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On Edge

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Recoiling then seizing the slanted hero

who lacks virtue or self-reproach

but reaches her destination just the same.

In this room where the flies are bent on suffering,

and cruel words ambush you when you sleep,

the dead play tricks with your long-lived grief

and the good light is crossed out like a lifetime

wasted.

 

But faith fills the void when you find it,

and know it like an exotic frog’s poisonous skin

or the sky after hours spent in the cellar.

And faith is never found

only once but must grow its wings again

and again.

 

In this room where defeat has clawed into my mind

with the same old tune,

I hold up my head and wait for heaven

to throw me a flame and let

the milk pour.

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Copyright © 2002 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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Published in “The Writers Newsletter” August 2017

    

https://thewritersnewsletter.com/traditional-modern-poetry-august/

https://thewritersnewsletter.com/monthly-archive/august-2017/

https://thewritersnewsletter.com/traditional-modern-poetry-august/edge-allison-grayhurst/

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First published in “Rusted Rose Poetry Forum” November 2015

http://rustedroselit.blogspot.ca/2015/11/on-edge-poem-by-allison-grayhurst.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.

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