.

Lost members of my tribe

 .

 .

            Four were sheltered here

in the purity of spring, and the ocean all around

with its intelligent octopi, its mystical porpoises

and whales of many sizes.

            One of you, eternally young, small,

soft and perfectly fragile, loving freely as a babe

sure of her mother’s arms.

            The other, heavy, carrying around an irritation

that howled at everyone it saw. But I could see

the innocence painted in her eyes.

I could bless her conflict

and love her just the same.

            Number three was fire, sweet as a not-too-hot sun,

warming the field with his golden colour and forthright

demands, needing to love and be loved.

            The fourth was king, ancient as the night sky.

He knew the age of every tree, the faint altering stirrings

of life’s first conception. He was gentle, autonomous, giving,

with a mind that spoke in pictures.

            Now they have all left for heavenly territory.

Their energies stay, and sometimes I still see them

in the hallway, on beds.

I still feel each close to my touch and I know we were blessed

to have walked so many years, needing one another, blessed

and forever remaining an essential piece

of each other’s cores.

 .

.

Copyright © 2010 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

.

.

First published in “AWS Publishing” March 2017

http://awspublishing.com/poetry/

http://awspublishing.com/poetry/348/lost-members-of-my-tribe/

.

.

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.

.

.