Eriko

Eriko Jun 2022

Sink

i’m tired
let me sink
into the incandescent
murmur of
the ocean

into the
cool mists
of stoic
mountains

into the folds
of a warm,
yellow light

this little
pocket of stillness,
let me sink into it

before i have to
face the gravel
and sirens
and stickiness
once more

Eriko Jun 2022

Untitled

the dappled sunlight ricochets,
the adrenaline tunnels,
pools, spilling over
the brim

stop, a suffocating grip
far ahead

hurry before you lose sight
of your hands,
right in front of your eyes

turn around, stall
stay where it’s golden
and the breeze sings

far away

Eriko May 2022

tall grass

a lone bird
peeking through the
tall grass
it can’t see more
than a few feet
just the thick green
and beetles
a creeping a panic
a cagey feeling
can’t catch it’s breath
the bird tries to
flee to the skies
cawing desperately
and the sunlight
doesn’t exactly touch
the ground and
is this what
life
is

Eriko Apr 2022

sculptures and wishes

the heavy grey slate
a restless, whipping sky

the sea rustles,
rocking like an animal caught
in a metal cage

the air smells like salt
and a blown out candle

the water a prickly cold
a foamy blanket that
sends jolts of warmth

to numbed cheeks

a wish whispered alone
for no ears to hear

a handful of shattered sea shells
beautiful in their own right
they're fragmented homes

and abandoned pieces of art

the words are whisked away
by the ferocious wind

only to find a new refuge
in the creases of these

abandoned sculptures
of the sea

Eriko Apr 2022

on being mangled

maybe two people
can collide
their gazes mangled together
hair sloppy and
their feet
tripping over
themselves

another world created
plates heavy and blankets twisted
the moon shines in their eyes
and when they lose each other
in the still of the night

the morn cracks
and the yellow yolk breaks
they collide once more with a sigh,
never truly lost
and begin a metamorphosis anew

Eriko Apr 2022

Garage

the echoes skitter across
grey concrete walls,
massive in sound
yet fleeting, a rabbit skittering
and evasive from sight

a gross palace made of concrete
sticky chewing gum and
fluorescent lighting,
oily squeal of tires
and a dizzying array of
thoroughfares

it’s a trick, it’s an illusion
this monstrous structure
to rotate up and down
up and down
up down up down

Eriko Apr 2022

On the Road

the drawn out road
carves through the hillside
like a spoon

a landscape molded
by reduction,
impressions of

color and shape,
the shadows and cries
of sunlight

oh how the sky molds
into the nooks and crannies
how the road careens

and the hours take flight

as the sky sinks into slumber
the sun tucks itself in the crescent hills
and deep oranges speckle the black expanse

like stars set ablaze