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

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

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

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:

https://allisongrayhurst.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/desire.m4a?_=1

“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.

Shell of a Serpent

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Allison Grayhurst

Shell of a Serpent

These are great things,

you take

with your mounting neglect.

They are things cast out

of the “beautiful”, that

dig into polar ice and

fossilize there; numb,

indistinguishable.

And though you feel superior,

inhuman, hovering above

like the moon, with your face carved

in one constant expression, you yourself

will not give light to the

lonely, will not illuminate

for the sake of another’s need.

Your own pain – cunning, hunting – is

a tentacle that quivers cold-blooded

for pity’s gullible caress.

You distance your heart from the humble dancers.

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

Published in “Whispers…” November 2015

http://whispersinthewind333.blogspot.ca/2015/11/shell-of-serpent-by-allison-grayhurst.html

You can listen to the poem by clicking below:

https://allisongrayhurst.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/shell-of-a-serpent.m4a?_=2

“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.