Things I Must Learn

Posted on September 18, 2015 by Allison Grayhurst

Things I Must Learn

To speak like I should

in the wayfaring night, to

hold your hand when the shelf cracks

and the books are all read, when the fridge

carries only last week’s fruit.

To lean my head on your heart and

let you speak your need, instead of curling

under the blankets like an angry, disturbed thing.

To kiss your lips when nothing is going on, when

the dried flowers crumble to the floor and

the guitar strings have snapped, when summer

is only a month away and the city prepares in the same

dull way.

To touch your arm when the shower curtain rips

and a spider’s eggs lay behind the bathroom mirror.

To be kinder than I’ve been,

to wrap a hand around the back of your cold,

delicate neck.

To take pictures of you

in the afternoon, loving you better

when darkness inevitably descends.

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

First published in “the chicago record magazine” August 2015 and in “Wicked Sixe’s”, Fall 2015

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http://magazine-record.blogspot.ca/

http://magazine-record.blogspot.ca/2015/08/a-day-for-my-own-darning-of-socks-in.html

http://magazine-record.blogspot.ca/2015/08/change-let-it-come-like-wave-with-salty.html

http://magazine-record.blogspot.ca/2015_08_01_archive.html

chicago record- Wicked Sixes

You can listen to the poem by 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.

When we land

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Allison Grayhurst

When we land

it will be like the pilot ejected from his plane,

finally touching soft ground.

It will be a handshake that means forever,

many seasons of ripe cherries –

an evergreen growing in the basement.

And all the stars will sing “kindness eternal”

like a summer beach without the crowds or looming sharks.

And happy will be our hands swinging from trees,

made whole again by the healing act of honest love.

We will walk briskly. We will be smiling. Miracles

are born from the emptiness and

the longing for ancient beginnings.

Blue Jade under the pillow.

Our animal shapes, rising internal.

When we land, we will smell the nightmares evaporating,

senselessness will have run its course.

And all that we lost, and all that we never had

will blend in beautifully, transcended

by this direction.

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

Published in “Dual Coast Magazine, Issue 3” January 2016

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https://prolificpress.com/bookstore/dual-coast-magazine-c-6/dual-coast-magazine-issue-3-p-167.html

http://dualcoastmagazine.com/Issue-3-Preview/

Published in “Dead Snakes” August 2015

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http://deadsnakes.blogspot.ca/2015/08/allison-grayhurst-three-poems.html

You can listen to the poem by clicking below:

Reviews of ‘Pushing Through the Jelly Fire’:

“This, (Pushing Through the Jelly Fire) is my second favorite book of poetry by Allison Grayhurst. I have it in paperback. I read a lot of poetry across a lot of blogs but Grayhurst’s work stands above the crowd and is of tremendous quality. I highly recommend this and The River is Blind. Her quality of writing is of a high standard and never ceases to lift my spirits as I turn pages in paperback or kindle,” Bruce Ruston, poet, photographer, founding editor of The Poetry Jar.

“Another Grayhurst masterpiece, Allison’s work has inspired me to continue creating and reading poetry,” Ann Johnson-Murphree, poet.