How The Sky Came

Posted on June 25, 2017 by Allison Grayhurst

How The Sky Came

When I was a grain of sand,

I saw a rainbow robe

the sea – the weather passed

and turned me into

rock.

When I was a rock

dust and tears made a bed

inside of me, until

a mountain I rose.

When I was a mountain,

protecting beasts and people

from the city’s pillaged tongue,

giving them sanction

beneath my hard shawl,

a hand swept down

and destroyed my peace,

turning me into sky:

a castle for the stars.

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

Published in “Poetry Pacific” November 2017

http://poetrypacific.blogspot.ca/2017/11/1-poem-by-allison-grayhurst.html

Published in “Chicago Record Magazine” June 2017

http://magazine-record.blogspot.ca/2017/06/how-sky-came-when-i-was-grainof-sand-i.html

http://magazine-record.blogspot.ca/2017/06/

You can listen to the poem by clicking below:

“Grayhurst’s rapturous outpouring of imagery makes her poems easily enjoyable … Like a sear the poet seeks to fathom sensual and spiritual experience through the images of a dream.” Canadian Literature

“Allison Grayhurst’s Common Dream is a massive book by a talented and enthusiastic young writer, with a feel for descriptive, meaningful verse. Philosophical and very deep,” Paul Rance, editor of Eastern Rainbow, U.K., spring 1993.

“Her poems read like the journal entries of a mystic – perhaps that what they are. They are abstract and vivid, like a dreamy manifestation of soul. This is the best way, in prose, one can describe the music which is … the poetry of Allison Grayhurst,” Blaise Wigglesworth Oh! Magazine

“Rich images and complex, shifting metaphors drive Allison Grayhurst’s poems. She focuses on sexual love and interior landscapes, widening to include the heart, eternity and all.” Next Exit

Humpback

Posted on May 21, 2017 by Allison Grayhurst

Humpback

I give this flower,

these historic eyes

to the Atlantic whale, who will perform

for me a symphony of genius. Hungry, we will

rob one another of mistrust,

caress each other’s hairless skin,

holding things that gravity cannot forsake.

Once safe in the ocean’s dune,

we will open our eyes, our mouths,

swallowing moonlight like pirates

from a ship.

Together through

the salted plasma we will swim and hope

for the violence born by medieval fear,

promoted by division

and encouraged by judgement

to be terminated by an acknowledgment

of identical love

(which is not accident).

Tenderly we will axe the human prejudice;

and the child and calf, rubbing wing and arm

will know the blessing of a marvelous unity,

which has been concealed to the point

of near extinction.

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

First published in “Social Justice Poetry, May 2017

https://www.socialjusticepoetry.com/6134/humpback-a-social-justice-poem-by-allison-grayhurst

https://www.socialjusticepoetry.com/poet-bios/allison-grayhurst

You can listen to the poem by clicking below:

Desire

Posted on April 29, 2016 by Allison Grayhurst

Desire

does not come

like tolerance, learned,

worked for. Withstanding

cruelty, dry lips,

wild pain, it grows larger

than love and God and grows

until all gestures reveal it.

Secretly in the shade of devotion,

it rages. Crouching behind churches and

stairwells, it tongues its drug sweeter

than touch. Burns the stomach, starves

the heart of faithful riches.

When it comes it has no error

nor the unanchored presence

of doubt.

When it comes, it comes riding,

circling like nightfall

the soul’s great yolk.

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

Published in “Keep Poems Alive” January 2016

Keep poems alive 1 Keep poems alive 2 Keep poems alive 3 Keep poems alive 4

http://keeppoemsalive.com/2016/01/08/keep-poems-alive-international-13/

First published in “Drift, Issue #82”, 1996

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Published in “Creative Talents Unleashed” July 2016

https://creativetalentsunleashed.com/2016/07/11/desire-author-allison-grayhurst/

You can listen to the poem by clicking below:

“Somewhere Falling has a richness of imagery and an intensity of emotion rare in contemporary poetry. Drawn in sharp outlines of light and darkness, and rich shades of colour, with a deep sense of loss and longing and the possibility of salvation, this is an unusual book by a gifted young poet. Grayhurst’s voice is one to which we should continue to pay attention.” — Maggie Helwig, author of Apocalypse Jazz and Eating Glass.

“Responsibility and passion don’t often go together, especially in the work of a young poet. Allison Grayhurst combines them in audacious ways. Somewhere Falling is a grave, yet sensuous book.” – Mark Abley, author of Glasburyon and Blue Sand, Blue Moon.

“Biting into the clouds and bones of desire and devotion, love and grief, Allison Grayhurst basks the reader, with breathtaking eloquence, in an elixir of words. Like lace, the elegance is revealed by what isn’t said. This is stunning poetry.” – Angela Hryniuk, author of no visual scars.