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Eric the Red Oct 2020
For all those
1
0
0
0
Days
1
0
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0
Sunsets
1
0
0
0
Sunrises
1
0
0
0
Nights
Where my heart
Still said
Goodnight
To yours...
Eric the Red Jan 2018
You ask if I’m jealous
That you’ve had lovers
One night stands
Men who never asked
For your name

To which I reply
‘I’ve had you 1000 times...
‘And plan on a million more...
‘You’ve never seen a heart like mine...
‘Nor has the 1000 bodies between us...
Eric the Red Oct 2020
Beloved
The best ones
That were written about you
Were the ones written by my
Heart
When you were
1000 Light Years From Me
I had nothing to do with it
Eric the Red Jan 2018
It was a lovely service
And afterwards all her friends
Got up and said something
Even those **** Theron’s Twins
Who could hardly finish because
They were crying the whole time

Carly had left me two notes
‘One to read upon my death
‘One to read after everyone has spoken
The first was ‘Eric, please don’t let sadness rule over my funeral, be the last to speak, and say something funny please, then open the last note.’

I did
Told the crowd how we snuck into
That one concert in Dallas
With ***** in water bottles
and how we ran the hallways
Of our senior year
I looked out at the crowd and
Everyone stopped crying
And laughed at the thought
I opened the last note
And you left us
A $100 McDonalds Gift Card
‘Go eat burgers and fries!’
You said.
And everyone started crying again
Including those ******
Theron’s twins
‘We should donate it to her favorite charity...give it to the homeless...it’s not right ...’
they all said.
Except I already had a #1 Supersized in my mind.
With a Dr Pepper
‘Whydontwejustdowhatsheaskedustodo?’
AndwhenIgothome Icriedforanhourstraight
Carly would’ve hated the
Selfie Generation
Eric the Red Apr 2018
It’s simple really
We’re given a birth
And an expiration date
Of around
100 Years

She’s out there
You’ll know her when you
Lose her
Eric the Red Mar 2018
It wouldn’t surprise me one bit...
If she walked back into my life...
But...
Not today
Nor tomorrow

But...10,20, 50 Years From Now

She’d want to pick up where
We left off...
Tell our stories of where we’ve been...what we’ve been up to
And she’d know our time apart
Was torture upon my soul...
‘But none of that matters now...’
She’d say

And today
If she saw me
Walking across Antarctica
She’d just keep going
Maybe she’d look back
But I doubt it...

But...10,20, 50 years from now
Who knows...
Eric the Red Apr 2018
Tell you I’m afraid of heights
Dont look down
You say
Inch by inch
Out on the ledge
Wind is whipping
Peek my eyes open
‘No! No! I can’t!’
I say
im right here
Take my hand
Into yours
So warm
i love us
And I love us too
A
N
D
W
E
J
U
M
P
O
F
F
The ledge
Together
And on the way down
You pull me closer
Whisper
ive got you it’ll be ok
A
L
L
T
H
E
W
A
Y
D
O
W
N
Eric the Red Mar 2018
Saw that green piece of paper blowing in the wind and humans just know...
‘That’s $10...’
And now I can get a Chopped BBQ sandwich and a bottle of good beer on the way home even though I’m short $9 on my power bill due 2 days ago.
That smell is divine as I open my door and swig my beer & rip the CUT OFF notice from off the ****
Let’s eat good everynight...
Eric the Red Oct 2021
I’ve broken 4 shoelaces in my life
I’m getting on closer to 50 now
Than I’m closer to say 23…
.
I probably have 2 broken shoelaces left
In me…
Eric the Red Jun 2018
‘You’ve murdered us with your
Adventurous soul...’
It would be the last words of
The Mapmaker &
The Navigator
As the bewildered
Explorer
Held onto the wheel
Of their galleon
As it went over the edges of the earth
And they became part of the
Constellations
His last thought being
‘I thought the earth was round...’
‘I thought the earth was round...’
Eric the Red Feb 2018
Saw my 1st ghost at 5
My 1st crush at 10
Had my 1st kiss at 12
My 1st  ‘FIRST’ at 16
Saw my 1st dead body at 22
Waded in the Dead Sea at 23
Ate my 1st lobster tail at 24
Held my 1st born at 27
Nothing happened in my 30s
Walked away from inflicting pain
And being inflicted
By standing up for myself at 39
But 1,700 Miles Away
Is a 1st kiss I long to receive
So you can whisper
And clear my history
And we can make a longitude
Of firsts...our own
Eric the Red Nov 2020
Getting gas in my old hometown
Someone taps my shoulder
And I turn around to see
A familiar smile wrapped in
Wrinkles and silver streaks of hair
My love darling sweet from
1995
We lasted four beautiful months
Promised forevermores
Went weekends without clothes
Made love from sun up to sun down
As young lovers should
Ate
Drank
Laughed
Held hands
‘You’re my man and I’m your woman...’
She was fond of saying
Then it just stopped
We had a beautiful glorious
Summer
Now in front of me a quarter of a century
Later
Time hasn’t been kind to her
And I wonder if she’s saying the same of me
But she leans in to say goodbye
Stars in her eyes
‘It’s good to see you...you look the same’
And gives me one of those squeeze hugs
You get from old lovers you’ve shared
Time with
‘I’ve missed you’
She says
The gas was $17.32 and I’ll never
Go on that side of town
Ever again...
Eric the Red Feb 2018
I know it’s late..:
I m sorry I woke you.. . ..
I just wanted to tell you..   ....
Your hand touches the space next to you...
‘Shut up and hold me...’
you say
And I feel your warmth ...   ......
All of the above
Put your hair behind your ear
whispers
i want to tell you everything

You turn around and kiss my forehead...  ......  ... .      .....
you already have
you already have
stay with me
*stay with me....I want to show you forever
Eric the Red Oct 2020
3 Years of a ship out to sea
Declares never to return
Search parties dispatched
Souls lost to the bottom of the sea...

You’ll find me still at the wheel
In the plunge
Cold dark
Sea

Awaken what could never die
Hold me your mermaid arms
Pull me from this wreckage
Take out my splinters
Send up our flag

Adrift in waters
Nighttime sky
Whisper you love me
One more time...
Eric the Red Mar 2018
It was a wonderful night
Wine
Popcorn
Lovely walk
Air filled with electricity
And at midnight
Still wide awake
In our nakedness
She parted my hair
Told me she loved me
Beyond all measures
And asked me lovingly
‘Will you ever ask me?
‘To marry you?
I
Parted her hair and smiled
And she looked so happy
With her lovely curves
Her taste on my lips
And I brought her close
After a split second of
Thoughts
The 4 marriages between us
The nasty costly divorces
Pain driven
The Reap & the Sow
And whispered
‘No...’
Eric the Red Apr 2018
I wonder if her fake accounts will give me a true account of who she really is...
Eric the Red Feb 2018
Somewhere along the way
Cobblestone paths
Effervescent clouds
Escape
I was abandoned by the gods

I’ve looked 2 in the eye
Said ‘I do’
Wanted to love them forever

One died young
Forever 25
One gave me children
I’d open the front door
Those little feet running to me
‘Dad’s Home!’
‘Dad’s Home!’
I miss those...taken from me
All of it...

‘The baby is lost...’
Ingrained
Insurmountable
She blamed me
In her hurt
In her reasoning
It was all my fault

I dream of it constant
All that I’ve lost
All that I’m cursed with
In memories

Abandoned
Eric the Red Oct 2020
Dead leaves overran the walkway
Wooden bridge we held hands across
Creaks and crunches
Walking across it now
There is the threshold I kissed
Your neck upon
The overhang in need of repair
Open the door
Dust and soot
Cold corridor
Covers what once was vibrant
Love filled
Laughter
Cups of joy
October fires
Long into the night
See your ghost
Walking down the hall
Inviting
Wailing
Hurting
Missing
All this abandoned autumn needs
Is you...
Eric the Red Aug 2023
The fact that I still dream of you nightly
See you in crowds
Wake with the scent of your skin
For 2-3 seconds
In my nose
I still have your voicemails I listen to from time to time
I don’t know why I don’t just move on

Tells me I messed up something that had so much
Beauty
Potential
Forever
I don’t love anymore
I can’t.
All of it left with you
Eric the Red Jun 2018
There is no hole
To crawl under...
No cave from which
To escape and dwell
In peace...
No desert to traverse
By which a tranquil
Oasis resides...
No rainstorm heavy
Enough to wash away...
Not enough words
To form sad poems
In requiem...
To dispel
To dispatch
To run the lengths
To sleep in relative quiet
Without waking in tears...
Once
You’ve lost
A Beautiful Love
Eric the Red Apr 2018
Over the billions of years...
I just happen to come across
The most beautiful
Space Dust
Ever created

What were the chances?
**** that woman is her own
Galaxy
Eric the Red Feb 2018
Just because we are friends with
Darkness
Doesn’t mean it wants to be
Friends
With us...
Eric the Red Oct 2020
I’ve got about 20 years to live
Which, for being in my 40s
Is quite bold
People live well past 100 these days
Those with safe routes
Golden paths
Four year college degrees...
.
I drink a few gallons of wine a week
*****
Tequila
But can still run 10 miles
Without stopping
What a strange dichotomy
That woeful mixture
Could be an elixir for some
But it just stresses, strains, depresses, anxiously evolves
Festers
.
At this age you know
The loves who’ve come and gone
and with that admission  
Cynical wit adorning
You’ll know by now
That there truly was only one
And by that, the blood
That pooled, that never clotted
Mighty river
Will someday take you
Drown you bit by bit
Daily
.
For I’ve never been accused
Of being a good man
Men like me die alone
Gutters
Halfway houses
1 bedroom apartments
With one couch
Men like me jump out of windows
Drown in rivers
Of blood that never clot
Waiting
For your hand
To save me
.
20 years is pushing it...
Eric the Red Apr 2018
Metal strewn about...
Fires of jet fuel reek the air...
Intermittent
A shoe
Seat 12A
Tray table
Heat from fuel pit
Raging
Zombies walking about
Dazed
Survivors
Smeared with black
Seats 17C & 24B
Still strapped in
Just torsos
&
A tie
Fuselage
Upside down
Body part unidentifiable
Papers
Came down in cornfield
Scorched earth
Yellow inflatables strewn
Crumpled
Caved in
Inferno
Sunlight peeking thru...
5,000 pieces
How could anybody survive this?
Eric the Red Oct 2020
The absolute worst feeling
In the world
Is taking a nap
In the afternoon
Sunlit
Everything familiar
And waking up
To darkness
Night
Not knowing where you
Are
Disoriented
Pained
Wanting to cry
Scared of being alone
Of being hurt by
Someone you love
.
I’m sure there’s other things
That are worse
But afternoon naps
That lead to night
No good can come from...
Eric the Red Apr 2018
After the war was over
The only thing I discovered
About myself
Was that I loved
A Good Fight
Words
Fists
Love
Life
A Good Fight
Indeed
Eric the Red Mar 2018
I see something she’d like
And it’s the day before
St Patrick’s Day

And I tell her
‘We should give gifts for
St. Paddy’s Day, start a tradition.’

She says sure
Then I elaborate
‘We talk all day in Irish accents
‘Give ourselves Irish names
‘And at 6pm we drink green beer
‘Take shots of Jameson
‘And give each other our gifts

She seems excited
‘Ok Shaughnessy how much
‘Money is in the account?

I check
$19.67 to make it to
Wednesday
&
I check
The cabinet
There’s old margarita mix
And potatoes

‘I guess we can talk in Irish accents tomorrow while I make Potato soup with our margaritas Maria...’

‘Who’s Maria?’
She asks

Our Alcoholic Christmas
Eric the Red Mar 2018
Because my memory is so good
I can remember ages 3-4
Lying on my back in the grass
Listening to the crickets
The ants doing their thing
The clouds and the moving
Watercolor paintings
Move across the sky

Welcome to Kindergarten
Go here...go there
Sit here...take this test
Make good grades
How was school today?
You need to do better if you
Want to get a good job
Make a good living
Schoolings over
Work begins
Get certified
Train
Come in early
Go home late
4am mornings
7pm get homes
2 weeks of vacation a year
Fill this out
Put this in the mail
Save for your retirement
Eat better for a longer life
Take a glimpse of that cloud
Rolling by
Rememberclouds?

‘You’re late...this Better never happen again or you’ll be looking for another job.’

Years pass much like those clouds

Retirement

‘What are you going to do with the rest of your life?’

‘I’m ready to die...I’m ready to be among the clouds.’
Eric the Red Oct 2020
Years travel densely
Hibernation
Comparisons
Conversations
But none truly compare
In and out of our
Lives
Not really giving second
Thoughts about them
.
Putting words down
Once again
Reactions
Familiar roads I’ve been
Down with you
Admiration
Subtle nuances
The way your tree
Sways this way
And that
I could be blind and I’d
Still know every inch
Of your body
Flung into the icy seas
And still know the taste
Of your kisses...
Do all old lovers talk like this?
Eric the Red Sep 2021
I’m most likely going to hell
For all the wrong I’ve done
If such a place exists
I know I’m sorry
Forgive me All
.
But I’ll go quietly
Knowing
I loved a beautiful woman
And I know she loved me back
Soft and sweet
I know these things
Because of All the Beautiful Things
We’ve said to each other since
We parted…
Years before
Eric the Red Dec 2021
We come into this world
Alone
We go out of it
Alone
.
Everything else in between
You go through
Alone.
.
Love
Death
Loss
Beauty
.
Always ends
Alone
Eric the Red Apr 2018
whirlpool!
massive squid!
60 foot waves!
Dysentery
Seasickness
Plague
Burials at sea
we commit his body to the oceans
tidal waves
mermaids
serpents
octopus meals
broke rudder
compass malfunction*

‘My dearest love, by the time you get this
I will have perished in the high seas...you have my love, I will be forever in your dreams...you were my driving force, my have and to hold...my anchor down.’
Eric the Red Feb 2018
The loneliest spot on Earth
Is sleeping next to a person
You can’t fix
No amount of encouragement
No amount of post it notes
Of ‘we can get help’
‘I love you no matter what’
Can fix the unfixable
Insecurities
Secrets
Lies
Fake accounts
The next time my heart aches
For someone
I’ll remember
The screams of the unfixable
And the loss of our dreams
Eric the Red Feb 2018
An officer is
Educated in war
Combat
Conducive to Compassion
Leaders among men
Knows even when he doesn’t
Delegated
&
Dedicated
To the cause

The dead were many
On this side
And on theirs
One stood out to the
Officer
As his enlisted ripped
Toiled
&
Dismembered
His lifeless
Body

Arm broken
Skin under his nails
Riddled with bullets
Innumerable number
Of the officer’s own
Around this enemy soldier
Face covered in blood
The officer wanted to know
Why

Then it came out
The Letter
Written by him that morning
The officer unfolded

‘By the time you read this it’ll be a week until you are my Mrs., my have and to hold...my forever entrenched...’

The officer folded it neatly
Placed it back where it fell
&
Ordered his men to clean the
Soldier
As if he were his own
Who fought
Valiantly
Not to leave this world
If
Only
For
Love

‘I wish we could all fight for a love as beautiful as this...’
Eric the Red Feb 2018
At 10pm
We lie with naked skin
Together
Blue from the moon
She tells me
He yelled at her
Threw stuff at her on
Tuesday
‘I told him that he just threw away
‘All of his ‘I Love Yous...’
She says
As she gets up
Walks to her clothes
‘So he’s at zero?’
I ask
She nods yes
&
Comes over for a kiss
&
It’s passionate
&
I whisper in her ear
What she doesn’t want to hear
Leaves with tears
He gets off at
Midnight
And it’s
1-0
Me
Eric the Red Feb 2018
This guy is stealing your poems and putting them on PoemHunter.com as his own
Eric the Red Feb 2018
It’s from 1981
My dad was 32
I must’ve been 3 or 4
I keep it on the bathroom mirror
Both of us
Smiling
The guy who tried to
Put my mom in the trunk
Drunk
As he was
Who showed up late
On Saturdays
Sometimes never at all
Called my sisters
Mistakes
I should have a picture
Of my mom
Who died for 30 seconds
When she had me
Fearless
Loving
Mother
Who gave all that she had
Or my sisters
Who grew up without a
Father
But had a daddy who put them
Down
Or maybe I should have a
Picture of me & my
Children
In the bathroom mirror
Instead of the man
I don’t ever want to be
But there he is
And there we are
Me at 40
And him at
68
Still vying for his
Attention
Eric the Red Feb 2018
It’s not till you become an adult
That you reflect on the ******
Adults of your youth
Waiting on our dad in the car
As he attends his AA and court ordered Domestic Violence class
And he comes out and lights a cigarette and we have to wait another 5 minutes
He must’ve been mid 30s then

Or my aunt
She never worked
Had 13 cats, a hallway and
House full of stuff
We’d go by and there was a
Path to get to her bed
The rest was trash
Self help books and
A dozen or so roaches
Self helping themselves to
Her leftover Twinkies
She must’ve been in her
Early 40s then

Or my uncle
Who we’d tag along with
Cause he was a free babysitter
And he’d collect his unemployment check
Take out a little pipe and
**** on it and blow the smoke
Out the window
&
Look at the jobs that were
Offered to him
‘Oh **** that...’
He was fond of saying
I’m guessing he was in
His late 20s then
Never really holding down
Any job

And now I’m an adult
Working 70-75 hours a week
At a **** job
With a **** boss
And a **** ex
Who just ***** all over everything
I do
Maybe if I had beat my kids in a
Drunken stupor
Or allowed myself to be sad
To let the roaches in
Or was perpetually high all
The time
I’d have time for metaphors
But I don’t
I’m raw
My words are too

And I wonder what my young ones
Will say 30 years from now
When they’re adults...
Eric the Red Feb 2018
We all need a Strong One
In our lives
Someone that sees though our
BS

Not to expose our weakness
Or make us feel bad

But a Strong One
Who can walk away from us
If our soul is too much for them

A Strong One
Won’t beg for you to stay
A Strong One
Will be there if you love
There is no One Way

The only way you know
If you have a Strong One
Is if you’re still pursuing
Hoping they’ll see your words

But they won’t
They’re Strong enough
Without them
Eric the Red Oct 2020
This is just a theory or thought or
One man’s Stupid Opinion but
Maybe when we mixed our blood
We created an entity
A force
And when we said our goodbyes
It went to sleep
Dormant
Hibernating
And now it’s awake
Out of its cage
Wild
Free
Needing to be fed
Our
Words...
Course it’s just a theory or thought or
One Man’s Stupid Opinion
Eric the Red Feb 2018
I swear there’s nothing
And I mean nothing better
Than the Beginnings
Of something wonderful

A steak
First sip of wine that cost more than $10
Someone’s words
Thunderstorm
Sunrise
Full Moons
Making eyes with a
Beautiful woman

Relationships
Are by far the best
Beginnings
Clothing becomes optional
&
All you want to do is
Be with them
&
Do anything they want
Eric the Red Mar 2018
We hadn’t spoken in a few days
Made a meal
&
Out of the clear blue I said
‘I don’t want to do this
‘Anymore
‘I feel like I’m wasting my life

She dropped her fork
On her plate
&
Put her head in her hands
Silent
Tears dropped and she looked
Towards the window

‘Why do you say such things?

Tell her I’m sorry
I’m the biggest ****
Tell her it’s just that we haven’t
Spoken in a few days

I console
Kiss her cheek
Kiss her hand
Her tears stop
‘Can we go for a walk
‘That place with a bridge?
Of course we can
&
We get a coffee
Talk movies
As we walk
Hand in Hand
&
She still doesn’t realize I still
Meant every ****
Word I said
That morning
Eric the Red Jan 2018
That darkness we talked about
The place you’d said
I’d never be alone
That you’d be by my side
I’m going into now
Without you
I’ll leave a trail
For you to find me
Even though you’ve been gone
For quite awhile now
Hope I see you there
Someday
Eric the Red Feb 2018
My angel with the blackened
Owl feathers
Standing guard over my
Dreams
Open them
For me
Eric the Red Apr 2018
one day she realized
she was the perfect mix of
sunshine
&
rain

10 foot high
Black Roses
grew
the very
next day
Eric the Red Mar 2018
Every man
Every woman
All
Have that one that stepped
Into our lives
No matter how much wrong
They tattooed upon
Our hearts
Their black rose
Always pierces our
Concrete
Fights it’s way through
We’ve cursed their
Existence
Their birth
But we remember
The day we met them
The hour
The minute
The second
How the sun looked
&
How they made us feel
&
How we hate the fact
That we’d take them
Back in an instant
Our
Black
Rose
Piercing
Through
Our
Concrete

(o)
|
|
|
_+_
Eric the Red Apr 2018
While poets faced firing squads...
Cowards lived well past 100 years old...
Eric the Red Jul 2022
My body is beginning to fail me
I’m not old yet
Not even a half century
But I feel it
All those times I defied
Nature
Ran more than I should have
Went without sleep
Stayed up for days
Slept for 3-4 hours and went back at it
My eyes are becoming blurry
Hard to focus
My knees
Are rusty oil cans
Crunching together
My body is beginning to fail me
I’m running out of time

I’m so sorry for everything
I hope you read this
So you know
The only thing young is my soul
Which you kept
In the palm of your hand
But for a moment…
Eric the Red Feb 2018
I can’t wait to read the book
Of my life

I’m going skip all the
Chapters

Until I get to the part
Where I get to meet you
&
Read it
Over
&
Over
........
Eric the Red Mar 2018
So often at times we
Become preoccupied with
Self improvement
Self examination
Self awareness
Maintaining
What others think of us

That we forget that there
Are those willing
To run into battles with us
Spread warpaint
Across our faces
To hold us in our nightmares
But not to wake us
Cause they know we need it
To know
They’ll be there at
First light
Ready sword
Slaying the demons
Of our past
&
Those currently tormenting
Our present
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