Model.Behaviour. | By Melissa Ashley
WritefullySo. | By Melissa Ashley
m e l i s s i m a. ' s Facebook
I’m a soldier in the ranks of your broken empire,
without a uniform, besides my skin.
Your hands would turn to stone,
dare they feel me for a pulse.
But you wouldn’t.
So cold and bare,
I’m still marching.
-melissa ashley
“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.”
-Jack Kerouac
Mad About You - Hooverphonic
It’s only natural to worry when a neighbor doesn’t call for a few days…when the mail starts to pile up, and the car’s parked on the same side of the driveway.
When dust accumulates in the corners of this blog, however, it actually means (in the most clichè of terms), that “life is good.”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I’m living It in the form of a weary dream these days (“Life,” kid). The air feels stickier against my skin, my energy is significantly subdued, and the streets are more deserted than their usual (or busier, rather, and more populated by the ghosts that linger…I can’t decide). That’s what the New South is like, at least this time around.
BLACK-and scribbles of color entertain my eyes.
I feel like I’ve been here before, seen these familiar faces, tasted this exact flavour…but I haven’t. Conclusion: distant, faded, deceiving memories. But that would be too easy; to say it were all strange and foreign to me. (That part’s not all true anyway, and we know it.) There are some photographs…
Frustration, and I’m slightly bitter.
I toss once, turn twice. My dream swirls and the details twist.
I have been here before, I know these people, and damn straight, these are kiwis in my mouth. It just feels different; wearier than usual. And I’m thirsty. New words roll off my tongue (no more I love you’s), but I keep the new vocabulary concealed. It’s all recycled with a new kick.
Guess that’s what happens when the world’s spinning fast, and you’re spinning (well…) with it: you start to S W I R L, and you hit the ground running. My thirst these days is the kind that isn’t exactly quenchable; the thirst that nestles itself on your taste buds and tickles to no end; a thirst for novelty.
Tonight, I’m safe in someone else’s arms…the embrace of that stranger whom I haven’t hugged in a long while, but who welcomes me just the same, every time I need love and the reassurance that I haven’t lost sight of M e l i s s i m a. It’s my writing that brings me home.
My safe haven, once classifiable as the bosom of the south, is now but a pile of ash. But don’t you for a second think it’s burnt and dead. It’s what’s most ready to make fertile the new life that comes with what’s around the corner.
Autumn.
“Marriage functions best when both partners remain somewhat unmarried.” -Claudia Cardinale
R U S S I A | I share with you, this intimate collective of vintage photographs; mementos from the childhood of an incredibly wonderful human being, very dear to me. The nostalgia… the emotions provoked by film photography, never cease to impress me, and I find this beautiful. I came across these gems, and instantly fell in love with them, because they each have personality. They’re photographs that speak…that are so pure, so innocent, and of an utmost refined elegance, that it’s difficult to put to words why they stand out. Perhaps it is that when I look at these photographs, I feel magic; I’m able to return to my princess world from my childhood, and experience, once more, the feeling of losing oneself in a secret garden.
Anya is the name of this little Russian doll. She was my English teacher, my inspiration to pursue my passion, and she is my friend. Thank you for sharing these with me, and thank you for allowing me the privilege to share them with others.
The word “beautiful” in Russian is “kрасивый.”
Happy 400th post, M E L I S S I M A.
“Breaking the boundaries of Prude, to make a statement that’s Art.” -Self
