Little One

Posted on January 1, 2016 by Allison Grayhurst

Little One

The baseboard lifted. The light

was absorbed into the carpet. I tried.

I cried when you left me, but it was only

for a year then the drug of your sweetness

reformed into a mild sadness, washing my

nerves with the thin film of egg whites.

I imagined you sleeping curled up by the door. I imagined

your voice in the morning, lonely and frantic for affection.

Those nights when we said our long goodbye – one night

when our eyes met and I thanked you and you thanked me,

was a gift without fault, was your dignified funeral – the rest

was husk, instinct, the result of your physical pain.

The rest when remembered breaks my belief, but then

I know your life was good and I know we had

fifteen years of warm connection,

we had love.

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

Published in “The Writers Newsletter” September 2017

https://thewritersnewsletter.com/traditional-modern-poetry-september/

https://thewritersnewsletter.com/monthly-archive/september-2017/

https://thewritersnewsletter.com/monthly-archive/

https://thewritersnewsletter.com/traditional-modern-poetry-september/little-one-allison-grayhurst/

First published in “Rusted Rose Poetry Forum” November 2015

http://rustedroselit.blogspot.ca/2015/11/little-one-poem-by-allison-grayhurst.html

You can listen to the poem by clicking below:

https://allisongrayhurst.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/little-one.m4a?_=1

“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.

Reviews of ‘The Many Lights of Eden’:

“’The Many Lights of Eden’ is a journey: a journey of the heart through youth, anguish, struggle, spiritual awakening, grief, death, love, loss, guilt, struggle, despair, hope, surrender, God, sensuality, imperfection, motherhood, aging, the vanquishing of the devil, indeed, many devils, the inevitable fall from perfection and the casting off of old wineskins for a new one. Perhaps speaking of this book as a chronicle of spiritual maturing would be more accurate, the realization that there is spirituality within imperfection and that handmade temples cannot hope to compete with the spiritual temples within each of us. ‘The Many Lights of Eden’ is a diamond. It is a beautiful collection of insights. Allison Grayhurst’s thoughts and writings are a deep well. Drink from it, for the water is clear and crisp. This collection is a MUST-READ,” Eric M. Vogt, author of Letters to Lara and Paths and Pools to Ponder.

“I have been slow at responding to reviews for Allison Grayhurst due to summer’s busy days, however she brings life to each poem, heart to the images and everyone should have a collection of Grayhurst Poetry,” Ann Johnson-Murphree, poet.

For Waldo

Posted on August 15, 2015 by Allison Grayhurst

For Waldo

Am I to speak of the hangnail pain,

though no season was lost and there

are no backstairs to climb?

Am I to miss you in the garden

we never had, in the memories

of never being close but always

being near?

And the time you ran frightened of me

through the alleyways, as though we never loved,

never knew the trust of wounds

we helped each other heal. Never you

wanting more than to maintain

your dignity, your freedom, your

contemplative stare. Never you

giving more than the most

of your compassion, the gentle restraint

of your excited spirit.

And to die like that,

killing the final cord. Stinging slowly, so slow

it’s hard to cry, to not wish one last swim with you

under the fullmoon just staring

forever into that small-town sky.

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

First published in “Novelmasters” July 2015

http://www.novelmasters.org/allison-grayhurst-when-worlds-collapse-and-other-poems/

http://www.novelmasters.org/category/poetry/

You can listen to the poem by clicking below:

https://allisongrayhurst.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/for-waldo.m4a?_=2

Reviews of ‘Journey of the Awakening’:

“Journey of the Awakening is the first book of poetry that I have read of Allison Grayhurst. While reading it began to sound familiar, the comment to myself was “She is as good as Sylvia Plath”. When I finished the book I read comments from others who referred to her as “In the style of Sylvia Plath”; Ms Plath, one of my favorite poets had no match until Ms Grayhurst’s work. Congratulations to her on her achievements, I am already a ‘fan’, the love of her work will continue to grow,” Ann Johnson-Murphree, poet and author.

“Grayhurst is a great Canadian poet. All of Allison Grayhurst’s poetry is original, sometimes startling, and more often than not, powerful. Anyone who loves modern poetry that does not follow the common path will find Grayhurst complex, insightful, and as good a poet as anyone writing in the world today. This, and other Grayhurst poetry volumes are highly, highly recommended,” Tom Davis, poet, novelist and educator.

Snowy

Posted on May 9, 2015 by Allison Grayhurst

Snowy

Sad as sleepy morning comes.

Soft ground to rest your chin upon,

soft like you are, in need of no one’s

flag or ego-affirmation.

When you walk

children wave from car windows, elated

to see such unmasked joy – mouth in an open smile,

and eyes, happier still – dark as toiled earth, alert

to the house cat’s twitching ear.

Satisfied in the full morning sun, you move

from sidewalk curb to road, sniffing at poles

and thin strands of grass

as your long clumped fur like a sheep’s pleated coat

ripples in time with the end-of-summer’s wafting rhythm.

Treats, stuffed toys and laying contentedly

on your back, these things are enough.

Many have tried to imitate, parading

their off-white pups through neighbouring streets:

They saw you once and wanted the same.

But you were claimed by a private angel.

Fastened to good karma,

you glow, you germinate, and you proceed.

As you sleep by the door

in and out of your doggy dreams,

you defeat the need for tomorrow’s schemes.

With an unassuming soothing moan

you stretch then continue in rest,

abating the weight of my human despair.

amazon.com/author/allisongrayhurst

First published in “See Spot Run Literary Magazine” March 2015

file:///C:/Users/Allison/Downloads/SSRMarch2015%20(2).pdf

See Spot Run March 2015

You can listen to the poem by clicking below:

https://allisongrayhurst.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/snowy.m4a?_=3

“Allison’s poetic prose is insightful, enwrapping, illuminating and brutally truthful. It probes the nature of the human spirit, relationships, spirituality and God. It is sung as the clearest song is sung within a cathedral by choir. It is whispered as faintly as a heartbroken goodbye. It is alive with the life of a thousand birds in flight within the first glint of morning sun. It is as solemn as the sad-sung ballad of a noble death. Read at your peril. You will never look at this world in quite the same way again. Your eye will instinctively search the sky for eagles and scan the dark earth for the slightest movement of smallest ant, your heart will reach for tall mountains, bathe in the most intimate of passions and in the grain and grit of our earth. Such is Allison Grayhurst. Such is her poetry,” Eric M. Vogt, poet and author.

“Grayhurst is a great Canadian poet. All of Allison Grayhurst’s poetry is original, sometimes startling, and more often than not, powerful. Anyone who loves modern poetry that does not follow the common path will find Grayhurst complex, insightful, and as good a poet as anyone writing in the world today. Grayhurst’s poetry volumes are highly, highly recommended,” Tom Davis, poet, novelist and educator.

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