"where we must go," and three poems

My poems will be featured in Wishbone Words Magazine in November

Mar 14, 2024

Hey there! My name is Ashley Jade Parker. I’m a poet and a young adult fiction writer. You can find me on Instagram, Threads, and Twitter, and of course, here on Substack. Thanks for reading :)

Today is full of excitement and grief. If you read my introductory newsletter, you won’t be surprised to hear that I just finished my last round of chemotherapy. I’m excited because the next phase of my treatment lies ahead, but I’m also still grieving what I’ve lost during this time.

My cancer journey began in October right as I was getting ready for Nanowrimo. I already had it in my mind I was going to focus on my writing and its promotion – but my diagnosis made me lean into it full throttle.

I was being a little dramatic, but I wanted to know if this was “it,” I had made the most of my “it.”

So, I started focusing on my poetry. After a long stay in the hospital, I wrote several musings that built off one another: “where we must go,” “The Little One,” “the pain is in the pruning,” and “dante’s inferno.”

These four poems are going to be featured in Wishbone Words Magazine, a publication prioritizing chronically ill and disabled talent, in November. Since that’s a long wait, I want to give you a little snippet of each poem now.

where we must go

would you pretend we are in cold shopping malls
laughing with cinnamon fingers and greedy tongues,

cresting rocks that look over the city,
so solemn and loved, free, that we are free,

that our bodies were the right temperature,
and our hair still clung to our heads

The Little One

Today is all fatigue and lemons.
The dogs curl up in each other’s bed.

The ice maker crackles, and I watch the little one
Chew on her bone after I shooed her away
From eating the fallen fruit outside.

I look into her eyes and realize
She doesn’t know the world yet.
She knows only what she sees here.

She plays with her toys and chases her tail,
And I cry when I come home from the hospital
Because she sat outside my door, waiting for me.

the pain is in the pruning

i keep my hospital bracelets
in a yellow flower vase
on the top shelf of my bookshelf

i’m growing something here
(well, shrinking it,
if you really want to know)

dante’s inferno

the waiting room is clean,
though the attendants
look at me with concern.

i haven’t eaten in three days,
because my throat has closed,
but i have been in Limbo for so long,
the wait now is ecstasy.

i long for what lays ahead,
to pass through hell
a greater man.

souls wander past me,
both damned
and destined for greatness.

i wonder which one i am.

I hope you’ll stick around to read the full pieces in November :)

Ink in Thirds - "duck" coming March 19, 2024
The Cry Lounge - “excerpts from ‘a fragmented account of all the people i’ve ever thought i loved’” coming March 23, 2024
Feminist Food Journal - ‘Engorged’ coming March 2024
The Eyre - "I Became the Scary King of Beautiful” and "thoughts about a boy i never knew in a lair i never saw" coming March 2024
Tones of Citrus - “This Is How You Raised Us” coming March 2024; honorary mention: “hit and run”
Wishbone Words - “where we must go,” “The Little One,” “the pain is in the pruning,” and “dante’s inferno” coming November 2024