Saltwater Sprint

Saltwater Sprint

A returning dream ruffled in my shell,

opening intermittent passages of discovering.

Crossbreezes and singular infinity,

by death and dying you buy me whole.

The slug’s flesh merges miraculously with

the curve of a leaf – white pink on green, more potent

than a drop-cliff, than rebellion.

Stroking the skin of tree, I end up here, in the morning,

with the nesting squirrels collecting torn newspapers, swaying

with the telephone wires. Brilliance plays like chords

on the brink of chaos, almost fracturing sanity.

Suspended firm like a branch over traffic,

I hear riffs like cars arrive then leave.

Sleep, little lilac near the fence, I have learned

determination can solve most problems. Tomorrow I will make

the final break, orbit beyond the periphery of natural selection.

God, scoop me up in your cone, don’t

let me doubt your goodness. If you are here,

I am living, I can let slip what I am capable of,

create origami with infants and animals.

I can climb the steps of any probability

just to feel you press up against my rigidity,

purify with kneading pressure

a hard illumination.

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

Surrogate Dharma chapbook 1

http://barometricpressures.blogspot.ca/2014/10/surrogate-dharma-allision-grayhurst.html?spref=fb

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-DuKJaq66ClMlFIWWU5cTY2RTQ/view

First published in “Chicago Record Magazine”, 2014

http://magazine-record.blogspot.ca/

You can listen to the poem by clicking below:

“Allison’s poetic prose is insightful, enwrapping, illuminating and brutally truthful. It probes the nature of the human spirit, relationships, spirituality and God. It is sung as the clearest song is sung within a cathedral by choir. It is whispered as faintly as a heartbroken goodbye. It is alive with the life of a thousand birds in flight within the first glint of morning sun. It is as solemn as the sad-sung ballad of a noble death. Read at your peril. You will never look at this world in quite the same way again. Your eye will instinctively search the sky for eagles and scan the dark earth for the slightest movement of smallest ant, your heart will reach for tall mountains, bathe in the most intimate of passions and in the grain and grit of our earth. Such is Allison Grayhurst. Such is her poetry,” Eric M. Vogt, poet and author.

“Grayhurst is a great Canadian poet. All of Allison Grayhurst’s poetry is original, sometimes startling, and more often than not, powerful. Anyone who loves modern poetry that does not follow the common path will find Grayhurst complex, insightful, and as good a poet as anyone writing in the world today. Grayhurst’s poetry volumes are highly, highly recommended,” Tom Davis, poet, novelist and educator.