Temple

        Expanding, raw and pulsing

like newborns that grow into

individuals of their own

from one source

of everlasting literature.

        From a cave of damp demise or

from violent fires, stoning heroes, forging heroes,

never quite sure who the enemy is.

        From a journey of fantastical obstacles,

no mistakes made to stop and graze

and settle for anything but home.

Others have felt this eternal wealth of inspiration,

drank at its well and spoke –

making more riches, forests where feet

can travel and be in awe.

And from those others, still more have come –

one line flowing from the beginning.

O Ilium and Ithaca!

The same stars spinning.

Our beautiful Earth rest in you –

devotion, cunning and courage.

Love matters, but these things

which are the actions born from love

matter more.

Your fire is bright, brighter than

your ancient sun, has rhythm, repetition,

has harvested a hymn, etched permanently

in the foliage of our collective souls –

strong shoulders, driftwood, the first breath-cry

poet-bard.

Copyright © 2020 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

.

.

First published in “Raven Cage Zine” August 2020

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

Issue 48

RavenCageZine48- August 2020

.

.

You can listen to the poem by clicking below:

White Butterflies and a Red Squirrel

Influences deserved

never arrive, and

the gift remains in the pocket

like chapstick on a cold day,

or as bits of sharpness to remind you

not to get too comfortable, complacent

or convinced of your rigorous calculations

when you calculate the sides of a square,

a triangle, an oracle reading.

People you thought would never go,

have gone, walked away

from sanity’s reach, most likely never to return.

Things you wish would have left years go, remain,

your days outstanding, tied to the

root-whip survival, lashing.

And there is more never expected –

a banquet of nourishing literature,

a husband still coalescing with brilliant light,

two children grown, kind and weaving,

and the animals, older, happy

watching the birdbath in the flush garden,

in a backyard that in the early morning

as you scan the interior and the perimeter,

you are sure that nothing could be more glorious,

pleasing, leaves you praising

for being allowed to witness such royalty.

God’s love heats up your pores,

fills your nostrils with green scents,

fills your ears with the chatter of communities –

sparrows, starlings, bumblebees, white butterflies

and the red squirrel. You are sure

such kneading, thinning-thickening harmony

is the natural state of being,

propelled to experience this nirvana, (spinning, spherical)

knowing tomorrow it won’t last, but also knowing

it will always last, existing, uncorrupted,

sealed, continuing in this moment, this morning,

this day, in this exact summer.

Copyright © 2020 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

.

.

First published in “Madness Muse Press” August 2020

https://madnessmusepress.com/2020/08/26/three-poems-by-allison-grayhurst/

.

.

You can listen to the poem by clicking below:

Advance

Leave this place,

it is for beginners

and the ground is an overgrown

outside used-to-be sanctuary, trapping

you in its weeds.

Be steadfast as a revelation

years after being revealed, infused

to your intelligence, supplying water

and detachment when necessary.

Walk through the ruins then jump the fence

and do not relapse into nostalgia or a thousand

what-ifs that have no viable conclusion.

Pull the plug, cast away what was once

a masterpiece but has since degraded,

orbiting a dead star.

It is easy as taking off a coat on a warm day.

It is dialectics and you are at the nadir,

traveling the circle around, soon to rise.

Leave what you cannot afford to keep

as it is too invasive a burden

and you are ready to expand, stretch out,

canopy a richer domain, permitted

to be fully nourished and explore.

Copyright © 2020 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

.

.

First published in “Madness Muse Press” August 2020

https://madnessmusepress.com/2020/08/26/three-poems-by-allison-grayhurst/

.

.

You can listen to the poem by clicking below: