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Writing and artwork by Ashelgih Ascoli

Shuddering on the shower floor, sticky red rivulets chasing water through the grout / atop crumpled bedsheets / on the office swivel chair / in the hospital parking lot, fractured cement stained russet / knees spread on a cold operating table / on the suffocating drive home / in your arms, collapsing with grief / clinging to the lid of a toilet, back arched in agony / in a crowd, clammy limbs trembling / beneath pillaging hands / between cracked teeth / before a goodbye / in my nightmares, my memories, my fears of the future / in your mouth / on your fingers / at the altar of your hips / on everything I have ever loved / on everything I have ever touched / on everything, ever.

Ashleigh Ascoli

Ashleigh Ascoli is an Australian poet and writer who has been expressing herself through the written word since childhood. When not writing you will find her sipping sangria, spending time with her family and reading fantasy romance novels. While trying to conceive her second baby Ashleigh experienced five recurrent miscarriages, including two partial molar pregnancies and has undergone three IVF cycles. Ashleigh’s writing focuses primarily on grief, mental health and womanhood as she explores what it means to be a woman and the bleeding and blooming we do as women.
To Bleed and Bloom is a raw and visceral collection of poetry and prose inspired by the journey of womanhood. Divided into three sections, To Bleed, To Bruise and To Bloom, this collection explores themes of grief, loss, fertility, trauma, body image and healing.
To Bleed and Bloom is available worldwide on Amazon and online book retailers. Read To Bleed and Bloom now. 

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