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When I met an angel

she was on a subway car

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Dyed, dull blonde,

roots showing, hunched

over, more than middle age.

No conversation, but

a half smile, a slight nod and

looking affectionately, in my mind saying,

“You should already know

God is here, present when you have no

strength to even ask or search, when both sides

of the tunnel are blocked and the only

way out is up, through loose earth and an inevitable

collapse. God is here, you know,

I am.

How many times do I have to be obvious

to re-kindle your faith?

How many times have I loved you,

drenching you with miracles,

sending you to the depths to find flight,

sending you to a choice of yes or no, so you can

remember

I love you – where trusting me is loving me

is all there is left always to do?”

When I met an angel, she was on a subway car,

temporarily normal – at once

personal, at once divine.

.

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Copyright © 2015 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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First published in “Prachya Review” September 2015

 

http://www.prachyareview.com/september-issue/

http://www.prachyareview.com/category/poetry/

http://www.prachyareview.com/2015/09/page/2/

http://www.prachyareview.com/when-i-met-an-angel-she-was-on-a-subway-car-allison-grayhurst/

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Click to access Make_the_Wind20160404Allison_Grayhurst.pdf

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http://scars.tv/cgi-bin/framesmain.pl?writers

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You can listen to the poem by clicking below:

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“Allison’s poetic prose is insightful, enwrapping, illuminating and brutally truthful. It probes the nature of the human spirit, relationships, spirituality and God. It is sung as the clearest song is sung within a cathedral by choir. It is whispered as faintly as a heartbroken goodbye. It is alive with the life of a thousand birds in flight within the first glint of morning sun. It is as solemn as the sad-sung ballad of a noble death. Read at your peril. You will never look at this world in quite the same way again. Your eye will instinctively search the sky for eagles and scan the dark earth for the slightest movement of smallest ant, your heart will reach for tall mountains, bathe in the most intimate of passions and in the grain and grit of our earth. Such is Allison Grayhurst. Such is her poetry,”  Eric M. Vogt, poet and author.

“Grayhurst is a great Canadian poet. All of Allison Grayhurst’s poetry is original, sometimes startling, and more often than not, powerful. Anyone who loves modern poetry that does not follow the common path will find Grayhurst complex, insightful, and as good a poet as anyone writing in the world today. Grayhurst’s poetry volumes are highly, highly recommended,” Tom Davis, poet, novelist and educator.