Surrendered

In the middle –

steady, harsh waves,

salty flavoured ocean,

stranded, treading.

Love comes smiling.

It is a ghost.

Joy comes and passes by.

Purpose comes but floats by

like a jellyfish riding the momentum.

In the middle, tired of treading,

no escape, just the ebb and flow, surging,

retreating waters. What lies beneath makes

no difference because nothing is above

except the burning brutal sun, cloud cover

occasionally, and only air to eat.

Skin cells, bloating. Eyes, unable to keep

open. In the middle

of an endless abyss, all my happy days

behind me.

I hold my hands in prayer position,

arms raised over my head.

I stop struggling to not go under.

I go under and let that weight, the peace

at last, take me down.

.

Copyright © by Allison Grayhurst 2025

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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Published in “Ink Pantry” April 2026

https://inkpantry.com/poetry-drawer-this-place-surrendered-she-out-by-allison-grayhurst/

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Published in “Our Poetry Archive” May 2026

https://ourpoetryarchive.blogspot.com/2026/05/may-2026-v-12-n-2-issue-n0-134.html

https://ourpoetryarchive.blogspot.com/2026/05/allison-grayhurst.html

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First published in “Synchronized Chaos” February 2026

https://synchchaos.com/synchronized-chaos-first-february-issue-tba/

https://synchchaos.com/poetry-from-allison-grayhurst-17/

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You can listen to the poem below:

She

Fear is splendid

in making the body inflamed,

bloated on trepidation at the news

of many meadows burning.

She hurried and found a healer

inside herself, willing to go

the distance and forfeit

personal power for a greater

acquisition.

She understood the traveller and

the sit-at-homer as one in the same,

especially on a stormy day or a year of upheaval.

Faith is the bullseye with no point-marks gained

unless hit dead-centre, directing every focus

to only that centre.

Faith is the wave to ride to the shore,

removed from other moving sources,

like wind and arm-strokes.

She opened herself to fear

not denying it but seeing it

as just another entity

under the canopy, smaller

than the giving sun.

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Copyright © by Allison Grayhurst 2025

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

.

.

Published in “Ink Pantry” April 2026

https://inkpantry.com/poetry-drawer-this-place-surrendered-she-out-by-allison-grayhurst/

.

.

Published in “Our Poetry Archive” May 2026

https://ourpoetryarchive.blogspot.com/2026/05/may-2026-v-12-n-2-issue-n0-134.html

https://ourpoetryarchive.blogspot.com/2026/05/allison-grayhurst.html

.

.

Published in “Synchronized Chaos” February 2026

https://synchchaos.com/synchronized-chaos-first-february-issue-tba/

https://synchchaos.com/poetry-from-allison-grayhurst-17/

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First published in “Poesy Place” January 2026

https://www.poesyplace.com/she-a-poem-by-allison-grayhurst

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You can listen to the poem below:

You were born

with the light of a nebula

inside of you, natural

as your loving smile

tortured now by isolation

and a waning strength

that has your commitment

maimed and muted.

But underneath that light still surges,

cannot be snuffed out or ignored.

You are blessed with invincible charm

that takes up a room

and soothes every broken soul.

Do not let circumstances threaten your joy

or hold you in a world you don’t belong in.

Breathe easy and expand, remember your

purpose and your birthright, swiftly

go deep, find the pulse everlasting, knowing yourself,

stretch your arms out, know it and believe.

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Copyright © by Allison Grayhurst 2025

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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First published in “Raven Cage Zine” December 2025

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KW0UWFfIqyNpYjP2KeJwmAfDqAIlS-ZD/view?usp=sharing

Click to access RavenCageZine99.pdf

You can listen to the poem below: