Dying, an echo

Posted on by Allison Grayhurst

Dying, an echo

 

 

Hardship harder than

the unprotected inferno I fell into

that has sealed above.

No courage will raise me out

of its burning cavity,

its lava-ruin grief pressing down

like a great wave of heavy water.

All that’s mortal in me is sick, subjected

to this bright and furious master.

All that is immortal in me has gone silent,

its sails clipped, its joy orphaned and emptied.

 

What happened?

How did this take me, pull me

into its unbearable heat so fast, so frozen,

draining my life-force with its hot poison,

leaving me no option of flight?

How did I become an exile of all I held sacred,

hardly walking up the stairs,

every breath a banishment from life,

every resting position, a pressure on my chest

like an anvil coming down, down

and staying its weight, concave?

 

What do I see? Nothing. Value

has turned to ash.

Love holds my hand but cannot release me

from this hell.

I wake up and prayers have failed me,

all my understanding has crumbled

like wafer chips of dried-out clay –

eagle broken, sliced up on a sharp rock.

 

 

 

Copyright © 2020 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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First published in “Raven Cage Zine” August 2020

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oDO3JF0w_ADaDcGM92uEvfSgLWZR-RqM/view

Issue 48

RavenCageZine48- August 2020

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You can listen to the poem by clicking below:

https://allisongrayhurst.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/dying-an-echo.m4a?_=1

2 responses to “Dying, an echo”

  1. Rahul Gaur – I write to impress you. I write so you learn a thing or two about yourself. All that I am, exists in between these sentences. So join me for an introspective trip to the insanity of truth.
    Rahul Gaur says:

    So so well written!

    Reply
    • Allison Grayhurst – Toronto, Canada – Allison Grayhurst is a member of the League of Canadian Poets. Four of her poems were nominated for “Best of the Net” in 2015/2018, and one eight-part story-poem was nominated for “Best of the Net” in 2017. She has over 1,375 poems published in more than 525 international journals and anthologies. In 2018, her book Sight at Zero, was listed #34 on CBC’s “Your Ultimate Canadian Poetry List”. In 2020, her work was translated into Chinese and published in "Rendition of International Poetry Quarterly" and in “Poetry Hall”. Her book Somewhere Falling was published by Beach Holme Publishers, a Porcepic Book, in Vancouver in 1995. Since then, she has published twenty-one other books of poetry and twelve collections with Edge Unlimited Publishing. Prior to the publication of Somewhere Falling she had a poetry book published, Common Dream, and four chapbooks published by The Plowman. Her poetry chapbook The River is Blind was published by Ottawa publisher above/ground press December 2012. In 2014 her chapbook Surrogate Dharma was published by Kind of a Hurricane Press, Barometric Pressures Author Series. In 2015, her book No Raft – No Ocean was published by Scars Publications. Also, her book Make the Wind was published in 2016 by Scars Publications. As well, her book Trial and Witness – selected poems, was published in 2016 by Creative Talents Unleashed (CTU Publishing Group). More recently, her book Tadpoles Find the Sun was published by Cyberwit, August 2020. She is a vegan. She lives in Toronto with her family. She also sculpts, working with clay; www.allisongrayhurst.com Collaborating with Allison Grayhurst on the lyrics, Vancouver-based singer/songwriter/musician Diane Barbarash has transformed eight of Allison Grayhurst’s poems into songs, creating a full album entitled River – Songs from the poetry of Allison Grayhurst, released 2017. Some of the places her work has appeared in include Parabola (Alone & Together print issue summer 2012); SUFI Journal (Featured Poet in Issue #95, Sacred Space); Elephant Journal; Literary Orphans; Blue Fifth Review; The American Aesthetic; The Brooklyn Voice; Five2One; Agave Magazine; JuxtaProse Literary Magazine, Drunk Monkeys; Now Then Manchester; South Florida Arts Journal; Gris-Gris; Buddhist Poetry Review; The Muse – An International Journal of Poetry, Storm Cellar, morphrog (sister publication of Frogmore Papers); New Binary Press Anthology; Straylight Literary Magazine (print); Chicago Record Magazine, The Milo Review; Foliate Oak Literary Magazine; The Antigonish Review; Dalhousie Review; The New Quarterly; Wascana Review; Poetry Nottingham International; The Cape Rock; Ayris; Journal of Contemporary Anglo-Scandinavian Poetry (now called The Journal); The Toronto Quarterly; Existere; Fogged Clarity, Boston Poetry Magazine; Decanto; White Wall Review.
      Allison Grayhurst says:

      Thanks!

      Reply

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