Pink
Grapefruit
Poetry & short love stories
Ry Reed
Other books by Ry Reed
A H.E.R.O.S PROJECT series
A H.E.R.O.S PROJECT 12
Poetry
Pink Grapefruit
I love my parents.
I want to begin with that.
They are not perfect, but I know they love me. I was
inspired to write this book because
I witnessed it all: what an unhealthy relationship
looks and breathes and walks like. Homely
monsters embodied in two souls. My parent’s
dysfunction was my fall, because, I could not
escape it. Late night arguments grew violent, doors
were slammed, cups were thrown, threats were
made, shouting competitions left me drowning on
either side. You start off wielding a beaten white
flag, sorting through anger and resentment, but
anger is a contagious thing. It spreads from victim
to victim and you find yourself hating the place you
call home, remembering it’s where you first learned
love. It wasn’t until, many years later, I tallied up all
my failed relationships, wondered why I am so
sensitive to loud noises, don’t rely on those who
unconditionally love me, how I thought I was the
reason for my parents’ misfortunes, and, not once,
but three times, I tried committing suicide… I
learned something… I am in control of my heart. I
am in control of my surroundings. I am allowed to
love those worthy of my special blend of
tenderness. After my last suicide attempt, I vowed
to never pity myself again and took up writing,
firstly, as a habit to ease my sore wounds but my
habit spun to love, and I wrote what I loved. To my
surprise, my fractured heart slowly puzzled
together, and barren white pages taught me how
construct a new one. A stronger, more durable
heart. My mission fogged clear amidst my recovery:
to share what knowledge lives hidden in my bones.
To you, my reader, thank you.
Love is not difficult, loving difficult people is.
-Ry Reed
CONTENTS
Other books by Ry Reed 3
CONTENTS 7
PART ONE 9
Love overdose 10
Sticks and Stones 11
Tired 12
My father’s recipe 13
A bitter end 14
Peace offering 15
Sunblock 16
Gatekeeper 17
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 18
Lonely lamb 19
Magic 20
Just in case 21
Choice 22
Prescription drugs 23
A hopeless situation 24
Tactics of war 25
Conned 26
Jitterbug 27
Sole survivor 28
Missing pieces 29
The story of my life 30
Pretty girls smile 31
Sour grapes 32
Today’s forecast 33
About the author 34
PART ONE
SUMMER
Love can be very addicting
You’ll do whatever it takes to get another fix
Compromise your character to fit a mold
Then once it’s all over,
You don’t recognize the person standing in the
mirror.
Love overdose
Actions really do speak louder than words.
Words have a way of cutting spirit and soul
Make you believe lies about yourself.
Sticks and Stones
When he decided to leave, I learned to stop chasing
him
My feet grew too sore
The race was too repetitive
Tired
Fathers,
Your love is the first she will witness
Above her cradle
Aside from breast and chest
She will be drawn to your protection
Emulate it in every man of her choosing
So, let your love be gentle and kind and sweet
She’ll replicate your recipe with accurate precision
And bake a love worth feeding her own.
My father’s recipe
Understand
She isn’t angry,
But bitter
Because
She’s been through more heartache and disappoint
Than any woman will ever deserve.
That’s why she stopped waiting up for you at night
A bitter end
Roses were his go to gift
After he made her cry a thousand storms over
She would water them soundly
And tire of floating on lonely oceans
That never warmed her up like
Apologetic embrace
It’s a shame
Peace offering
Staying in an unhealthy relationship is like standing
in sunlight
In the beginning
The sun warms your skin and cheeks
Will inspire you to play in high and low grassy
fields
Where crickets kiss feet
You feel as light as a sheet
The true threat goes unnoticed
No alarm is rung to uncover it
You won’t see it unless
Old wounds can detect deadly concerns
Sunburns are like that
They burn, unknowingly
Sunblock
He came bearing flowers
Daisy’s
Your favorite.
You convinced yourself
They were your favorite
His words are smoother than silk
Rehearsed to replicate tender caress upon neck to
breast
He begged
And begged
Flashed rings and golden things
Anything to entice you
His mission was intent
He wanted inside
You were the gatekeeper
He affectionally won over
Gatekeeper
When he says
What he wants you to believe
Ask him the same question
A week from that very day
To see if his answer is consistent.
Lying is a hard costume to upkeep
After a while
If the act grows tiresome
He’ll discard his mask
For his normal attire
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
It’s like leading a lamb to the slaughterhouse
Seek out the purest she-kind
When she has wandered from
Shepherds protective sight
Lure with delights
Her young heart imagines
Trail her far
Far
Far
Away from all she has ever known
So none can rescue her
When she cries out for help
Lonely lamb
Kisses have the magical affect
Of making you forget
The night before
Magic
Yelling and talking are two different forms of
communication
Yelling is the toxic form
Just in case you didn’t know
Just in case
I would rather live alone
Than feel lonely
In a relationship
Choice
Hugs can be given as a prescription drug.
But there is no cure for misery.
Prescription drugs
She told him she hated him
He told her he hated her
They stopped holding hands
They stopped spending romantic evenings in the
park together
They stopped confiding in each other
They stopped being civil in front of the kids
They stopped caring to say I love you after a long
day
But
They stayed together in the same bottomless pit
Refusing to ever climb out
A hopeless situation
Gifts are cover up offerings
Sent to the tattered and bruised
In hope of infiltrating
Familiar grounds
Bent on stealing peace
Tactics of war
Don’t bargain your love
For anything less than
Gold.
Plastic isn’t worth much.
Conned
What is love
But a tug and a pull on
Heart strings and cords
That sway hips
And buttocks to a rhythm know of their own
Sung on romantic mid-night strolls
In the confines of secrets and lengthy promises
Locked with a smooch
Sealed tightly by time and hard circumstances
Jitterbug
It truly is quiet right before a storm
When storms come
They destroy everything in their wake
Leave you deserted and wandering
In foreign terrains
Until a life vest is thrown
Sole survivor
Long breaks clear the mind
And bridge back
Scattered pieces
Lost along the way
Missing pieces
Love lessons can be taught
To those with patient hearts
And understanding attitude
But not everyone is patient enough to learn
A woman’s pains
Because she is a complicated book
With many chapters and uppercased words
Skipping pages
Folding corners
Miss placing her long awaited memoir
Tells her you don’t care
To read the lines etched
Between her story and bones
The story of my life
She only smiled when it was necessary
To please those she loved and adored
Crying
Tossing relentlessly at night
Was done in private
Pretty girls smile
There is nothing colder than a woman’s scorn
It creeps into every bit of food
Until even the sweetest fruits
Are sour
Sour grapes
Her world was neither pink or blue.
She slept under grey clouds.
Today’s forecast
About the author
Ry Reed is a student and writer living in sunny
southern California with her large family. She’s a
talented young writer inspired to write stories about
the world around her, experienced and interpreted
through her own eyes. Check out her latest books and
follow her on social media to keep up with her.
PINK GRAPEFRUIT
PINK GRAPEFRUIT. Copyright © 2019 by Kelli
Ry Reed. All rights reserved, including the right to
reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by
any means. For information regarding subsidiary
right, please contact author.
This is a work of fiction/poetry. Names, characters,
places and incidents are either product of the
authors imaginations or used fictitiously, and any
resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual
events or locales is coincidental.
ISBN: 9781797594620
Subjects: Poetry
Visit author website: Ry Reed
Author’s Instagram: @ry_reedisme
You Tube: Ry Reed
Summary: Ry Reed’s PINK GRAPEFRUIT is her first of
many poetry books referencing her life. Powerful, endearing,
facing the woman in the mirror, and her broken heart, PINK
GRAPEFRUIT takes you on a journey divided between four
seasons in her life where love, loss, heartbreak, and recovery
are at the root of her poems. Her take on how to move forward
are very real and empowering for women still in toxic
relationships or survivors.
The last half of PINK GRAPEFRUIT has been split into a
short story about our heroine Faith Peaches Manderlin, a
mistreated sixth grader dealing with adversities like self-
esteem, body acceptance, friendships, and finding young love.
Nine chapters of comedy and endurance will have you
cheering for the wonderfully optimistic Faith Peaches until the
very end.
If you’ve found this book useful, please consider leaving a
short review on Amazon.
Thank you!
