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“Glow of Hope” – The Ashlee Craft Show – Episode 053 – Poetry

Ashlee

In Episode 053 of The Ashlee Craft Show, I read a poem which originally appeared in “Art Poems, Volume 1” & later in the compilation poetry book “Sun in the Night”. The poem is called “Glow of Hope.”

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ELECTRIC RAINBOW ROAD :: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ62yjYLL-o

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“A Lie Cannot Live in the Starless Midnight” – The Ashlee Craft Show – Episode 051 – Poetry

Ashlee

In Episode 051 of The Ashlee Craft Show, I read the first poem from my FIRST EVER poetry book. The poem is called “A Lie Cannot Live in the Starless Midnight” & it’s from my book “The Allure of a Summer Evening”.

THE ALLURE OF A SUMMER EVENING :: https://amzn.to/2JpU5nu

UNNAMED POEM NUMBER 1 – The Ashlee Craft Show – Episode 050 – Poetry

Ashlee

In Episode 050 of The Ashlee Craft Show, I read an unnamed poem THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD BEFORE (other than me, LOL) from my upcoming poetry book, which will be called “Between the Crevice & The Meadow”. Hope you enjoy it!

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UNNAMED POEM 1

I sat, crying in bed
she sat in the garden in the front yard
eighteen years ago
I look at where I am now
versus all her potential,
all her hopes,
& I am disappointed

I have not made her proud,
I have not made myself proud

– she doesn’t deserve this
she is young, innocent,
no one has told her yet how things will feel
when she grows up & how desperately she will want to
get away; she pictures it being fun
like a better version of being a child
but she doesn’t know how sad & desperate it will be sometimes

I am so dark, & I am so light
& I hope one day it will feel better but even if
the moments still pull their punches
I have made it this far; I can make it through

I whisper the words back into the past;
she is playing in the yard still in Wisconsin
the words from the future are whispered to her in the wind:
“I deserve better than this”
& in the circular melisma of time
I cannot say whether hearing this is what gave her the knowledge then
that she should be worth more,
or if she nodded
having known this already all along

THE CLEAR COOL STARS WERE RADIANT – The Ashlee Craft Show – Episode 040 – Poetry

Ashlee

I read a poem from “A Ship Onto a Sea of Hope” in Episode 040, titled “THE CLEAR COOL STARS WERE RADIANT”.

A SHIP ONTO A SEA OF HOPE
A SHIP ONTO A SEA OF HOPE SAMPLE

 

THE CLEAR COOL STARS WERE RADIANT

I stepped off into the clear cool stars
walking on them. They called out to
me. They felt the same way it does
stepping off barefoot into dewy grass
at 1 AM. The decisions you make are the
rope leading you either to the edge of
the bridge or the safe green pastures. They are
what compels you.

She looked at me with sea-green
eyes. I saw aqua & turquoise rain
clouds flourishing in the distance.
They whispered to me by the tide-pool
room rock ledges &
familiar evocative songs on the
radio. “You are going to be
okay.”

AT THE END OF THE DAY THERE ARE MORE GOOD NIGHTS – The Ashlee Craft Show – Episode 039 – Poetry

Ashlee

I read a poem from my 2017 poetry book “The Walls Were Gray” in Episode 039 of The Ashlee Craft Show!

THE WALLS WERE GRAY :: http://amzn.to/2FTjQH5

 

AT THE END OF THE DAY, THERE ARE MORE GOOD NIGHTS

I took deep breaths & tried to calm the fluttering screaming inside / it was getting dark out / I opened the windows & bathed myself in fresh air turning the music up loud & listening to the wind / at the stoplight I watched the lights of cars on the evening road & felt the knowledge that I could do anything, any of it / that there would be more nights in this weather, driving, comforted by the fact that I was finding my way / I shamelessly danced even if people were looking / the music & gentle lights continued – glowing pathway spread before me yellowbrick road / it was deeply sad & darkly depressing but somehow deeply shining with hope & the golden warm light of PROGRESS / the first words of the new poem & the new beginning & new places & the unknown road & the unknown open road & the first words said by the person I was becoming & the soul of the person I was becoming & the overarching future & deep brilliant hope & a thousand things I had no names for / I saw a kid playing with a toy car on the sidewalk in the dark, & I breathed in deeply, & felt fresh air on my skin & the warm humidity of evening, & saw the road really illuminated by the street lamps like lighthouses / & it reminded me of something I used to know / I thought about how there would be so many more nights like this, how this wasn’t really the ending / & I reminded myself that I would make it through this, & be better off for it / that is how I thrive

5 Beautiful Rare Things I Want to Feel in 2018 – The Ashlee Craft Show – Episode 036 – Motivation

Ashlee

In Episode 036 of The Ashlee Craft Show, I talk about the things that, at surface level, aren’t things I thought of when setting up my goals for the year. But they’re things that actually matter more, because they’re the core feelings behind the things you want.

READ THE ARTICLE

Reflections – The Ashlee Craft Show – Episode 034 – Poetry

Ashlee

Episode 034! I read a poem titled “Reflections” from my poetry book “Reflections in the Green Triangle”.

REFLECTIONS IN THE GREEN TRIANGLE BOOK

Reflections

reflecting upon the silver bar sidewalks & the misty moonlit jaunt thru the breeze double rainbow like a pot of gold in the sky / illuminations / reflecting on windows of trucks & on the sunglasses of passerby / on the Sunday / in the rain

driving thru the puddles / rustling of tires against water sprinkling it upwards showing showering rainstorm reflections

looking in the foggy mirror & at everything mistaken & distorted by the silver / like a whole other world hidden behind glass / distorted in the golden gaze rectified in my precision & by my passion / rejuvenated & suddenly understanding who I was the entire time

down many mistaken roads I walked & many mistaken lies I spoke / many sights of sorrow & many things of beauty filled my vision / down many darkened alleyways filled with soot I trod & many days it just never dawned upon me that I what I’d yearned for & what I’d sought had been there all along / I just had never seen them

I thought what I’d been looking for was something that could be bought / so I looked & looked in all the windows to every store but I kept finding myself wanting more & more / I thought what I’d searched for was far away from me & that by leaving this place, I could be free / so I ran away so I wouldn’t be alone only to find that I’d always been home / I thought what I needed was the love in somebody’s heart & that by finding that love, I’d make a start / so I searched for the one I was looking to find only to see I’d been there the whole time / all that time, I was only too blind to see as I looked & searched & cried & yearned only to find that all along, I’d been exactly where I needed to be

it hadn’t been money or distance or love that I’d needed / I didn’t need to go anywhere or buy anything or find someone to love me / I just needed to see the beauty within me

& all the loneliness turned to friendship, all the dark into light, & suddenly I began seeing the world with my own eyes / my own eyes looking at my own destiny / my own life / now I was free

I had been deaf / to the reflections / of the music / rhythm beating beating beating beating onwards / onwards / into the next reflection