What is

What is the end

but a decision made

on a balcony, in a storm,

in solitude – evoking the

eternal and finite as one, in one

swift movement?

What is peace

but a landscape

with satellite trees and a warm moon

caressing the grasslands and the river

beside the grasslands humming

the electric-nerve sound

of its existence?

What is the beginning

but emptiness

after a flood or a fire, giving back

to God what has always been God’s

and then standing, maybe stepping,

free and unprotected from gravity

and from time?

What is it now

to watch my mother changing,

deteriorating, needing more and more,

hurting more and more?

To be privileged to love her, to be

her sun and star and the daughter

her great soul deserves as it readies

to depart, as it takes this journey –

pitching clear one minute and confused

the next, underlining the creases in books,

reading out loud the words of our Jesus –

grace so grand and divine, it is terrifying

for both of us, knowing what is ahead,

trusting that great love to carry her

mercifully, and even tenderly,

through that final door.

.

.

Copyright © 2024 by Allison Grayhurst

.

.

Published in “International Web Post” (in Italian and in English) February 2025

https://www.internationalwebpost.org/le-traduzioni-di-poesia-allison-grayhurst/

.

.

Published in “Jeju The Pen Literature” (translation in Korean) October 2024

https://allisongrayhurst.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Jeju-The-Pen-Literature.pdf

.

.

Published in “Saturno Magazine” (translation in Italian) November 2024

https://www.saturnomagazine.com/dettagli-articolo.php?id=594

.

.

Published in “Gazeta Destinacioni” (translation in Albanian) October 2024

https://gazetadestinacioni.al/poetja-allison-grayhurst-perktheu-irma-kurti/

.

.

Published in “Orfeu.AL” (translation in Albanian) October 2024

https://orfeu.al/allison-grayhurst-shqiperoi-irma-kurti

.

.

Published in “Italia News Media – Alessandria Today” (in English and in Italian) September 2024

https://alessandria.today/2024/09/19/what-is-che-cose-allison-grayhurst-canada-translated-by-a-cura-di-irma-kurti/

.

.

First published in “Raven Cage Zine” March 2024

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KziCD-bCLEHpu7HuqF-ipNutR-5Bf_Gx/view?pli=1

https://allisongrayhurst.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/RavenCageZine88.pdf

.

.

You can listen to the poem by clicking below:

.

.