Holding Out

Holding Out

A hundred years of fire and prevention, never enough

to crawl out of the pit, flesh-like, but made

of a shinier substance. Never the ticket,

never the fountain base repaired,

leaking like a broken skull,

nightmares of the phone breaking just when

I have something important to say,

nightmares of treading water,

swarmed by watery prehistoric things,

of being blown apart and not dying,

not resting, seeing love

ineffectual, and God – so far away.

Days of the world having its pulling-tugging say,

and my tongue pulsing with a swelling thirst,

waiting to be swept clean

of heartache and these despairing sensations,

waiting without a photograph or résumé,

just the summer still ahead and my children, so beautiful

that I want to be happy.

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

Published in “The Sandy River Review, Volume 37. Issue 1” May 2017

The Sandy River Review

Published in “Synchronized Chaos April 2017: Sacred Mysteries”

“Her (Allison Grayhurst’s) pieces (poetry) have a tribal and timeless feeling, reminiscent of the Biblical commentary in Ecclesiastes,” Cristina Deptula, editor of Synchronized Chaos.

http://synchchaos.com/?p=12964

http://synchchaos.com/?p=12954

http://synchchaos.com/synchronized-chaos-april-2017/

http://synchchaos.com/poetry-from-allison-grayhurst/

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.