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pause

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Like a rattler buried in its sleep

this season has come, treacherously lifting

from a thin layer of sand.

Grief has come, guilt has come, rage has come,

peace has come.

The promise of flint is over, let alone the fire

of soul healing security.

Miracles arrive, never in the way expected,

sometimes slowly, in small amounts

until you realize something merely accepted

was what was wanted all along.

Darkness was my addiction, but I am done

with cantering through those hills.

I am a tongue, moistened by letting go

of the chocolate bite. I don’t need a song of joy,

only a way

          to carry on.

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Copyright © 2010 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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First published in “Both Sides Now”

http://bothsidesnow.freeservers.com/backissues.htm

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First published in “Inscribed Museum Literary Zine” November 2015

 

http://theinscribedmuseum.blogspot.ca/2015/11/pause-poem-by-allison-grayhurst.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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