The Fire Rose Above My Head

ASHLEY_BLAKE.jpg

By Ashley Blake

The fire rose above my head

I hid my face from the flames

The heat reigned too strong

Fear flashed through me in a moment

 

Life or death may snatch you in an instant

Without asking permission

What can you do in a forest

With flames above your head

 

But surrender

 

I wonder how many times I’ve stood

Where the fire got too hot

Where I felt only surrender

I set the fire myself

I had to watch it burn

 

We had to set the fire

We had to start the land over

We have to make it new again

Ten years from now will life grow here

Ten years from now will things be set in order

 

Today it has to burn

I thought to myself this would be a fierce picture

A strong bold woman surrounded by flames

The reality was

The heat was too hot

The flames were too big

 

It was terrifying to think the they could run away

and burn up all the land

The power in fire is not one I admire

It reminds me how small a person is

 

Fire reminds me that I am ash

Fire reminds me that if untouched by it I am treasure

I wonder how much of my life has been lived in a flame filled forest

How much of my life has been walked alongside fire

 

The flame rose above my head

The flame rose

The flame above my head

It rose above my head

It rose

 

The weeping trees cried from the crests of their bark

The flames caught in between

Whimpering branches, hissing cacti

The Sandhills saddened by the wounds of their skin

This resilient land will smile again

It will harvest again

It isn’t dying, just mourning

 

When it feels like I’m dying, is it mourning

I kept feeling like I was dying and yet

I am still alive



Ashley Blake, known as LAE (@talesoflae) is a multidisciplinary artist who is passionate about bridging cultural and ethnic gaps. You can easily find her listening to Korean R&B while scouring through editorial photography or sewing a costume for an upcoming shoot. Her work explores the spaces between reality and fantasy, crossing cultural spheres, seeking to explain the things – seen and unseen – that connect us all.

Ashley is the author of Midnight Harvest and Night of Fires, a credited songwriter, recording artist,  the creator of “The Girl Who Sees” visual poetry series, as well as an actor that can be seen in “Bakari” and the thriller “One Leg” which will release in Spring 2020.

www.talesoflae.com

www.instagram.com/talesoflae