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deeper layer of love

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A bird dying in the tall grass, its wing, a bent leaf

that could not re-form. In the swamp yard, another bird

balanced on the stem of a tall weed, never noticing

the voice of death. The signature of each tree against

an unobtrusive sky. The frog placed by a well-intended child

in the middle of a road. The itch under the casted arm.

What mends the snow? In this land wedged

between instinct and heaven

does anything mend or know a lasting happiness

other than stillness?

Elements carved like karma into a snail’s brain,

into the whale on fire with symphony,

into a baby, stillborn, and into its mother, whose substance

is now reduced to a wafer,

fossilized by impersonal failure.

There is so little love, so little to count on but the love

that continues loving despite the not-so-hidden deformities,

despite the limitations that bind us in these ambulance beds.

Only such love that carries the gruesome ghost

of each finite tale

can open the way to a new perfection,

to Gods’ infinity of love that sees and heals

by its seeing, by its decided effort of

continuance.

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Copyright © 2008 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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First published in “Torrid Literature Journal, Volume XV”, July 2015

Torrdi Literature Journal V15 XV July 7-1-15 – Final July 2015 – CC

http://www.torridliterature.com/2015_TLJ.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.

Reviews of ‘The Many Lights of Eden’:

“’The Many Lights of Eden’ is a journey: a journey of the heart through youth, anguish, struggle, spiritual awakening, grief, death, love, loss, guilt, struggle, despair, hope, surrender, God, sensuality, imperfection, motherhood, aging, the vanquishing of the devil, indeed, many devils, the inevitable fall from perfection and the casting off of old wineskins for a new one. Perhaps speaking of this book as a chronicle of spiritual maturing would be more accurate, the realization that there is spirituality within imperfection and that handmade temples cannot hope to compete with the spiritual temples within each of us. ‘The Many Lights of Eden’ is a diamond. It is a beautiful collection of insights. Allison Grayhurst’s thoughts and writings are a deep well. Drink from it, for the water is clear and crisp. This collection is a MUST-READ,” Eric M. Vogt, author of Letters to Lara and Paths and Pools to Ponder. 

 “I have been slow at responding to reviews for Allison Grayhurst due to summer’s busy days, however she brings life to each poem, heart to the images and everyone should have a collection of Grayhurst Poetry,” Ann Johnson-Murphree, poet.

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