Hubris

Steady as logic dictates

the truth of superstitious rotation

and effect, unmasks the mystic

trappings of a fated existence ritual

locked into the spinning orbs lightyears away,

locked like us to the gravity of the sun,

but no more, and if it is more,

the intricate complexities of small stirrings

would never be understood or solid enough

to set the tone for the day or for a season.

Dead art that does not evolve with knowledge

is blind art, is needed

by the desperate to feed the need

for false certainty.

The veil is lifted, unveiling

a more magnificent mystery, movement,

igniting the joy of undetermined, humble

exploration.

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Copyright © by Allison Grayhurst 2025

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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First published in “Winamop” December 2025

https://www.winamop.com/ag2500.htm

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You can listen to the poem below:

Lift II

If I stay under ice

in a house as vast as the sea,

cut off from the sun,

I will bloat up on anxiety’s quickening,

gaining nothing but a heaviness uncurable

and inevitable as iron-core gravity, heating.

So I will lift myself up onto the sides of

the cracked ridges, gaze at the clouds overhead

and write my new name in the air.

Breathing is simple like God’s grace is simple

and only needs to be received to be seen.

My body is a dream spinning in thirst,

banging into hard edges as it seeks

satisfaction, snatched from divinity in its

death-spread, doomed to be finite and always

hungry.

I love the clear riser, the way forward

when there is no way to be found.

I will be the clear riser,

rising like a bubble-balloon, escaping,

carried by the wind.

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Copyright © by Allison Grayhurst 2025

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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First published in “Winamop” December 2025

https://www.winamop.com/ag2500.htm

You can listen to the poem below:

This Place

        From a place of trust

I glimpse your magnificence,

your harnessed race of complexities

in harmony, slow moving, more

powerful than a hundred suns

conjoining.

        From a place of faith,

being wrong is just as exciting

as being right – a longing to know

you, knowing I will never know you

only know the minute aspects that flip

and twist and rewrite as my knowledge grows,

while keeping some laws fundamental.

        From a place of love,

your love is gathering in

bright awe-inspiring displays,

terrifying in their brilliance and

in their magnitude.

Nothing is personal. Everything is individual,

overreaching galaxies into galaxies,

twin dreams.

        From a place of exploration,

finding inspiration

where paradox consumes,

invigorates, illuminates

all places, gloriously shifting.

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Copyright © by Allison Grayhurst 2025

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

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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/this-place-a-poem-by-allison-grayhurst

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You can listen to the poem below: