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Outliving the Inevitable
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As lions groom
in African lands, so kissing
bends the intent of the assassin,
making safe the fangy mouth
and the weedy waters.
I will lie down in my heaven
though the light breeds in me like the guts of an
unhealable wound and I fail the simple rule of forgiveness.
I will dig out the bones from the sands
and scissor the serpent’s tongue.
Drunk on complaining, on naming my cloud
my crown, I will find a new rhythm in the oceans
and sleep like one just born. I will talk
to the half-mast moon and translate
the crows’ territorial song.
The old dog snarls and the pigeons seem happy
resting on the window sill.
If I must return to witness the same casualty,
return to tread the sewer’s underbelly, then I will bury
some love in the fall and call the small graces
my exotic fruit.
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Copyright © 2002 by Allison Grayhurst
amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst
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First published in “Outlaw Poetry” April 2017
https://www.outlawpoetry.com/outliving-the-inevitable-by-allison-greyhurst/
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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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