Fatal

Fatal

When I saw your blank eyes

and your face terrible and thin,

I thought of a night with no mercy,

I thought of a new form of life that only

the slowly dying can know, that tortures

the wearer like having no exit from a haunted house.

I thought how quickly my father died without

the tight throat and mindless whispers, and of you,

long ago with your blue eyes, clear and independent,

swimming with the wonder of discovery.

I remember your walk – giant, focused – that now

with only one leg, you will never know again.

I thought of those nights spent watching your hands

bring strength and comfort to the clay

like they would to a lost child.

Now I praise you with those same hands, frustrated,

trembling, searching for your mother tongue.

I praise you with the blankets pulled off

your dying limbs, forgetting my name

and the reasons why I love you – you,

always so brave an individual, now like a hymn

torn away from the nadir of its voice, away

from the zenith of its song.

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

First published in “Profiles in Poetry Literary Zine” November 2015

Profiles in Poetry Nov fourth 1

http://profilesinpoetry.blogspot.ca/2015/11/fatal-poem-by-allison-grayhurst.html

Published in “Duane’s Poetree”, May 2016 under the title”Elizabeth”

http://duanespoetree.blogspot.ca/2016/05/allison-grayhurst-writes.html

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.