Gifted

Posted on January 6, 2017 by Allison Grayhurst

Gifted

Thrown into isolation – no need

for bread or even the gifts of summer.

That is all inside you – the Chinaglass dream

tarnished from age – the towering clouds,

never far enough to reach – the daughters

of loveless affection – the painted

patriarch of absolute control.

Your face has weaved a wonder

that the piled-up tissues of time cannot

obscure. For you, hope is

beautiful. To join is to be

elevated. But these acts are too large

for your darkness, too full of God to ever

own you with anything but longing.

In this way, you are modern,

destroyed by what you name sacred, diamond

but lacking all shine.

In this way, you are gorgeous, guided by

an obvious morality yet struggling with the sly and unholy –

lightning-struck with an anger that will never free you,

reaching out

beyond yourself for what

even angels are denied.

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First published in “The Peregrine Muse” December 2016

https://sites.google.com/site/theperegrinemuseii/home/grayhurst

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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.