Last Beat

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Allison Grayhurst

Last Beat

It is a prolonged death,

a rotted tooth that hasn’t been pulled.

Evenings of blasphemy, steeling bitterness back

to inhabit my upper gut.

I fumbled, then ripped the barriers – better off

hard and sure of the fire I was stoking.

Then softness crept in, like a pregnant mother

falling prey to a sentimental moment. Love

I called it. But it was a city of angst I unleashed,

twisted veins and cramped-up toes. Let it die

and be done with. I will not be owned by obligation

or highways and highways of mundane houses and the people

that live in them – insensitive to devotion, to savage need

and to pilgrimage. Joy

is where I am free. Beside the crystals forming,

savouring the voice that always guides me. And it

guides me to tear off my clothes, relax my arms and to

yes, yes, please

let go.

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First published in “Bold Monkey” October 2015

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http://georgedanderson.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/featuring-allison-grayhurst.html

You can listen to the poem by clicking below:

“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.