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Ashley Nicole Latimore is a space for healing through story.
I analyze films, reflect on books, and share original poetry — all through the lens of emotional growth, talk therapy, and psychology.
Whether you’re processing your past or nurturing your present, you’re safe here.
Welcome.
Today is a Sunday that feels like a Saturday.
I awoke to a Sonic lullaby, said The Lord’s Prayer, ate my vitamins, drank some water, consumed some pepperoni pizza.
One thing I try not to do before bed is consume greasy, fatty foods like pepperoni pizza or anything with cheese because doing so gives me the wildest dreams at night.
But I’ve learned to discern/interpret a “pizza dream” from a dream from God, from the enemy, or from my flesh.
Usually, the dreams from my flesh are due to things that I’ve been reflecting on.
But I’m so excited to enjoy my Sunday-Saturday. That’s what I’m calling it. I’m going to watch a bit of Naruto, which is a series that I put down then pick back up sometimes; I’m going to watch Three’s Company; meal prep; be kind to myself if I eat unhealthy things today or spend money on eating out rather than eating what’s in the house; & I’m going to read.
That’s my blog post for today.
Please enjoy the poems that I wrote this year. “The Tree In Me” was written on July 3, 2026 & the poem/thoughts below it were written in June 2026. A lot has changed since writing these, so the words don’t fully reflect how I feel about myself or life today, but I wanted to be vulnerable and share my heart with you guys; now is the time to share those poems.
Love y’all, God bless, & I’ll speak with y’all again soon
XXOO

Sometimes I still feel like that teenage girl
In my parents’ home
Every dream unrealized
I sometimes feel like Novalee
At 17
Though I’m 33
I just feel behind
I just feel
not good enough
No matter what I do
Not pretty enough
No matter what I do
Not smart enough
No matter how hard I try
I just feel
Behind
Maybe because I was
Left behind
In different ways
In childhood
But this is the tree in me
Its name is “not enough”
Its root is…
A lie, I suppose
I’ve tried to speak to it
As Jesus spoke to the fig tree
“Root,” I said,
“May you bear no fruit.
May you never again bear fruit.”
I spoke to a root that I couldn’t see
Physically nor spiritually
I’m not sure if it worked
But that’s the tree in me
Bearing fruit from a root
that I cannot see
That’s the tree in me
One of them
A bad one
But
Its roots have grown down deep
And I’m just having a hard time being free
with this tree in me.


I recall when I was small
My father slapped me
Core memory
My sister had told him
That I’d been making fun of a deaf kid
But I hadn’t been
I was just playing with him
in my own way
& in what I understood to be play
The slap was loud
Abrupt
It hurt
Inside
Outside
My face stung
My mother watched
She saw
Said nothing
No apology from anyone,
ever.
It wasn’t brought up again.
& then
There was a day
When I visited the clothes closet with my mom
free clothes for the poor
free clothing for the impoverished
I asked my mom if I could get a dress
“No,” she told me
“It fits me,” I replied,
holding it up to my child frame
“No, you can’t have that.”
“She can have it; it’s free,” said the worker.
“She said I can have it,” I told my mother
“No,” said my mother with a shake of a head
yet a small smile on her face.
“No,” because she could.
“No, don’t speak,” I’d hear later on
“No, accept that,” I’d hear later on
“Who cares that you’re sad, that you’re hurt, unsafe,” I’d hear later on.
But God cares.
Cause I belong to God.
Truth is, I never belonged to my parents;
I simply came thru them.
I entered the world thru them.
But I’ve always belonged to God.
Anyone can mishandle us,
but we’ve always belonged to God
& to God alone.
Our children belong to God.
They don’t belong to us.
We shouldn’t mishandle them,
but we can’t protect them from every hurt
in the world.
All we can do is remember
that they belong to God,
Lead them in the way that they should go,
& pray God’s protection &
wonderful, warring angels to surround them
& to fight for them.
The command is to lead kids in the way that they should go
& when they are older, they won’t depart from it
I’ve heard it said
that this statement goes both ways
A blessing & a curse
Lead them into a hellish life
When they’re older, they won’t depart from it
Sure, yeah, that saying goes both ways
Thank God for the ones
Who do their best
To not lead us astray…
I think that I accept my childhood
I think that it’s because
I accept the “okay” that I’m living in now.
I still have questions
There are still some “whys” that I don’t feel comfortable asking
Maybe at one point I did,
But I don’t right now
I’ll ask my “whys” to God
& not to people.
Shame & trauma block people
from understanding things, themselves
My whole life is like an inhale
Inspiration
I hear the birds chirping right now
At 5am
They love this desert air
I think it’s good to be in the desert sometimes
God is meeting me here.
He met me here when I arrived,
Drove with me here on the ride
Rode with me on the ride through states
And is with me thru the different states of Ash
Thru the different states of my life
My life is good
It’s comfortable
I actually really enjoy it
It’s so much better
Than it was
10 and 20 years ago
I wouldn’t return to 20 years ago
Mean girls
I wouldn’t return to 10 years ago
Mean men
I like 33
Maybe there’s a dying & a rising
happening for me at 33
Just as it happened for
Mary’s child
Just as it happened for Jesus
Juice at 5am
& I wonder 💭
Who the man is
Who will find me wonderful
In all of my carefulness
& in all of my failures
In all of my unique talents
& in all of my weaknesses
& limits
In all of my moments of strength
& in all of my
times of falter.
Who will find me wonderful
with my complex sexuality?
It is complex
for many people
Simple for some
Complex for many
Life
A fallen world
Has made sexuality complex for many
It took me years & years
To accept that I’m a sexual person
God made us sexual beings
I was in my early 30s
By the time I accepted it
By the time I stopped feeling shame about it
Then something happened
That harmed my ability to remain feeling free
in my sexuality
But I accept it again
And in marriage, I’ll freely be
that part of me
& I’ll try to be
every part of me
because I desire to be.
Who will find me wonderful
with my childhood,
the back & forth
the confusion
that I didn’t depart from
fully
until my 30s
I think I’ve departed from the confusion
from hell & from shame
I think I’ve departed from
hating & despising my own name
which was associated with shame
I wish that in my past,
I dated wheat & not tare
I wish that my heart was available to others
who were more healed, more whole
My heart was broken
As broken as my soul
As confused as my mind
My limbic brain
was shattered.
It’s taken me a while to believe
in my own intelligence
Despite my accomplishments,
I’m still learning to believe
in me
I thank God for 33
There’s a vulnerability that exists
right along power & strength
It’s all on me
& God
to keep going
That’s the vulnerability
But
It’s all on me
& God
To keep going
That’s the power & strength.
I give a long, satisfying stretch
Like a cat
Long & slow
Like I own this part of the world
That I’m in
Like time stops just for me
The space I’m sitting in
Lying in
Standing in
I own
& time, the day, rest -
They’re all for me & will work for me.
It’s Saturday.
Yes. Yay.
I guess it’s still my favorite day.
I don’t have to work on Saturdays.
The command is not to work.
I still do some things
if I’m feeling them
Cause Sabbath was made for man
& not man for the Sabbath.
I’m going to just watch
some movies today,
maybe.
Every dream is being realized
I want the one who finds me wonderful.
I’ll find him amazing.
Lord, bring the one who finds me wonderful,
but don’t let him eat up all of my
favorite snacks.
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