Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
 
403 · Jan 2019
Long Roads
Eric W Jan 2019
The city is sad tonight,
these desolate roads
and dimmed headlights
take me outside of myself,
transport me to times unknown of you,
roaming down sidewalks at 2 a.m.
before I knew the rhythm of your step.

The streetlights glow orange,
coloring the sky and masking the stars,
moisture hangs heavy in the air
and it's as if I've come to know
my own personal rainstorm,
bathed in sun-fire light
and trapped in longing to see
where this long road has led.

This city is lonely without you,
a place of barren experience,
meaningless hustle and bustle,
full of gray words and gray suits
late to work in an unfulfilled place,
and so I take the short way home,
determined not to bask in this city's sadness,
aching to be in the same place
as you should one day be.
402 · May 2018
Eggs
Eric W May 2018
I peeled some eggs today.
No metaphors or tricky language today, no.
I boiled them, drained them,
and let them cool.
I cracked the first one on the ***
and then held it over the trashcan.
As soon as I dug my thumb into it,
I knew they were perfect.
I had put enough salt in the water
to make them easy to peel,
just how Momma taught me.
I used the edge of the shell
against my thumb and applied force
perpendicular while using my other
thumb to hold the shell and egg opposite my target
in place.
I dug my thumb into that thin film
just far enough not to grab the egg,
but far enough to get the shell.
I had it off in a couple of motions,
only one minor flaw that was my
own carelessness.
I lost myself for a while.
Rosco came sniffing around,
my dog looking for a snack as always.
My phone lit up beside me -
it was her.
We're taking it as slow as southern molasses.
It's nice.
I cracked one egg and pulled the shell off
perfectly in half.
I was awestruck.
I mangled one badly
so I decided to eat it.
Yum! Still warm.
I made too many anyway.
Yeah, that's all.
I peeled some eggs today.
Yesterday was nice.
401 · Jan 2014
Lies
Eric W Jan 2014
I sit and stare at the blank page before me,
realizing that as soon as I make a single stroke,
I have lied.
401 · Dec 2016
Curves
Eric W Dec 2016
I'm a loner, I know.
I love, and then I go
down the fabled dusty road,
with a broken pair of shoes,
knowing the dead ends, but
seeking the journey.
Many a mistress, but
only one love
and that's the motion of
trees passing and yellow lines.
Destined to sing alone in
a language only understood by
those in a distant future,
and, even then,
only partially
much in the way I understand
my own idols.
That's the life of a man
seen as a leader by those
whose purpose is to follow,
but those that do not know
the man is a slave to
himself and the music
he hears just around
the next bend.
398 · Aug 2012
Untitled
Eric W Aug 2012
This is supposed to express my love
Yet something so simple as paper and words
Cannot describe something so vast
So even though I'm doomed to fail
Write this I must, and write this I shall
Though it is infinitely pointless,
and hopelessly prudent
I must scribble away and hope I can show
Just how much
my love for you,
grows.
398 · Jun 2017
Working Hands [10w]
Eric W Jun 2017
How quickly the calluses return,
reminders of the work past.
Calluses formed are always just under the skin - waiting to return.
395 · Nov 2012
Darkness
Eric W Nov 2012
What if you are too good...
What if...I am too bad.
Maybe you're the yin to my yang,
and I'm the yang to your yin.
But what if it's just...
a clash?

Your beauty, your goodness,
overwhelms me, and my,
dark, dark heart.
I am inherently bad,
so then, how am I good...
for you?

You bring light to my life,
but all I have to offer is...
darkness...
Yet, you love me.
This I know,
because you never wrong me.

And, I almost wish you would,
so that these dark thoughts
would have warrant.
And still...you never would.
You love me,
in all of my darkness.

And because of that,
because you...
you are the most wonderful person,
with all your light and love,
because you are the only person to really love me,
I will never deserve you.

But I will try,
to overcome all my fears,
insecurities, losses,
and darkness,
simply because
I love you.

**I will try.
394 · Dec 2015
Games
Eric W Dec 2015
These childish games
we play to reveal, subtly,
without direct approach to avoid
reproach,
ourselves
slowly. Now continue.
Participation desired,
possibly even
required
while a single, but different,
question flitters through
our mind.
Words fill the air like smoke,
choking,
to filter out reality and
dark intentions, the reasons for this
pairing. Unclear,
we touch palms
to mirrors
and see each other in a thousand
ways,
searching for the path from in
to out,
to see the limits, the reds,
of what can and should
happen.
Where the smoke
sways a gentle tiding
and the power plays
within all actions
become scrutable,
there we are found
and hide.
There we are captured
and doomed to reside.
Possibly some interesting material coming. We'll see...
392 · Oct 2015
Watching
Eric W Oct 2015
Watch her.
See her step, see her twirl.
With dozens of planets
which orbit her hips
as her skirt spreads in the wind.
She laughs and the morning dew
rises from the tall grass
in salute
of her soothing voice.
The mockingbirds follow,
imitating all the known
to make themselves known
to her,
as she hops, flips, and swallows
into the woods
without a care.
She races unto the path,
a path only for her,
lit with light from the sun,
only for her.
See that she touches the hard bark
of the trees with soft tips
of fingers, and the trees stand
to only provide her shade.

Now watch.

Her as the planets burn to
ash and fall among the
grass.
And the dew explodes in
ecstasy while the
birds of all choke on their
praise.
And the sun of all forgives
its light and collapses
inward.
And the tall pines creak and scream
** timber and fall
about.

Watch her.
Eric W Jan 2019
The gravity of grief is
raw and mighty
and we're often caught
standing like mountains;
broken heels pressed
into pebbles,
waiting to be forged
into something solid.
Trapped in
this long exposure -
a muted stillness
from the world,
it tells us we're
accountable for our absence
like it doesn't know
it was the one that held us
paralyzed;
a hostage to the void
and without light

Yet still we rise,
we fight to capture
maybe a glimpse of light
beaming from the sky,
giving life to our
eternal suffering,
giving warmth and
drying our futile tears.
We stand taller,
than these peaks,
having been taken down
into treacherous valleys,
bleeding into the soil
our ravished skin
will eventually heal,
and on our knees
we lift our eyes
in search of the
most divine truth.
Check her stuff out!
https://hellopoetry.com/arizona/
391 · Sep 2015
A Friend
Eric W Sep 2015
I don't mean to be a bother,
or an inconvenience.
To mark upon your blankness in ink,
so settle down my thoughts
with every black line and
intention.
If I should go, say so,
please.
I do not wish to stay
unwanted.
I do not wish to intrude.

I only need a friend.
Someone to hear these trappings,
these innermost workings
which play on every insecurity,
everything I've ever done.

All I do is wrong.
All I do is hurt and
hurt others.
If you stay long enough,
I will hurt you too,
I will scribble away your life
as I do mine.

I don't want anyone to
hurt,
I just wish to
love.
And be loved
in every dark corner of myself.
But how?

As I grow older,
I grow more hated by
myself.
And if hate is all I know,
how could I ever love?
How could I ever experience another's
love?
Their compassion?
Their kindness?

So it is lost.

And I must ask,
though I mark you, tear you,
hate you,
can you love me?

Could you?
I'm so tired of drowning in this self-pity and depression. I want to write something great...but the only time I want to write is when I just have to get out this...darkness. And it's always ****. I never edit. I never work on it. Whatever I write is what I post. But I suppose it's really just for me anyway. It would just be nice for this depression to mean something at the end of the day. Like, if I could produce something at least half decent because of it, it might just be worth it.

Whatever....rant over.

I'm tired of being so alone.
386 · Feb 2017
Dear Father
Eric W Feb 2017
Dear Father,

     You don't deserve that title. But this is not meant to be degrading, so I won't explore that train of thought further. I don't know if you've realized your wrongs, your errors and follies, and reckless abandonment. I don't know if you're sorry. I don't know you.

     You're sitting in prison now. Maybe that's the right place, maybe it's not. But I know when I met you, this most recent time where I was old enough to process information, I know that looking into your eyes was like looking into a mirror. I saw the monster you passed on to me, passed into me, passed over me. I saw the same darkness, the darkness I've tried to reconcile my entire life.

     Maybe that's the difference between us. I am not ruled by my darkness as you are. If I had been under your influence, what would I have become then? Who would I be now? Was that what you intended - to stay away from me so that we would not spend years nurturing the darkness in one another? Is that giving you too much credit? Maybe you are aware of what lives inside of you as I am.

     I needed you. For years. I never saw a stable male role-model until I was a teenager, and by then I was years behind. I took so long to learn to "be a man," and, even now, I am still crippled with doubts and insecurities about such things. I needed someone to show me how to stand up, stand sure, stand my ground, stand up for myself. Someone to teach me to fight, stick to my guns, never back down, and to never give up. My precious Mother showed me many of these things as best she could, but we are more different than alike. As we have always been. She still did wonderfully, and I love her for it. She gave me everything I have today.

     I learned these things slowly, eventually. I've been down a long road. I figured things out, I learned a lot of lessons the hard way. I was knocked down, around, battered, bruised, confused, hurt, and lonely. I've been so lonely and scared. Like there is a child in me constantly trying to find his parents at a crowded supermarket. Panicked. But despite all of this, despite every single unnecessary hardship caused by your absence, I am alive, whole, and well. If for no other reason than to show you what I can be.

     I never needed you. And perhaps your abandonment was the only good thing you ever did for me.

                                        -Eric
385 · Jan 2019
Rest
Eric W Jan 2019
I could watch your breath all night long
knowing within it carries all of our future,
all of the ways you’ll speak your love
into my open and willing heart,
knowing it carries the air that
gives life to the soul that I will cherish
for the rest of my days.
383 · Sep 2018
Muted
Eric W Sep 2018
Burning pages sit heavy
on a bedside table
into the night -
their light the only,
and purposefully so.
You walk past without candor,
eyes aimed into the world
yet seen.
The light fades from the burning pages,
and you start.
What is that?
A shuffle in the room,
a twinkle in the stars.
A door slams in the distance,
echoing in the walls
surrounding.
You thumb the ashes,
how they still feel warm and silky,
and then brush your cheek.
Where have my words gone today?
382 · Jan 2016
Building Homes
Eric W Jan 2016
READ BOLD WORDS FROM THE BOTTOM TO THE TOP


                                       *Top.
                                     the very
                                rain.             To
                     the
air bags you hounding      
                     us know. you got it from
                   to bad. soul-mates. straw protect
                 the paper. count daddy. cat roof
                 We tree. creative writing. painting build
              of do everything day. tattoos. harry hope.
        in potter, himym. the dam. racing. falling shingles
      our in water into the trash can. all the laughs.home
We the hopes. the dreams. the love. many more to come *
cover
to form the ceiling in which we gaze upon in starry wonder
         and                                                              ­             up
         building                                                         ­          up
         ahead   and what lies           behind.     To       keep
         so          we       may               see        what         lies
         harm.   These glass               windows we       keep
         all          that         is                our        own   against
         build     so that  we                protect ours         and
         walls                                                            ­           we
         open             doors  to  the  future.                These
         can                live                  happily                 ­  and
         way               to                    in                         which   Cieara,       Eric
         so                  we         open the                          only      /|\              /|\
         for                 our                  future                      and       |   Dance  |
         on                  which             we                    prepare       /\     /|\       /\
         on which to lay our lives and hopes and  dreams     /   \   / \     /    \
         Build a foundation of  brick, mortar,  and    stone
380 · May 2017
Decisions
Eric W May 2017
I have bedded these thoughts,
considered them in your absence
and in mine,
and still am.
I am busy untangling them,
forgive me for my distance.
I've done what was expected of me,
but it does not make a difference,
so how can I know it was
right
when all I have are the times before
to compare it to?

I've learned a few things,
not in your favor
or mine,
so I ruminate,
contemplate, meditate,
toss and turn these thoughts like
coins.
Heads or tails?

I'll write these words,
twist them just carefully enough
to claim plausible deniability,
or whatever that means,
and then write a more honest
account when my tongue
is not poisoned by alcohol.

By this account, and days, perhaps,
of turning it over,
I will decide what I must do.
You must know that I take
careful consideration of these decisions
which affect how I spend my
time.

You must know that I love you,
perhaps in ways that are
not in the ways that you love me,
but I know that you do.
I know.
But perhaps that is the
fundamental difference.

I've tried my best to reconcile,
but when evidence proves that I cannot,
I must deliberate,
I must decide.
Maybe just drunken thoughts, maybe not. The plan was to write an objective (as objective as I can get) account tonight, but then alcohol happened so there's this.

I just hope I can keep away from depression (and mania) this time.
379 · Nov 2019
Focal
Eric W Nov 2019
Some days I am not who I could be -
I ignore things that shouldn’t be ignored,
don’t fix things that should be fixed,
sacrifice my health in favor of comfort.
Some days I am weaker than others -
my own worst critic, my potential is limitless,
but my time is limited.
I get so passionate
about twenty different things and
pull in twenty different directions
and then do none of it.
I’m scattered in what I want to be,
and I want to be everything.
Jack of all trades, master of none of them,
time to refocus this energy
and become one again.
378 · Jun 2017
Solitude
Eric W Jun 2017
For the days, weekends,
I can be wholly unbothered
and alone
with no expectation of any interaction.
I can let my thoughts settle,
hear my thoughts
stream
from one to another
in a constant consciousness.
I can shore up the things
in my life
which have been neglected,
do the things
that need to be done
without interruption,
free to do as I please,
content with the
company of myself
as I have been
since a toddler
drawing dirt tracks under a shed
alone
with Hot Wheels.
Perhaps I will go into work
with my book
and box of pizza
to play catch up,
perhaps I will write,
or perform maintenance on my car
or perhaps
I will simply
exist.
Spending a much needed weekend alone. Time to recharge the batteries.
377 · May 2017
Forget It [10w]
Eric W May 2017
I just want to fall off the Earth,
forget everything.
Seems like it's time to go offline on a few things until I get my head straight.
377 · Feb 2013
Nor Shall I Ever
Eric W Feb 2013
To who,
am I,
more,
than just a passing face?
To me,
who,
is more,
than just a passing face?

All,
these people,
living,
their own,
separate little heartbreaking lives.
Me,
this person,
living,
my own,
separate little heartbreaking life.

They,
do not,
know,
me.
Nor shall they ever.
I,
do not,
know,
them.
Nor shall I ever.
376 · Jun 2018
Breaks
Eric W Jun 2018
Taking a small break
Maybe you haven’t noticed
I’ve been kinda scarce
Been online but not interacting. Just taking a bit of a break to get some things in order. Still writing and obviously still sharing some stuff.  I’ll be back soon I’m sure, and maybe with a new type of project coming at you. Been spending some hours learning some stuff that I might share here. Stay lovely!
376 · Oct 2018
If You Should Fade
Eric W Oct 2018
If you should fade away,
please do so, sometime soon,
perhaps tomorrow
or the next day.
Find yourself lined in time's
passages where the future rests,
woven into the moments that
are to come.
I could not ask for more,
no more than today's present moments,
no more than your smile
for a fleeting minute.
If you should go,
please, do not tarry too long,
run into the next day,
leave me to the moments past,
stuck in present times
where you have settled
and stayed,
I'll not ask for more, no,
no more than
today.
And I will pray, pray that tomorrow is always a day away.
372 · May 2018
Cycles
Eric W May 2018
Sometimes the darkness is all I know.
A man sits in a chair in a black room,
television casting shadows and
violent fantasies onto the walls.
He stands
and moves slowly
as if he were submerged in the muddy water
of all the wrongs accrued.
He makes his way into the kitchen,
eventually,
and the pain shoots through his neck
— fool —
he stalls
and leans against the doorway.
The dishes remain undone
while parts of the broken dishwasher
are strewn across the counter.
Dirt from the unswept floor
sticks to his bare feet
as he shuffles to the fridge
again.
up and down, round and round
369 · Oct 2018
Nightfall
Eric W Oct 2018
The thoughts we have in passing
manifest in our reality,
I say "There's not enough time,"
fading on the edge of sleep,
fighting against the time I cannot
be with you, feel you close to me.
You reply "There will be,"
comforting my wanting heart
or maybe yours,
and I finally slip away.

These days pass easily with you,
life is no match for how well
you ground me,
and suddenly what I've been striving for,
what I want for my future
has begun to make sense -
I've been driving toward it for so long,
wanting, burning up in my desires,
without knowing for what, who
and why.

Something about this feels different
than all else that has come before,
this is not an insecure love, no,
neither of us wonder,
we know how our nights of today
and tomorrows will end,
always with you and me
and then you
and
I.
368 · Sep 2012
Stars
Eric W Sep 2012
If I could pluck the stars
right out of the sky,
I'd wrap them in silver bow
and emeralds divine.
We could walk among the clouds,
never say goodbye.
Baby, I'd give you all the stars,
Just to make you mine.
368 · Oct 2016
Ranting and Raving
Eric W Oct 2016
I suppose this will be more of a rant than anything.
In order to capture the casual tone
in the form of poetry.
Or something like that?
I'm sick. ******* am I sick.
Sick of passive aggressive ******* nonsense and the
denial that comes with it.
When every sentence is meant as a slight attack,
every word laced with venom,
and you think I don't see it? Of course.
Because how could I see something you don't even see
in yourself. Impossible. Improbable, right?
That's what being above reproach is all about, isn't it?
To believe in your horse **** so whole-heartedly
that you find the justifications where ever you can,
no matter how many words and situations you have
to turn around, no matter how much you have to
deflect the subject to other trivial things until
we are doing nothing but talking in circles,
no matter how much you have to detract from the
truth to save yourself.
**** that.
I don't deal with that. I've done that **** to
people before too. I still do sometimes.
But holy ****, at least I can see it.
I can forgive it easily too...and do.
Of course I get mad about it, but there's hardly a
point in engaging that behavior. Why let that turmoil
swallow my emotions? **** no. Accept it, handle the
emotions that come with it, MOVE THE **** ON.
You can try to tear me down all you want,
but of course you know what they say about that.
It has had far too much of my attention as it is.
Even this is probably too much. But this is my outlet.
This is how I deal with things. Writing this, I'm
not even the least bit upset. I'm just letting thoughts
pour, and that's fine. The emotion behind them has
been processed without any damage to anyone.
You cannot possibly think it is healthy to use people as
emotional punching bags.
But anyway.
This is a side of me that doesn't come out. When you
know people, even casual friends, you learn their flaws,
they learn yours. It's not dishonest not to inform them.
At least, in my opinion. I believe everyone should
introspect closely enough to be in tune with their own imperfections.
As Jackson Browne put it, "Don't remind me of my
failures. I had not forgotten them."
And so it goes.
I plaster my own venom upon paper. Know that
if you read it, you have made the choice to poison yourself.

None of this takes away from my love for you, nor the
friendship we had.

It is what it is.
364 · Dec 2013
Untitled
Eric W Dec 2013
So delicate, so sweet.
Tis quite a wonder
why this cannot be.
I feel you.
You feel me.

I keep thinking...one day.
One day you'll be mine.
No...I must not lie.
One day I'll be yours.
But for now, this I know:

My heart, my soul,
must wander,
and wander on.
Unrestrained, Unchained.
Until I am sure...

Sure of what?
I cannot know, but
I know that now
would only cause pain
and end in grievance.

I guess...we both,
must just enjoy what we have,
while we have it.
No matter,
how much we love one another.
Written long ago.
363 · Jul 2018
Forgotten
Eric W Jul 2018
I have lost pieces
once easy
searched for pieces
then trying
now effortless.
I've come to accept that
growing comes with
repetition,
but I didn't know
it meant forgetting
to then
rediscover.
There is nothing to fear,
not anymore;
there is God by my side
and if I fall then
it is by Him.
He knows my heart in all its darkness,
shamed as I am.
I have grown too tough
and too gentle,
too rough and too sentimental,
too harsh and too weak,
all at the same time.
There is a time for each.
It's time to lay down the extras,
and pick up the forgotten.
362 · Aug 2017
Far Behind
Eric W Aug 2017
I feel so far behind.
It eats at me,
fills me with envy,
fills my throat with bile.

My friends, family,
are just given things.
I mean, that's what family does, right?
They create a support system,
and help each other.

I barely had hand-me-downs.
Even now, if I want something,
I have to buy it.
There's no one I can mention it to
that might get it for me
as a gift.
I've earned nearly everything I have.

I know it sounds silly.
I'm not even materialistic,
but I feel so far behind.
I see people doing things at my age,
**** I want to do,
but can't
because I'm still trying to earn my way
to where they were
in high school.

I am the support in the family.
I always have been.
I know it's selfish,
but where's mine?

I feel so far behind
with no one around
to lend a hand.
Just ranting.

Sorry I haven't responded to all of you -- I'll get around to it, I promise! I'll go through and read you too. Life's gotten hectic. About to start school (again) and got some other things in the works.

I hope you're all doing well!
361 · May 2017
Dancing
Eric W May 2017
Dangling, hung by a thread
unraveling
slightly faster than it is
repaired,
but only slightly.
Like letters that are just
barely
out of focus,
so close to being illegible,
so close to becoming just
lines on a page in a
packed-away notebook
that was once an alter
for self-possessed ramblings.
A hand, a thought, a smile,
just out of reach,
clinging to a phantom of a
former reality,
grasping at the dust
kicked up by
feet dancing deftly away
as they have always done.
359 · Mar 2017
Shame [10w]
Eric W Mar 2017
Never be ashamed to love.
It's all we ever have.
I want to talk to my Mom, tell her I love her, but it's almost midnight, and another call would surely wake her up.
356 · Apr 2013
Pieces
Eric W Apr 2013
And you drift
away. Again, but
can I take it?
This time. Will I
be alright? Without
you. All hope seems
lost. So where?
Do I drift? Along,
somewhere else? How.
Do I leave? You,
I cannot. But,
can I stay? I feel
no love. Anymore.
Than you, for I.
So, where shall I
go? To somewhere, or
nowhere. At all. But
it will destroy me.
Us. Must endure
together. We stand.
No, I fall. Into
the nothingness. Consumes
me. What do I do?
Give up.
356 · Apr 2015
Never to Me
Eric W Apr 2015
Just out of reach,
the suckling mockingbird upon the Willow teases.
She sings a song of poetry,
rife with meaning, but
only to her.
She tells of great things, splendorous pursuits,
and attracts all who should dare
to pass by and lend an ear.
And I stare,
with visions of grandeur
and hope for something as true to time
as the passing of such,
with the chains of tomorrow within mine eyes.
And I listen,
to every song, every note,
with the marvel of time
ringing through my ears
as it moves through towards an ultimate demise.
Transfixed.
I am,
as I stand to enjoy the precious moment,
as still and sure as her flighty, beating heart,
knowing
any move shall cast her south toward warmer climates
and stiller waters.
And as I listen to her sing and stop
and sing some more
of her stories, her drifts through the sky and
drafts oft turned to journeys,
I come to see her heart.
I come to see her life.
And I endeavor to show her mine.
So with great effort,
I tear free the padlocks which time has so
firmly entombed upon my mind and chest.
I wrench them free,
screaming,
as the fire spreads through my veins,
as the poison finally leaks outward of my mind.
I fall,
as my legs give way to the weight of the yesters,
and my eyes search for the person I was
in the dirt of childhood's battleground.
Meanwhile,
startled, scared, delicate,
my mockingbird lifts away and moves on to other lands,
never to return to me.
355 · Feb 2015
Within Me, You
Eric W Feb 2015
I seek to express that which cannot,
perhaps ought not,
be expressed.
I seek to find the culvert
which allows, without folly, the
articulation and the metrification of
my woes and my bows,
to you.
Ah, the woe!
That you shall flitter and flutter and fly
away
to the place that is neither here nor there,
but certainly not
here.
A place in between the pages of which
dutifully record my
fear.
A place so far within the chasms of my,
but not only my, mind
where it is (was) dark and chilling,
a place to sometimes find the
bout of the unwilling.
A place to remain
insane
in constant pain,
as I.
A place.
A place which so elegantly
falls
away
at the mere mention of...
wait.
Please!
I implore you of your presence,
please.
But I shan't beg, no,
for you will certainly begone if I mistake
thee for a comman.
So I seek to express that which cannot
be expressed.
I seek not to cage, but to
so deeply swoon you and shower upon
the rightness of our pairing that anything else is
unthinkable.
But!
First I must prove such to myself,
beyond a shadow of a doubt,
that what I seek to prove
is something of a move
to the ultimate righteousness of the vast
universe.
But I must also consider the
curse.
The curse which must foul all things
with trepidatious verse!
The curse which must beguile and
tear asunder all that is beautiful
and all that I hold dear!
The curse which always brings the
forever loathing, cooing fear!
No!
I will consider you, curse,
but no longer is your power meaningful.
No longer shall I stay trapped
in the throes of my
ever-darkening think-sphere.
No longer shall I remain transfixed upon
the betwixt,
no longer shall I lie and say
no longer.
For I know no is not an option.
I know I am cursed,
and no amount of solitary determination will
ease my mind,
but you.
You are cursed also.
I see the struggle in thine eyes
which seer in the brightest fire this
world has ever known.
I see that which you keep locked away,
from the world,
but not from me.
The ambivalent mistrust of all things which
seek to know anything, even the smallest detail
of your singular life.
I see it.
I see you.
Within you,
I see me.
Within me,
I see you.
353 · Sep 2013
Dark Place
Eric W Sep 2013
I am so sick
of this dark place.
So sick
of being sick
of myself.
I just want leave,
absence, temporary
vacancy of this
darkness. I want
to be free.
Let me be free.
Let me be free.
Let me be free
please, I cry.
And I cry.
I scream into the
dark. And the
dark screams back.
It screams,
you. You are nothing.
I know,
I know it is right,
but I hope to rid myself
of this darkness
anyway. I need
freedom. I need
peace. I need
help. Help me!
Take these chains,
break them,
slash them,
for I cannot.
Take this darkness,
lift it,
banish it and send it
away, for I cannot!
Help me, please!
And in the darkness,
only an echo.
Please. Someone.
Anyone.
Take me. Take
me from this
place. I am so
sick of this
dark place.
351 · Jul 2012
Marie
Eric W Jul 2012
My own special heaven
Away from all that is bad
Reaching for forever
In the most wonderful way
Even if,
          it's far away.
349 · Jan 2019
Possibilities [9w]
Eric W Jan 2019
I love you
in many ways,
not just
one.
346 · Sep 2012
Where I Want To Be
Eric W Sep 2012
Never again will life be as simple
     as it were today.
Not a care, not a worry, as we
     lie there.
Surrounded by all the love in the
     world.
And a small child's laughter floating
     through the air.
In that moment, I know, this is
     where I want to be.
And all the worldly possessions could not
     keep me away.
343 · Apr 2015
Reaching (For Her)
Eric W Apr 2015
To reach out at dusk,
across the near-night sky
where all is turned to dust,
past the galaxies,
and completely around a
cylindrical infinity,
to discover:
that she is nowhere to be found,
not a single sweet breadth of her existence,
none,
not even a sound.

So the rain falls with soft
tss tss and patter pitters,
and is oft what withers
away my desire to quell the hunt.
For the rain reminds me,
of the cycle, the infinity,
the growth of the 'morrows and
divinity.
No matter the cloud-cover,
the star-blocking puffs,
I see the suns, moons, planets,
the habitable and the rough,
to know,

That to reach across space and time,
with a few short words,
and a few short rhymes,
is not the way to a soul
as pure as hers,
but in the way the
lone bird cries out in the night
as the rain falls upon its nest,
it is all I know to do.
To fly out among the drops
as would a butterfly
and to be returned to the Earth
as the water explodes on my
so delicate wings,
and the darkness traps
my mind.

And in the dirt
of such loving Earth,
I search.
To reach across every entwined root,
and to extend to every network of the fungi,
which so dutifully disposes of me,
and to strain and grasp
toward the center that burns
as hot as the scars within
my lifeless body,
to discover the gems of millinea
and the gold of centuries,
but not the treasure
which I so desperately seek,
even in my destruction,
not her.

And to reach across these words and thoughts,
as they bloom like the Spring trees,
and as the grow like turkey's tail,
as vibrant and recognizable,
to dissect them with razors
and hang them with rope across
the headboard of our lives.
We search for the meaning of our demons,
and our demons search for each other
in our words, in our motions,
to tear each other apart
for their emotions.
Until we scream red
to make it stop,
to erase the dead,
to bury the pain of our
childhood battles.

And I search within myself,
as the cold seeps in, and the wet
turns to an ice only for me,
and the lonesome star peers through the clouds,
as if to keep company with its
solitary light.
I sift through the darkness and
mushroom driven decay that smothers
the soil of my being, my center,
my soul, and my heart,
for her.
I cast aside the dejected and deplorable
self
to reach into the nucleus where all is
pure,
to find her,
to find you,
the only place where you belong --
within.
343 · May 2018
Silk
Eric W May 2018
The waves crash and
the ship rides on
into the dock
between the velveteen piers
as the wind sighs and moans
and the old wood creaks.
The sun beads the moisture
in the air
of the swaying harbor
as the rough sand
tries desperately to grab
the hips of the shore
and the boats all move
to and fro
in endless motion
against the bay side.
Cravings of the flesh.
343 · Aug 2018
Betrayal [10w]
Eric W Aug 2018
I am transparent.
My words,
made of glass,
betray me.
Written 6-9-18. Thought this was incomplete, but maybe not.

As always, I am betrayed by words.
342 · Dec 2015
Circumstances
Eric W Dec 2015
Many words to be said
on a thousand subjects,
but should I?
A look cast in
captivation, in awe,
caught by her fair
self,
dissected by a curious
and creative
mind.
Deflected.
Knowing that things said
without due cause
cannot be said non-caustically
and ceremoniously enough
for mine
and her
celebration.
Given careful time, these
sentiments cease in any
colorful misgivings
and come to
careful poetry.
So the watercolor carnations
creeping, chasing,
charging in our chaotic lives,
bind her child inside
as much as I
possibly could ever.
Courageously, she claws,
and my callous lips
close to form her name,
her call,
my continuous circumstance,
Cieara.
342 · Feb 2015
New Beginnings
Eric W Feb 2015
And so it begins again:
I pick the pen up as
my being must overflow into something.
I reach into the darkness in search of light,
come away with nothing,
but never give up the fight.
I dig into the soil,
I toil and I toil,
but what comes to be,
simply must be.
The seed planted, inspiration grown,
nothing sought, nothing known,
alas.
A sprout.
And it grows.
And it grows further.
A beautiful blue and purple tree,
a Willow.
I smile, and then, no...
A man-sized black pit,
in the the center.
So I crawl in and I sit
upon a throne of darkness, surrounded by despair,
wreaked upon by hatred and loneliness,
shown not the fair.
But then all is blood-scorching red,
everything in fire and ice,
and let it be said:
I never give up the fight,
for I know,
two darks make a light.
341 · Apr 2017
Roots
Eric W Apr 2017
I inflicted a wound,
you showed me where the words cut.
How could I not see that in the
beginning?
How have I been so blind to
that side of
myself?

I get wound up,
like what happens when you
twist a slinky and that one ring
pops out,
never to go back in properly again.
A ball of anxiety sits in my stomach
daily,
but when I love
I get scared.
I get eaten up with fears of
being abandoned,
it tears at me to the point
that I can't even think straight.

So it comes out
eventually,
I lash out to those I love.
It must be their fault,
right?
But I know others can't be blamed
for my feelings.
I know that.

I've learned many lessons the hard way,
that was one of them.
It must be an unconscious thing
since I didn't recognize it.
As all, I'm still learning parts of myself,
I'm still growing.

I've also learned not to make excuses
when confronted with my wrongs.
This is simply my best explanation.
There is no justification I can make
in causing pain,
not for anyone.
I can't convince anyone that I can change,
we all hold beliefs on that.
But I am not the same person
I was
a year ago.
That's a fact.

I should not have been blind to this
for so long.
I can already see more pages in my
past where I have unknowingly
smudged the ink.
Places where I was blind before.

It's time to get to the root cause
of this.
It's time to apply the careful
introspection to a once dark place
of unknown anger.
It's time to dig into this childhood
pain,
this childhood cancer that eats me
alive,
this place where any sense of being
left
causes self-shattering tremors,
and rip this part from me
whole.

I need this to work.
It is no one's fault but my
own
that I have not accomplished
this yet.
It's time to bleed
so that I may finally
grow.
341 · Jun 2019
Wheel of Ka
Eric W Jun 2019
It is as you say -
that we could have never known,
never predicted the decision(s) that led
us to each other.

We have been years in the making.

There is no stopping fate's inevitable wheel.
All things come around and
we always always always
end where we belong.

Hold tight.

Life will spin and we will fall,
but you will always always always
be my home

Somewhere deep within
I've always known
it was
you.
I have loved you before I've known you,
craved you before I've felt you,
and longed for you in the deepest hours of the night,
and, finally,
you have been revealed to me.
337 · May 2015
Belong
Eric W May 2015
Shattered.
Like a glass so carelessly forgotten about
in the wake of something better.
Skin cracked, veins taut
with the anger of past failures,
cut, bleeding,
from the words of your mind.
Broken.
Given to carry the weight of others,
driven to forget about the weight of mine,
and hurt,
hoping to extract the last strengths
of me.
Hopeless.
As a man needing to calm his thirst
as the sun-baked sand reaches ever
onward,
and his reliances grow tired
and time ticks forward
relentlessly.

Shattered. Broken. Hopeless.

All that belongs to me.
335 · Aug 2018
Striving
Eric W Aug 2018
Returning to 16 hour days,
breaks few and far between,
no time to think or to ponder
but just to do,
a slave to my own will,
a puppet to my own dreams,
I am but a vessel for creation
335 · Oct 2018
Arrival
Eric W Oct 2018
Now that you are finally here,
it begins to make sense
why my favorite season,
Fall,
would belong to you.
Who else could it have ever been?
335 · Apr 2018
Accompany Me [10w]
Eric W Apr 2018
Like a home without a family,
plans mean nothing
unaccompanied.
334 · Nov 2018
Desire
Eric W Nov 2018
Fallen leaves and Fall's color
brush against the longing in me,
tugging at dripping petals within,
seeing this season's change
with the absence of your presence,
without the branches of thoughts
I could plant and bear witness
come Spring.

Seasons bereft of you,
destitute in me,
and the unassuming way the barren limbs
pray to the skies above,
ask for when the grounds should again
be wet with life
and too when you should
step forth and give vitality
to this trammeled soil.

New blooms rise again,
the natural counterpart to the
decayed and rotted compost
of seasons since,
and so the sun shines longer,
brighter, and gives new hours
to your bright eyes
and seems to remind me of
the things we grow
together and the things
with which we begin this
love.
Next page