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Breaking Through

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The layer above me is thin.

Above, there are levels transparent

and endless. I hold my breath.

I use the force of arms and legs to swim

up like a tulip pushes out of the earth.

I fear the sharks. I fear the lack

of oxygen. Layer upon liquid layer I merge with

then pass through. When I reach

the last layer it is like any other until

I am through. And there is the crisp, immaculate sky,

the breathable breeze and friends sent

to rescue me, cheering like children at my return.

I am swept between them back to shore,

as the ocean sits like a picture, still and of

another time.

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Copyright © 2000 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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First published in “The Miscreant, Issue 6”, July 2015

  

http://miscreantmagazine.com/2015/07/07/issue-6/

http://miscreantmagazine.com/2015/07/07/four-poems-3/

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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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