.

Jealousy

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The deep yawn of night

follows this. Follows into a strong fire

of orange and blue rhythms

that destroys all but blame. I blame no one

but my heart that twists on

this precipice. I have chosen

this intractable devotion for you –

you who can take the gravity from my walk,

leave me a fugitive, limping

for unholy escape.

What follows this is the street

at three in the morning, starved of children,

agitated and cruel.

What follows this is nothing

I can cope with, is my imagination

bent on the morbid decay of love,

is my faith underfoot

and you as someone other

who would steal the lyric and bone

from our good tomorrow.

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Copyright © 1998 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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Published in “The Drunken Llama” October 2017

Published in “Punch Drunk Press” September 2017

https://punchdrunkpress.com/2017/09/01/jealousybyagrayhurst/

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Published in “Rusted Rose Poetry Forum” November 2015

http://rustedroselit.blogspot.ca/2015/11/jealousy-poem-by-allison-grayhurst.html

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.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.

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Review of The Longing To Be: 

“The contents of Allison Grayhurst’s book The Longing To Be are both personal and universal and are described in such thematic and golden terms that one can see that a lot of thought has gone into each line. The poems are written mostly in free verse throughout, with both rhythm and soul weaved into them. For some poems, the layout seems experimental, and there is definitely a playfulness in the way that the words and verses fall onto the page. Others do conform to a “norm”, whatever that is. All are dramatic and thoughtful. These are layered poems with new horizons presented to the reader in every re-read. The effect is to keep things fresh with poems that constantly surprise in spite, and because of, the number of times being read. I thoroughly recommend The Longing To Be as a poetry book to study carefully and cherish far into the future,” poet Brian Shirra.

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Upon These Hours Sleeping

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I look upon hours sleeping

with dreams of this world,

dreams of shallow greed

and changing lusts, and

I dissect the shadows I once

bent to embrace, filled with their

shadowy blood, their saltless blood,

suffering still under the forces of

drudgery and unnamable despair.

I hear lunchboxes scream a cancerous

pleasure. I tell the sky to hold me

in its infinite blue womb, to make me master

of these smallish needs, to fill me with

a love to latch onto that will guide

in summer and winter both, that will not

be outdone, despite the pit I now descend

and tomorrow’s slow struggle out.

.

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Copyright © 1998 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

.

.Published in “Minerva’s Housecoat Writing Forum” November 2015

http://minervashousecoat.blogspot.ca/2015/11/upon-these-hours-sleeping-poem-by.html

.

.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.

.

Review of The Longing To Be: 

“The contents of Allison Grayhurst’s book The Longing To Be are both personal and universal and are described in such thematic and golden terms that one can see that a lot of thought has gone into each line. The poems are written mostly in free verse throughout, with both rhythm and soul weaved into them. For some poems, the layout seems experimental, and there is definitely a playfulness in the way that the words and verses fall onto the page. Others do conform to a “norm”, whatever that is. All are dramatic and thoughtful. These are layered poems with new horizons presented to the reader in every re-read. The effect is to keep things fresh with poems that constantly surprise in spite, and because of, the number of times being read. I thoroughly recommend The Longing To Be as a poetry book to study carefully and cherish far into the future,” poet Brian Shirra.

.

.