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In One Swoop

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I was lying under

the white ceiling, my

heart torn open like

the skin of a Clementine. It

was air I needed and the

blessing of a child. I found

my way past tender ambition

and hopes I never had the commitment

to work for.

I found the shade of the sea

in my bones and there was a line I drew

and crossed.

Every winter the same sickness rises

like a worm through my intestines.

It preys on both my

ego and spiritual vocation. It speaks of dust

and loss and other lifetimes.

Give me blood, cut my nails and call me               

clear across this continent.

It is what I was born for – to ride

the horse to the edge and then to let go.

 

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Copyright © 2002 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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First published in “Tangerine Heart Poetry Zine” November 2015

http://tangerineheartlit.blogspot.ca/2015/11/in-one-swoop-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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