Erica Knowles

Erica Knowles wrote, "Erica is a student at URI, and has been writing her whole life. She keeps a blog (barely) and too many journals. After ten years in Atlanta, Georgia, she has recently returned to her native home of Rhode Island. She also enjoys drawing and painting, as well as singing and playing her mini piano."

2/17/2012: The Origami Poems Project expresses great sadness over the passing of our friend, Erica Knowles, who died in a car accident just after midnight, Wednesday, February 15th in So Kingstown, RI. Erica, 23, was a Junior at URI. We knew her best as a poet. Erica would email us out of the blue with a collection of poems that just fell together as an Origami book. Always cryptic but enthusiastic with her emails, she let her poetry sing out and beyond the page. Oh, and yes, she would always send a photo that perfectly completed the cover.

We are grateful to have Erica's poetry available - Thank you, Erica.

* 2014 February Anniversary Tribute edition, Travel Light, is published below. Thank you again to Erica and to her loving family.

As of her birthday on 11-24-2019, there have been over 22,000 hits on her webpage.

►Erica's microchaps & selected poems are available below.

Origami Microchaps	Selected Poem(s)
Travel Light
Click on title to download PDF microchap. Cover Photo selected by Ashley Knowles Erica’s 1st Typewriter •	Travel light You will learn what it is you want along the way. You can't start a journey with a pack filled to the brim of things that you "might" need. Leave room for the things you will learn and come to love. Leave room for the things that you will discover and the things that will define you. Leave room and leave the rest, it will only confuse you and drown you in clutter, muddling your thoughts and your vision of yourself, blocking your best path. Your best self. Be in a state of constant motion, a state of doing and bettering. Never stop learning. Never stop pushing forward. If you can do this than I truly have no doubt that your answers will become obvious and reveal themselves. But first you have to let go of everything you don't need and don't know. • Erica Knowles © Facebook, May 18, 2011	March 11, 2011 God or Whoever Dear God or Whoever, I never ask for anything Except to not run out of gas. And forgive me, God or Whoever but, I don't think that even really counts. So if you could just listen To this one thing I'd really really like that. Thanks a lot, I hope you heard me down here. Or wherever I am in relation to you. Alright, I don't do this often (As I'm sure you know) So, take it easy. • October 8, 2011 Surfer's Path I'm folding up The Surfer's Path t-shirt That came in the mail, That you never wore, But I know if you were still here You would have. I lay it out on my bed, So when I get home After this long night It will remind me of how As a child, you would let me pick out One of your t-shirts to wear to bed. And with the hemline below my knees, You would tuck me in, And if you were still here I know you still would If only I had ever asked.
Selected Poems 2008-2011
Click on above title to download PDF microchap. Photo chosen by her sister, Ashley Knowles We knew Erica best as a fellow poet. She would email us out of the blue sending us a collection of poems that would magically fall together to form the perfect Origami book. It was difficult to choose just five poems for this collection. We hope you will love them. - OPP editors •	Wild Desire Careful, careful Is what one must be With fire. And so the same with Wild desire. • Tracing hearts If you stand at the door At just her height, Breathe on the glass. You will find there The outline of a heart She has traced Innumerable times. A promise: You are never alone. Erica Knowles © 2011	Angel Stern Spun in from the universe The world aglow, Not a thing to my name Save for a smile With no reason or rationality. I pass the time, Grabbing at ropes of light, Climbing to higher elevations. Encircled by pinpricks of color, We are chaos at its finest. Polaris winks from the center Of the night sky Daring me to think of a wish. Morning light creeps quietly And as the night begins to fade I reach up and slip the Guide star into my pocket So I am never lost.
Miles & I.
Click itle to download PDF microchap. •	Note from the Author I think grief tends to be something that makes the whole world a big empty lonely space. It knocks the wind out of you, leaves you wordless and unable to function normally. It makes you forget who you are without it. •	Miles & I. Miles dances with me In my cold and lonely apartment. Steering me into the sunshine, Guiding my steps and Whispering words between The flutter of sheet music. • I am the notes played On the keys of a very old piano, And as I occupy every inch Of this place I call home I realize that waltzing with ghosts Is not as lonesome as one might think.
Repetition of Sound
Click title to download PDF microchap. Cover design by Erica Knowles •	The Repetition of Sound Repeat a word enough times And it just becomes sounds, And sounds don’t mean a thing Unless You can hear what they truly are, In which case They might become words And speak to you, Like an arrow to the heart. • Words If I could marry The pen and the paper I would. Let words be my savior. I only wish they could Love me back, Instead of just saying they do. • Good Company It’s true, I prefer the company Of my own imagination, But anyone who doesn’t Is no kind of dreamer At all. Erica Knowles © 2011	The Wild I want to be something To make a pulse race. I may be human, But my heart is a wild animal, Racing fiercely; Raging against my rib cage, Untamed and unobtainable It beats recklessly Desperate to escape I cannot be held. • Off the Map I’d love to dance Off the map, Not caring if anyone I’ve ever known Even missed me at all. Balancing on the horizon The only friends I need Are me, The sky, And the sea.
Imaginary Places
Click title to download PDF microchap. •	On The Run I know if I remain immobile, This melancholy dust will settle Fine and light over my living skin, Making it forget the sun, And the rain, And all the things in the world. My muse is on the run. • Erica Knowles © 2011	Shadow puppets I caught a wish outside my window And put it in a mason jar On my nightstand. And some nights, When it’s only me I let it out, And make shadow puppets In the warmth of its soft glow.
*Dad-E*
Click title to download PDF microchap. Cover photo by Ben Nelson Poems written for my father. •	What I'll give you I really want To give you Something good Because you gave me My life And then the world. But all I have Are these few words And a love too big To ever be Described by them • Faith If there is Anything in this world I truly and wholly Believe It is your promises. • Lullaby Safety is Your voice; Tupelo Honey While the World turns fuzzy. Erica Knowles © 2011	What you gave me I remember Being chased by the moon On endless drives home And your smile. All these years later I realize You gave me that smile, And the moon Still chases me. • Undeniable A laugh, A smile, The right angle In the mirror. A corny joke, Or a profound appreciation Of seaglass Or the sun. And in a moment That may have lasted Less than a second It is undeniable .
All the World
Click title to download PDF microchap . Poems for learning to stand on your own two feet and inspired by the beautiful and sometimes devastating honesty of life. - EK •	Tracing Hearts If you stand at the door At just her height, Breathe on the glass. You will find there The outline of a heart She has traced Innumerable times. A promise: You are never alone. • Erica Knowles © 2011
Wrighter's Block
Click title to download PDF microchap. Cover photo by Erica Knowles •	Ghost Someone's hand upon my face, Fingers laced into my hair. A silent promise, A calming presence, You are not alone. I exhale And fog up the car window. A word written there I had forgotten. Inscribed a thousand years ago. But the lonesome mystery remains: Whose fingerprints are these? A ghost’s. These words on my windows are Promises that died long ago. And like the silver vapor of my breath My calm slips away Leaving me alone. • Erica Knowles © 2010
Tuesday's Aftermath
Click title to download PDF microchap. •	Advice I wish heartbreak was brief But it never is. A good heartbreak is like a good love. Important. So remember, Never dye your hair when you're upset. Resist the temptation to text. Never look back, you can't go back. Burn bridges. If they are necessary, you'll rebuild them. Wear a seat belt when driving Under the influence of heartbreak. And when you really let go Be sure the only one bear witness is a radio. And only let them see you bleed once. Just so they know you're human. Don't panic love, Everything is going to be wonderful. • Erica Knowles © 2010
Either Side of Midnight
Click title to download PDF microchap. •	Angel Stern Spun in from the universe The world aglow, Not a thing to my name Save for a smile With no reason or rationality. I pass the time, Grabbing at ropes of light, Climbing to higher elevations. Encircled by pinpricks of color, We are chaos at its finest. Polaris winks from the center Of the night sky Daring me to think of a wish. Morning light creeps quietly And as the night begins to fade I reach up and slip the Guide star into my pocket So I am never lost. • Erica Knowles © 2010	To Become Undone They always said blue was my color, But I prefer to drive late at night In the inky black of the witching hours. Where the lines blur together, And the clock on the dashboard Ticks like a time bomb. "Rid yourself of demons," the devil told me, And the second hand sped up. I thought about the evil hanging there, Like stars in my soup. When the angel in my backseat whispered "Don't think, just be thoughtful," So I let the night creep inside, And my thoughts fell miles behind On this empty highway. Leaving me, A wax girl melting under the gaze of God, Unwinding the wheels in my watch.
A Grand Thing
Click title to download PDF microchap. •	More I would like to be more than a spare key Or a half remembered dream. The faceless nameless woman, The do-er of his laundry Forever searching for love In the pockets of his jeans. I want to be more than the wrong flavor Of coffee or vitamin water. More than the wrong song By the right artist. More than underappreciated. More than background noise, The comforting sounds of morning. • Erica Knowles © 2010
Lucid Chaos
Click title to download PDF microchap. •	She She examined each thing, Strange and slightly transparent, With wide-eyed curiosity Amazed she'd carried such Treasures inside her All along. And she realized with Astonishment, She didn't know herself At all. • Erica Knowles © 2010

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