New Orleans
The way a wasp’s nest hints at the thick
of a Pan’s flute above a doorway, or the way
the American flag morphs into a new Guernica
when left soaked underwater for too long. I can see
the ease in which the treachery comes, prowling,
sleek— as though feeling a palm to my cheek bent,
crescent, set to raid my breast… All that Spanish Moss
and plywood just spat out in heaps. But then comes
the heat, humid and tender, licking slow, all about
my body. This summer air so ferocious
you could nearly swear it has the appetite
of a lover’s tongue at first kiss, or, the hunger
for that once known taste, that stirring,
that rips you open— so desperate on me now
it is like the memory of a phantom leg, kicking,
trying alone, to wade in the water.
I saw a way out
I saw hope but no way out
what’s in the dark must come to light
our hearts trully shine so bright
my faith my guide
my pleaset dream that guides me through the night
I am Ashley…..
I shine so bright
more than any star that shines in the sky
I make a way
I see a away
I take it and I break free
and then I set off and now I am free
This is me.