I Long To Know (by Allison Grayhurst)

I Long To Know

I long to know the things

I never dreamt

beneath the shingles

and the watered-down dawn.

I long to know the name

of every insect that brushes

my cheek and the passions

of days long gone.

I sit beside the narrow rocks

and count each weathered stone.

I hope for love inside a stranger

and long to feel with fingers and soul

the connecting thread

that binds me to my enemy’s door.

* * * * *

Allison Grayhurst is
a full member of the League of Canadian Poets. She has over 300 poems
published in more than 180 international journals, magazines, and
anthologies.

Her book Somewhere Falling
was published by Beach Holme Publishers, a Porcepic Book, in Vancouver
in 1995. Since then she has published ten other books of poetry and four
collections with Edge Unlimited Publishing. Prior to the publication of
Somewhere Falling she had a poetry book published, Common Dream, and four chapbooks published by The Plowman.

Her poetry chapbook The River is Blind was recently published by Ottawa publisher above/ground press December 2012.

She lives in Toronto with family. She also sculpts, working with clay.

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On This Dock (by Allison Grayhurst)

On This Dock

I hear the white steed
and the fish together
in dark obscurity.
I look at the body,
the children weeping to gain control.
I listen for the perishing wind
and declare to it a vigil
of telltale strength.
The journey here faces
the drive of instinct — to buckle
in and walk the safest hallway
or to carry the weight of failure
and still harbour a cry to the fox and a belief
in the many shapes of heaven.

The journey knows its evening
has come and all the beautiful clouds will drop
one by one from the sky.



* * * * *

Allison Grayhurst is a full member of the League of Canadian Poets. She has over 300 poems published in more than 180 international journals, magazines, and anthologies.

Her book Somewhere Falling was published by Beach Holme Publishers, a Porcepic Book, in Vancouver in 1995. Since then she has published ten other books of poetry and four collections with Edge Unlimited Publishing. Prior to the publication of Somewhere Falling she had a poetry book published, Common Dream, and four chapbooks published by The Plowman.

Her poetry chapbook The River is Blind was recently published by Ottawa publisher above/ground press December 2012.

She lives in Toronto with family. She also sculpts, working with clay.

……..Your Name…….. (by Paula Dawn Lietz)

photo © 2009 by Paula Dawn Lietz

……..Your Name……..
by Paula Dawn Lietz

The kerosene lantern hisses your name as
Your shadow tries to smother my flame.
I need no reminders of the essence of you, but
Your scent lingers and mingles with dusk’s wet dew.
They wrap in my memory and like a closed cocoon I refuse
To open, and safe my thoughts are armoured within.
I will not believe love can be discarded and considered a
Sin.
I cannot fathom how poet of lore knew of this distress and
Writ the words my fingertips caress
My emotions are dolorously tossed to the darkest depths
And then swept and borne on crosswinds high.
This thing called love, how can others feel the same?
Why do we bear this obscene obscure pain?
Bewildered I sit with my head bowed low and in my
Darkness I listen to the kerosene lantern hiss your name.





* * *

© 2009 by Paula Dawn Lietz, all rights reserved
included in the Crisis Chronicles Online Library with the poet’s permission

She writes:

It took half a century, but I finally feel like I am striding into my own. I am taking pleasure in the beauty that is placed before me everyday that balances the cloudy days that occur.
 
Always surrounded by some form of art, a mother/artist and a father/photographer and a home/studio, I was never a willing active participant until this past year. And I now enjoy it all whether it be collages, photography, drawing or poetry.  I try to live by the motto,
“Always be in the process of becoming and never just being.”  And living that motto one realizes that the possibilities are endless.

My greatest master-pieces are my two fine sons.
And my greatest love is my husband.
We live in the vast splendor of the Canadian Prairie and it is here our hearts remain no matter where we travel.
 
Paula Dawn Lietz

It’s Time to Go (by Paula Dawn Lietz)

photo © 2009 by Paula Dawn Lietz

It’s Time to Go
by Paula Dawn Lietz
[originally appeared in Vol. 44 of the Other Voices International anthology]

Long spent days of
summer fade as bold strokes
of autumn begin to shade. On this canvas,
colours and textures are breathtaking in their vibrancy
and knowledge. Unequaled is this sudden labor to prepare for
rest when winter’s cold shoulders lay bare.  We follow the magical rhythm
of this endless journey of our soul.  Where beauty is ageless.
The quest timeless. We instinctively raise our eyes to the
symphony of the geese as they migrate by.
And as part of this mystical rhythmic
dance we ponder  how they know;
It’s time to leave. It’s time to go.

* * *

© 2009 by Paula Dawn Lietz, all rights reserved
included in the Crisis Chronicles Online Library with the poet’s permission

She writes:

It
took half a century, but I finally feel like I am striding into my own.
I am taking pleasure in the beauty that is placed before me everyday
that balances the cloudy days that occur.
 
Always surrounded by
some form of art, a mother/artist and a father/photographer and a
home/studio, I was never a willing active participant until this past
year. And I now enjoy it all whether it be collages, photography,
drawing or poetry.  I try to live by the motto,
“Always be in the
process of becoming and never just being.”  And living that motto one
realizes that the possibilities are endless.

My greatest master-pieces are my two fine sons.
And my greatest love is my husband.
We live in the vast splendor of the Canadian Prairie and it is here our hearts remain no matter where we travel.
 
Paula Dawn Lietz

Too Easy (by Paula Dawn Lietz)

photo © 2009 by Paula Dawn Lietz

Too Easy
by Paula Dawn Lietz
[originally appeared in Vol. 44 of the Other Voices International anthology]

How easy it is to write
of strife and let it
over shadow the magical
mystical intimate joys of
life…
The fresh fiddle head
curled and pulsating in
strength, preparing to
unfurl into century old
yet newly birthed fern.
The acorn strategically
placed by a squirrel —
begins with searching
roots to secure and
stabilize a sanctuary for
life too numerous to mention.
The wonder of mountains
and lush valleys.
Of lakes and rivers and the
sediments and rocks they
leave behind in proof of
their exquisite existence.
The attraction of you
and the scent of you
wrapped around my
slippery sensuous soul.
The energy radiates
from your very being
and ignites me and the
spark becomes a furious
flame.

* * *

© 2009 by Paula Dawn Lietz, all rights reserved
included in the Crisis Chronicles Online Library with the poet’s permission

She writes:

It took half a century, but I finally feel like I am striding into my own. I am taking pleasure in the beauty that is placed before me everyday that balances the cloudy days that occur.
 
Always surrounded by some form of art, a mother/artist and a father/photographer and a home/studio, I was never a willing active participant until this past year. And I now enjoy it all whether it be collages, photography, drawing or poetry.  I try to live by the motto,
“Always be in the process of becoming and never just being.”  And living that motto one realizes that the possibilities are endless.

My greatest master-pieces are my two fine sons.
And my greatest love is my husband.
We live in the vast splendor of the Canadian Prairie and it is here our hearts remain no matter where we travel.
 
Paula Dawn Lietz

Valerie Webber reads three poems in Cleveland on 8 May 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFHbc_4Cu0Q

Canadian poet Valerie Webber reads on 8 May 2009 at The Barking Spider in Cleveland, Ohio, during
Tres Versing the Panda: Three Days of Poetry Soiree.  Filmed by John Burroughs, aka Jesus Crisis.

 Event sponsored by Green Panda Press (Cleveland Heights) and The Temple, Inc.

Valerie Webber reads a poem at Tres Versing the Panda

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDInvO3n4pY

Canadian poet Valerie Webber reads on 8 May 2009 at The Barking Spider in Cleveland, Ohio, during
Tres Versing the Panda: Three Days of Poetry Soiree.  Filmed by John Burroughs, aka Jesus Crisis.

 Event sponsored by Green Panda Press (Cleveland Heights) and The Temple, Inc.