Here | Nobuyoshi Araki, 1997

She left her prince by the edge of the sea, at the bottom of the stairs, where she climbed to the top of the tower. Her feet curled off each stair, bare with sand buried in the mounds of her toes and cracks in her heels. Gastrocnemius muscles in her calves bulged and softened with every step. Lean lines shot straight up her legs. The way up was dark and coated with pitch - a natural road. And she climbed slowly, carefully, deferentially. She bit her lips until they bloomed red and licked the salty traces that never belong on a rose. The messy waves of her hair were gathered into a braid, trailing from the crown of her head to the tattoo on the small of her back. It was a dragon, twisted in slumber but with fire still burning at the tip of its tail. Her ponytail swung from side to side over the flame. She was near the top. She threw off her top. Sticky walls caught it and framed it in an artless gallery. The door swung out at her touch and she collapsed on the bed. The window was open and a faint voice was whispering down down down. But here she stayed, staring at a cloudless sky, waiting for one or some to wander up, up, up.


(photo via AnOtherMag.com)

Either | Ludevine Extreme Cat Eye Ring

Could I, for a moment, be incorporeal? I could be the glitch in the system, that fraction-of-a-second blackout; something that never lingers long enough to catch the next twitch. Let me invade the cove of thought that nobody listens to because they don't care. I can sneak through the gap above, beside, underneath, and assimilate you. There's a wink and a catch and a cough; I am none of these. In retrospect, I was never material or made of material. Perhaps I wish I was, so I could understand what it means to be nothing now. But I'm not important, you are. You're the ragamuffin squatting in the corner of some dirty alley trying to climb a fence that isn't there. Even if you told me there was a way out, I wouldn't believe you. There is no way out. I know this because I am the way out, and you're not letting me in. Why? Reason eludes us all; words even more so when we need them the most. It's okay. There's no real train of thought. Just thought. But I'll let you have one narrow ray of sunshine.
I don't know, either.


(photo via ludevine.com)

Away | Fannie Schiavoni Steel Harness

She could not hear the vibration from her phone. The boat was only a few clicks out to sea; land was still within her eyes' reach. The waves wandered beneath the floating vessel, caressing the hull with their moist palms. She laid down on the deck, on her side, and rocked like a baby in its crib. With her ear pressed to the floor, she listened to the muffled voice of the ocean. It was a conversation with breaths and sighs, untainted by words with too much or no meaning. She walked to the stern and crouched down, dipping her fingers in the water. It was cool to the touch and washed away the tears that stained her hands invisibly after she wiped her eyes. She had added her own salt to the sea.

The boat was being carried further away from land. And she stood and watched as she was forced to retreat. The beach was bare and empty. Her family had not yet awoken and so had not yet discovered the missing boat. Water had mollified her; she no longer contained any fury whatsoever in regards to her kin. She was simply still whilst another world crashed and swirled in chaos around her.

The amorphous clouds gave way to the penetrating sun rays that came from beyond the land. And as the sun continued to rise above the hills and trees, so did the sparkling sheen in her eyes. With scintillating vision she turned away and took naked steps to the wheel. She checked her phone. There was a message from a number she never forgot. Her finger hovered over the button that would reveal the last words. She pressed it. But the signal was lost, and so was the message. She threw it away.


(photo via AnOtherMag.com)

Hope | Marie- Hélène de Taillac 22-Karat Gold Rubelite Clover Ring

First, you were just a word on the screen. Then you became sentences in my mouth. Turning since from an unimaginable entity into something real. The first time I brought you out (or you brought me out, I forget which) you waited for me. And I have stood by you ever since. We have shared so much laughter and so much sadness. I have heard you cry and I have seen your heart break. You have heard my silence and you have seen my scars. One day, it became difficult to stand by your side, and your existence became naught. You might have still existed somewhere out there, for others and for yourself, but not for me. Another day, it became even more difficult to be away from you, and I salvaged the bits of us left. More words. More sentences. More real. We could be brilliant together, I thought. Nevertheless another day has come. And difficulties are surging their way through to sleepless nights. Again I find myself wondering if I had too much hope, and whether such hope must finally die.


(photo via Net-A-Porter.com)

Sxx | Rosamosario Classica Bellezza Silk-Creponne and Lace French Briefs

She melted in her sheets, the soft suppleness of her skin cruising over the wavy creases of her silk covers. The sun was rising over the city and into the clouds, clearing space for the small droplets of summer rain. Her saturnine face was bespattered with the sky's tears as the blistering wind tore through the balcony doors. The wispy curtains curled like smoke at the wind's assertive voice, beckoning her to the shallow society on the other side of the balustrade. Lightning struck and fires lit and her face was set aglow. A roaring passion was blazing outside, a stirring piquancy, and she was laid on her back, ruminating. Her arm stretched out towards the open doors and she sucked in all the life that sprang in. And she looked up into his eyes and kissed him with tender lips that shuddered. The sun exposed a smattering of movement that survived the young chaos, her curtains became still, and the doors swung closed.


(photo via Net-A-Porter.com)

The Globe | Oscar de la Renta Paris Woven Tweed Bag

An open roof, a sheltered stage,

Lifted asses and planted foots

Meet fleeting flurries of rain

And smears of a crimson war.

Henry steps out with his fury

Yet also with a smile

That breaks the clouds,

So fury shall abate.

And with sweet trills

Of birds, too, in love,

He steals a kiss from her sugar lips

And her French tongue.

They dance and they bow;

Daylight is gone and the planes keep flying overhead.

(photo via Net-A-Porter.com)

Shadows | Jacquemus White Coat

She sat up in her white bed, in the white room, by the white window. Daylight peeked in through the white curtains and illuminated the white walls. Picking up the glass on the white side table, she took a sip. Her gown was speckled with baby blue dots, like small holes in a cloudy sky. And her lips were purple from the cold, but she couldn't move the blanket up to cover her hardened nipples. She saw beads of rain stuck to the glass window like the back of her head was stuck to the wall. Then she stared at the white wall at the end of her feet and her focus shifted constantly, casting white shadows on the wall, outlined with a blurred oily sheen. She saw the clouds that would soon lay her down to rest. They dipped and fell as soon as she had a mindful hold on their form; sinking below her to carry her up, up towards the black sky where nothing breathed. And from her absolute position amongst the stars, she would watch a world purged of white shadows and every now and again cast her own down upon the land and sea.


(photo via AnOtherMag.com)

Wondering | ALICE Knapsack

'Ready?' Meero asked. The rods were packed in their cases and the lines were wound and coiled in his knapsack. The baits were fresh and still bobbling in the lunchbox, waiting for their inevitable destiny.

Lamisaray rummaged through her messenger bag the last time. 'I can't find it,' she exclaimed, sending her bag sailing. 'The pearl's gone.'

'Sweetheart, it's on the back of your neck,' Meero said smilingly. Her hand swooped up to find it lodged in the nape of her neck. 'Right,' she said, laughing, 'let's go then.'

They swam towards the sun and spotted a boat floating on the surface near a pier. 'Shall we?' Lamisaray said. Her eyes glinted in the refracted sunlight. Meero tied a few tentacles to a few lines and sent the jellyfish up bobbing and waving in the lighter parts of the ocean.

Michael was sharing a cigarette with Lana on the stern, kicking their feet in the water and watching the horizon. Nothing left their mouths except the soft curls of smoke dissipating in the sea breeze.

'Shit, Lana, get out of the water!' Michael shouted when he noticed the growing number of glowing jellies. Water splashed about in a panic as they scrambled to get their legs back on the boat. And when the ephemeral panic died out, they crouched over the stern and peered into the water, mesmerized by the enchanting creatures.

Far below in the deep Meero and Lamisaray watched the watchers. The water became less of a window and more of a mirror as they observed their human counterparts. The fascination swimming between the two couples left all befuddled and they stared on, neither really knowing what they were staring at.

The sky was darkening. Lamisaray reached behind her and popped the pearl out of her skin, which smoothened out and became firm as though a bulbous orb wasn't previously embedded in it. She kissed it and it glittered blue and green where her lips touched it. Then she passed it to Meero, who also kissed it and let it glitter blue and green where his lips touched it. The pearl flew up, through the smack of jellyfish, and burst out onto the surface where it took the illusory shape of a reflected moon.

It shone brightly enough on the surface of the dark water to hide the now glowing iridescent tails of the mermaid and the merman. And while Michael and Lana rolled more cigarettes under the stars, Meero and Lamisaray dove deeper into the black water amongst the bioluminescent organisms; all left to wondering.


(photo via fleabg.com)