Three Blessings in the Shade

Three Blessings in the Shade

Two lone crows on a crust of snow

pecking to find sustenance. They,

the keepers of precious

wings and intelligent things

that seemed to sense my sorrow

as I passed, gave something back

which time took – a seed to see

equal wonder in the vast array of branches above

and in the muddied ice on ground.

A good person arrived and

with a brief turn of his lips, warmed my mind,

put colour where greyness had webbed my love

in a fatalist’s prison.

I felt the three dance. I felt the simple,

the heroic and the awake. And driven

to merge with the blending foliage,

I was pulled toward the aching arms of high trees.

There, in flight, I was blessed.

I experienced a soft

and a useful death.

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First published in “Kritya Poetry Journal” January 2015

Kritya Dec 1 - Kritya Dec 6 - Three Blessings in the Shade

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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.

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.