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No Other Way

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Is there a voice

as sharp as a cut nerve,

or an answer to unravel

this relentless groove?

Is there divinity in stagnation

or purpose to a dead womb?

Can even a great love withstand

evenings of always the same

bleak gestures – a snapped jugular,

a lost future?

Is it burning like an enemy in our closet

or like a miracle denied?

Is it a triggered revolver in the pit

of all our youthful promise or a transmuting faith

that rides this kissless wound?

If we give this back or give it up will it be

the bed to hold us, will it nurse our roots

to flower, or drop us unwanted?

Will there be rescue from this slumbering void

or just the iris of our common eye looking, looking back

at its old and destroyed self?

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Copyright © 2002 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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First published in “Thirteen Myna Birds” June 2017

http://13myna.blogspot.ca/2013/02/13.html

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Published in “1947, a literary journal” June 2017

http://1947journal.tumblr.com/post/161522570274/no-other-way-by-allison-grayhurst

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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.

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Change of Address

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I long for the tree I am missing

by the window on a sunny morning.

Shadows are like an empty vessel

and I count the days like coins,

passing frantic from hour to hour

into this good beginning.

I will settle, discover

my happiness on this side of

the threshold.

I will toss my past into the river

and watch it surrender to the undulating tide.

The walls of my home are vibrant with love.

I will walk to the corner, learn

a new road.

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Copyright © 2002 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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First published in “Scarlet Leaf Review” June 2017

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.

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In Perspective

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Watching with chaos

rampant in my head, the unbroken

bread leaves me dreamless.

But that will be for now and though

grace is dim, it is near like the ghost

of a dead loved one. The wind warns me

to keep breathing. These bleak months will

work themselves into a monumental miracle,

and every gesture I do today will paint my

room new for tomorrow. In all the places

that count, joy will be fed. It says

humble your sail and drift with the hungry tide.

It says, hold this sand and plan your next

sculpture. Soon these cruel days

will be a grain lost

beneath some ageless waters.

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Copyright © 2002 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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Published in “Lucidity Poetry Journal, Vol 31, No. 3, Fall Issue” July 2017

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Published in “Stay Weird and Keep Writing Publishing” June 2017

Allison Grayhurst

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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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