Living With Myself

Living With Myself

How many years before I arrive (guided as I am)

to the cliff, before I accept the fear, this view

as only a snake protecting my yard or as a way to keep me

ringing the bell? When was the last time a stranger

altered my octave, drove me, drum, drum

at the heels of some extreme belief?

This flesh is like oil paint that only sanding can clean.

My path is wanting.

I am with water, but no wave. I feel the water,

heavy as an avalanche,

soiled by so many fruitless beginnings.

But death will come, and the dust

that has already caked over my exuberance

will not be queen.

I will ride again unchanged, but this time

at sunrise, upon my beautiful horse, without

bridal and chain. I will regain mastery, pound at

the hot grass, at this constant edge –

relinquishing all.

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First published in “Spillwords Press”, June 2017

Living With Myself

http://spillwords.com/author/allisongrayhurst/

Published in “White Liquor” August 2017

https://steemit.com/poem/@whiteliquor/five-poems
http://whiteliquor.tk/

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.

Reviews of ‘The Many Lights of Eden’:

“’The Many Lights of Eden’ is a journey: a journey of the heart through youth, anguish, struggle, spiritual awakening, grief, death, love, loss, guilt, struggle, despair, hope, surrender, God, sensuality, imperfection, motherhood, aging, the vanquishing of the devil, indeed, many devils, the inevitable fall from perfection and the casting off of old wineskins for a new one. Perhaps speaking of this book as a chronicle of spiritual maturing would be more accurate, the realization that there is spirituality within imperfection and that handmade temples cannot hope to compete with the spiritual temples within each of us. ‘The Many Lights of Eden’ is a diamond. It is a beautiful collection of insights. Allison Grayhurst’s thoughts and writings are a deep well. Drink from it, for the water is clear and crisp. This collection is a MUST-READ,” Eric M. Vogt, author of Letters to Lara and Paths and Pools to Ponder.

“I have been slow at responding to reviews for Allison Grayhurst due to summer’s busy days, however she brings life to each poem, heart to the images and everyone should have a collection of Grayhurst Poetry,” Ann Johnson-Murphree, poet.