I am a definition

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Allison Grayhurst

I am a definition

with many loop-holes

octopus arm holes,

and then some.

I speak of a pavilion

where my ancestors bred

their disciplines

and murder was released –

an option, like a second chance,

murder as affirmation.

I was a definition,

secular, single-habit,

yang-streams exuding,

sharp and solid, marvelous as

a thunderstorm – rage, ripple into a cave

into base-neck movement,

into

simple one-focus activity.

But here

I lack a definition

under banners, barely audible

compromise,

excuses to not take up the sword,

battle the lies told

as traditional fables.

I swing from pillar to post

navigating ceiling heights

and floor splinters when I land

niching out obedience

a changeling definition.

Fire and more cover - Copy

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Published in “Scarlet Leaf Review” April 2016

http://www.scarletleafreview.com/poems/previous/2

http://www.scarletleafreview.com/poems/allison-grayhurst-poems

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“Grayhurst’s poetry is a translucent, ethereal dream in which words push through the fog, always searching, struggling, and reaching for the powerful soul at its heart. Her work is vibrant and shockingly original,” Beach Holme Publishers.

“Allison’s poetic prose is insightful, enwrapping, illuminating and brutally truthful. It probes the nature of the human spirit, relationships, spirituality and God. It is sung as the clearest song is sung within a cathedral by choir. It is whispered as faintly as a heartbroken goodbye. It is alive with the life of a thousand birds in flight within the first glint of morning sun. It is as solemn as the sad-sung ballad of a noble death. Read at your peril. You will never look at this world in quite the same way again. Your eye will instinctively search the sky for eagles and scan the dark earth for the slightest movement of smallest ant, your heart will reach for tall mountains, bathe in the most intimate of passions and in the grain and grit of our earth. Such is Allison Grayhurst. Such is her poetry,” Eric M. Vogt, poet and author.

“Grayhurst is a great Canadian poet. All of Allison Grayhurst’s poetry is original, sometimes startling, and more often than not, powerful. Anyone who loves modern poetry that does not follow the common path will find Grayhurst complex, insightful, and as good a poet as anyone writing in the world today. Grayhurst’s poetry volumes are highly, highly recommended,” Tom Davis, poet, novelist and educator.

I have been born

Posted on May 16, 2016 by Allison Grayhurst

I have been born

a thousand times over,

flaked into existence by

force, by will and by desire.

I have had my days

under the siege of physical limitations,

of bloodlines burned and bloodlines

mended. There is no more

time for this rotating scheme,

no space for waiting

or for continuing. I stop here. Unplugging the

flow, breathing only because

I want to, because

this skin that is mine is

the last skin I will ever claim

as the landscapes I drop, drop, then

drop me.

Fire and more cover - Copy

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Published in “Anti-Heroin Chic Magazine” February 2016

Anti Heroin Chic 1 Anti Heroin Chic 2 Anti Heroin Chic I have been born Anti Heroin Chic 3

http://heroinchic.weebly.com/blog/three-poems-by-allison-grayhurst

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Connection

Posted on May 5, 2016 by Allison Grayhurst

Connection

I remember you on a hill

in Ireland, undecided as to who

would be your master. Where

the devil swore to drop you in the red valley

and the angel promised only

to embrace you as you fell.

I remember the tree you stood beside that was

your mansion, the one with the grey and gnarled bark

with mushrooms all around – you would

whisper to it, sometimes crying, cursing the dilemma

that ruled your soul, and the daylight that wounded you

and brought you into years of isolation.

I think you missed the colour of flowers the most as

they rejoiced in mid-day.

I think you always held your strength

as a boy would a wild foal, hoping one day

to curb its burning.

I remember you on Eastern ground – laying flat

against the cold dead soil, wanting motive enough

for suicide but always being drawn back

by your foul hunger and by

the promise for a cure. I remember you, your eyes –

dark and cruel, yet never void of needing

to be loved.

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

First published in “Straylight Literary Arts Magazine, Volume 9.2 Fall 2015”, April 2016

Straylight 2016 1 Straylight 2016 4 Straylight 2016 5 Straylight 2016 6 Straylight 2016 2

.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.