Category Archives: Excerpts from Book 2 “The Longing To Be” Edge Unlimited Publishing (1998)

The Jesus Fire

Posted on by Allison Grayhurst

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The Jesus Fire

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When I saw words

that no symbol shadowed,

old as life, stripped

of mask and sleep . . .

              When my heart broke

from too much truth, broke

and was humbled, carried

and was humbled like a dragonfly

is by the wind . . .

              When what was so familiar

became new, burning all space,

building the consciousness

of death, of choice, of the wanting communion . . .

              When I was fed with this food

and my enemies ran naked in visions

of wounding beauty . . .

 

I was lifted

I was one among many, safe

as a sapling

sheltered by the brave devotion

of a lonely child.

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Copyright © 1998 by Allison Grayhurst

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amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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First published in “FishFood Magazine” June 2015FishFood 4

FishFood 1 FishFood 2 FishFood 3

http://www.fishfoodmagazine.com/poetry/2015/6/3/the-jesus-fire

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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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As The Serpents Scatter

Posted on by Allison Grayhurst

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As The Serpents Scatter

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    I lean

my back on the clock.

  I drop the bitten sandwich

                          in a cellar full of mice. Joy

  dries like the singing grave,

dries the eyes of sorrow. Snip. Snip.

              I am burning a blade over the neck

of Death. I am under the kiss

                          of a leopard – turtle bones

in my back pocket.

  Deep as loneliness are habits that nurse

                          these days with doing.

              The eggshell is carved

  like a prayer repeated – known

and drained of substance.

                          I roar on roads and highways.

  I am the sound spiders love to carry,

love to hunt and consume.

              I am a white feather caught in a cloud.

  Do you see the house by the water?

Do you know the trap of each stepping stone?

                          I turn my back on the seducer’s claw.

              I have my hope to blame.

  But there is love in an owl’s wild eyes.

And there is a dream I cannot bury.

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Copyright © 1998 by Allison Grayhurst

3002

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

.

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First published in “Change Seven Magazine, Issue 1.2 Summer 2015” June 2015

Change Seven 1 Change Seven 2 Change Seven 3 Change Seven 4 Change Seven As The Serpents Scatter 1 Change Seven As The Serpents Scatter 2 Change Seven bio

http://changesevenmag.com/read/current-issue/issue-1-2/

http://changesevenmag.com/two-poems-by-allison-grayhurst/

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You can listen to the poem by clicking below:

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“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.

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Surrender

Posted on by Allison Grayhurst

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Surrender

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I yielded to touch, to

the coldness of my skeletal hopes.

 

I yielded toward a winding stairway

that led to where footprints travelled

through vines, through treeless grounds,

through oceans of lethal predators. I watched

as I was caught by fangs, watched

my each limb shred through teeth of earthly origin,

and soon no feeling, not even fear, remained.

 

The last of my blood was drained,

and once again I turned into a pale

and will-less thing like before I was given

body or breath.

 

Then by fingers made of fire, my paleness

was carved, foaming out of the cyclops eye of God,

forming nerves and nostrils – a new and

waking lid.

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Copyright © 1998 by Allison Grayhurst

3002

Currents - pastlife poems cover 4

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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.First published in “Snapping Twig” April, 2015

Snapping Twig surrender 1 Snapping Twig surrender 2 Snapping Twig surrender 3 Snapping Twig surrender 4  Snapping Twig bio

http://snappingtwig.com/tag/poetry-by-allison-grayhurst/

http://snappingtwig.com/2011/04/01/allison-grayhurst/

http://snappingtwig.com/2015/04/26/surrender/

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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.

.

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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