.

Birthday Vision

 .

Under this familiar banner

of autumn and Halloween.

The gull who died on the side of the road

was to me the drum-drum-drum

in the marrow of my bones and the truth that

my prayers can heal no one.

I am tired of the clouds and the chapel sermon

infiltrating the beads of my shower.

Senseless is the cloud, the song of guilt

and the selfish dark night. I can see

there is nothing to say to anyone about

the cold limb burnt at the veins.

Smooth, nothing has been smooth like the skin of a dolphin.

All I lack is painting circles, repeating in my head.

In the land of late October, it has not been easy

to find the starlight.

There is so much, by now, I thought I would have done.

.

.

Copyright © 2002 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

.

.

First published in “VerseWrights” June 2015 and March 2016

http://www.versewrights.com/grayhurst-allison.html

http://www.versewrights.com/grayhurst-profile.html

.

You can listen to the poems my clicking below:

..

“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.

.

.