Of Blood & Ink

I am a human being touched with madness and a poetic streak. I am an individual with a haunted past and nightmarish dreams. The rest of me lingers behind the visions, words, and insanity. I am a mixture of blood and ink. My name is Ashley.

[ofbloodandink907]

It’s only been days,

But I love the view.

It can’t be a phase,

I need it to be true.

So much to say,

So much to do.

You come my way,

You follow through.

We roll, we blaze,

You pick up my cues,

You set me ablaze -

I’m on fire for you.

I’m so amazed,

I’m so renewed.

I need your praise,

I need your truth.

You say,

“Baby, I’ll do right by you,”

And I know that takes two.

You say,

“My love, I adore you.”

Just know that makes two.

[ofbloodandink907]

[ofbloodandink907]

Pharma

Is she eating?

She’s too skinny.

Is she a junkie?

Her hands are shaking.

Quickly,

Administer saline

And a benzodiazepine.

Prescribe her seventy,

Don’t mind her history.

Bipolar, anxiety, BPD?

Let’s just treat all three.

Schedule her therapy,

We’ll get our money.

More pills, more lies -

“She’ll be better in no time.”

[ofbloodandink907]

Spirit of Summer

There are no stars to wish upon,

No midnight black skies,

No dark roads to wander on -

It is the end of our moonlit nights.

The privacy of the dark is gone

And as the clouds pass by,

They unveil the sun

And reveal my soul’s eye.

I want to run

And hide in corners of my mind,

But what’s done is done

And all that’s left are moonless nights.

[ofbloodandink907]

Foolish Heart

You ask me for the truth,

But it’s not time to tell.

We were wild at our youth,

But life has put us in our shell.

You are so uncouth

And I try to help you swell,

I attempt to soothe -

Even though I’m under your spell.

I wish time were by me,

But we miss each other every time.

You muddle my feelings

And I don’t tell you when I cry.

I want you, but you can’t see

That we will ever be aligned.

I love you, but we want to be free.

I’m in love with you, and I hope you find

That the person you want is me.

I want to beg and lie,

I want you to agree.

I miss you and I

Hope one day you can say we.

For now, we can just get high,

Pretend like we don’t bleed,

And live until we die.

[ofbloodandink907]

Me: God, I am so BORED.

Me to Me: If you’re so bored then WRITE.

[ofbloodandink907]

Wild Eyed

“Sun suffocate the atmosphere,

But I am safe with you far away from here.

Another fire through another open door -

It’s what I am living for.

Breath of mine be all that you need -

It’s not much

From a broken nothing.

Wear another truth on your turned up sleeve,

This is everything I dream.”

- London Grammar

[vagabondprophet-deactivated2025]

Men

Okay so here is a plain truth

Not spun left or right

With agendas red or blue,

Just simple facts tonight.

One is not a man,

By virtue of his groin and age,

The hair upon his chest

Is foliage not fruit.

Those that claim to be men

Yet take advantage

Claiming things as their own

They have no right to

And the rightful owners

Words they never heed.

Their teeth are like trash compactors

If perfumed baited breath

Spills past their lips,

The jaws still only know

How to crush, not caress.

Talking over you only interested

In their own despicable lies,

Cleverly manipulating

The desire for love and

A hand to hold in companionship,

Into a means to meet their own

Twisted and short sighted

Goals of notches on bedposts.

Expert salesman of parasites

Wrapped in rose petals.

These are not men,

These are monsters

These are bastards, predators

Thieves of innocence and love

Destroyers of virtue and anything

Truly wonderful for a personal fix

Of ego stroking, of mosquito style pleasure.

Man is a title that must be earned

Like Captain, or Doctor.

Mr. President.

It’s truly that important,

And the difference is simple.

Men care.

Men love others and wish to see them thrive

They use their strength for building

And repairing, and mending their mistakes

For there will always be a few.

Their one track mind for serving

For doing a job well

And for caring for those who love them.

A real man upon finding a

Woman that he fancies

Notices not only her chest,

Her lips or legs,

But also the new ideas

The new shoes

New dreams

New nightmares and tears

And always strives not

To be the cause of them.

He listens for the little things

And surprises her not with horror

But with things

She didn’t expect him to remember.

It is not fists but faith that changes the world,

And loving kindness that

Blows wind into those sails.

A coach, teacher, policeman

Will be faced with the vulnerable,

If the opportunity taken

Is to provide and not to rob

Instruct not destruct

Disciple not coerce

Lead but not astray

If this is who you are

Then you just might be a man.

- Vagabond Prophet

- This is my personal response to the issue of toxic masculinity, if you are toxic, you are not a man.

[vagabondprophet-deactivated2025]

“With passion and aim like mine I’d set the world ablaze Trying to start a fire just To make you some tea.”

— Vagabond Prophet

@inky-child

[vagabondprophet-deactivated2025]

Quietly

This romance will not be coming

To a theater near you,

But to a hand that’s near her.

Not for a lack of passion,

Of affection or tenderness,

But because real love

Need not shout to be real.

Though I love her loudly

It’s a tale that will likely go

Quietly into the ground,

That we’ve spread roots in together.

Not public displays

For everyone to hear

But private ones

In the way she wants to hear them.

- Vagabond Prophet

@inky-child

[ofbloodandink907]

Outstanding.

[ofbloodandink907]

Earthen

My hair resembles summer weeds,

From the old vegetable garden

That we could no longer sow.

And I cannot feed

Off what’s already been eaten,

On what’s already been swallowed.

My limbs are like trees-

All the knotty, beaten

Branches that flex under snow.

The rise and fall are all I see,

And the dark of winter sets

While the moon and my mind follow.

I may just float away.

A dainty face now sunken,

Skin thin enough to touch bone-

Mother Earth, please help me.

I am becoming less human.

I can taste my own marrow.

I have nothing left to bleed.

@ofbloodandink907

Ashley McDaniel. Winter 2019.

[ofbloodandink907]

I will not hide my face.

I will not fall from grace.

I’ll walk into the fire,

Baby,

All my life

I was afraid to die,

But now I come alive

Inside

These flames.

Fighter - Maria Brink of In This Moment

[ofbloodandink907]

And after all this time, I found that life is much too ordinary when you’re sane.

Of Blood & Ink @ofbloodandink907 #ofbloodandink

[ofbloodandink907]

Ink is boiling; oil is burning.

Of Blood & Ink @ofbloodandink907 #ofbloodandink

[ofbloodandink907]

Winter is a time for long rests, forced solitude, and a profound sense of self.

Ashley M. McDaniel (Winter 2018)

Of Blood & Ink @ofbloodandink907 #ofbloodandink

[ofbloodandink907]

It’s almost 2019, the brain is a fucking organ. I can’t understand the “I don’t believe in mental illness” argument. From a scientific and biased standpoint. They’re like my equivalent of Flat Earthers. GTFOH.

[vagabondprophet-deactivated2025]

Blue Rose

First date I brought you a blue rose

You said nobody had ever given you one before.

A blue rose?

No.

A flower.

I couldn’t believe it,

You, my pride and joy

My flower everblooming.

I’ll spend my days being your soil,

Pruning bits that

Hinder growth.

It’ll be different for our daughter.

I’ll see to it.

One day a boy will knock for her,

Baring a flower in his hands.

Our daughter will say,

“That’s it, just one?,

Thanks but no thanks

I’ll stick with my daddy,

He knows I’m worth much more.”

- Vagabond Prophet

@delightfulharmonypoetry