The bough breaks

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and dreams collapse uncushioned

like the smile that forsakes me

and the wonderful illusion of things past

but never lost.

For here I cut my antennae down

and kiss the pyramid on my grass,

blessed by the end result

but never by the happening:

I know the world

and it needs forgiveness.

For here the smell grew toxic

and the glass filled to overflowing,

but the grime inside never got better,

though polished every day.

For here I cradle my body to sleep,

the long way down is the only way down

and we are sold by the scars upon our throat,

by the longing discarded that never knew it

could end

and by the only relationship we are all

bound to have – our stronghold with or

not with

          God.

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Copyright © 2006 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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First published in “Crack the Spine”issue 64, and “Crack The Spine Summer 2013 anthology” under the title “For Here”

http://www.crackthespine.com/2013/09/summer-2013-anthology.html

http://www.crackthespine.com/2013/05/issue-sixty-four-contributors.html#more

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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.

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Heat

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It will take me over,

toss me like a weather balloon

and put me on the brink of a high fever.

It will know me and place me

in hot water madness

like a tune just out of reach or a clothesline

pinned against a fence by overgrown branches.

It will take me into the drug store.

I will be spared nothing, but I will feel nothing

of pain or of thinning. Because

I was bribed by the demon and I released

the bribe, and with it, the demon. Because God is with me

like a black cat who follows me from station to station,

is gentle and existing with tenderness and solidarity.

The flies have left my rotted corner, and all that remains is

this sunflower.

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Copyright © 2006 by Allison Grayhurst

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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First published in “The Continuist”, 2014

“We’ve recently received the work of Toronto poet Allison Grayhurst, a collection of vivid imagery and gripping enjambment that puts the reader in a spiralling world of despair. By using language to express the human conflicts of inner turmoil and the way in which our past burdens interact with the subconscious, the self and the world around us, Grayhurst sculpts poems that are revealing and confessional, as well as technically adept in their formatting and diction. Check out her impressive resume and poems below:,” David Eatock, The Continuist.

http://thecontinuist.wordpress.com/2014/06/03/poetry-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.

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