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The Burn

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Burnt

on dreams

I leave you now

as a pauper by the wayside,

tossed overboard like one

not good enough.

It sinks in – assimilates

the remaining glory and soon

all is charcoal and cinder.

It is in the flavour of my breath,

it rides my spine and refuses to fully

consume or to let go.

It is what I see when I look

into the open sky:

No one’s coming in.

No flower is reaching

its petals up for me.

The burn is in the way I sing,

the way I wait,

the way I move my lips to

smile or listen.

 

 

Copyright © 2006 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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First published in “Ginosko Literary Journal, Issue 6” May 2015

http://ginoskoliteraryjournal.com/images/ginosko16.pdf

http://ginoskoliteraryjournal.com/downloads.htm

 

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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