are layered poems with new horizons presented to the reader in every re-read. The effect is to keep things fresh with poems that constantly surprise in spite, and because of, the number of times being read. I thoroughly recommend The Longing To Be as a poetry book to study carefully and cherish far into the future,” poet Brian Shirra.
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Reblogged this on The ObamaCrat™.
This is how I feel about every animal caged in a zoo – I understand he is permanently wounded and hence needs to be in an animal hospital – whichever the reason – this poem speaks it brilliantly – the “human-made” perch – human’s inhumanity to animal when it is for our pleasure and not to aid the animal – Thank you. Grayhurst has done it again – captured in unavoidable embrace the piercing essence of the situation:
“Spring, he will never experience again, nor know
the scent of a pent-up life released like
sunflowers blooming, or the feel of the moon,
colder but more comforting than being touched.
He is without time or tribe,
and like fire, he haunts
by just being.”