Dominique Espiritu

Dominique Espiritu May 2014

And He fetched for my heart
Gentle
Fast
That was beating,
Lub dub
Banging until cracks
Weakened
into a hole
Around my chest.
No longer
Lub dub
But a panicked
Hop hop,
Leg-less run marathon
Out of my rib cage.
Lifeless,
Pumping worry
And jealousy,
Replacing my blood,
Until anxiety rowed
broken sail boats
In my veins.
He grabbed it
Said "Stop."
"Patience."

And that's how the heart learned
How to play the waiting game.

arrhythmia
[ uh-rith-mee-uh, ey-rith- ]
noun [Pathology]
1. any disturbance in the rhythm of the heartbeat.

#love #worry #heart #anxiety #patience #jealousy

Dominique Espiritu May 2014

The Almost Wreck

Maybe it was the
Fated curl of a clouds lips
That blew wind
At the precise moment
On the ragged sail
And pushed this vessel
To the raging seas,
Towards stormy nights,
And took me
Exactly
Where I needed to go.

Despite the odds,
This broken boat,
Cracks and crevasses,
Made it's way to You.

Dominique Espiritu Mar 2014

Life and Lemonade

When life gives you lemons,
Breathe
Because there is only so much you can get out of lemonade.
Take your time measuring
The sugar
To balance out
The sour taste that
Lingers
Until after.
And if you make a mistake,
If it seams the sour still screams,
Remember that it
Exists
For you to
Anticipate
Every next sweet sip.
There will be unwanted pulp.
Don't drain it out.
And there will be spills,
So many spills
Until all sweet
And all sour have run out.
But wait.
Because life always has more lemons
To throw right your way.

An old poem I like to revisit to remind me how my life sort of works. Written as one humongous chunk of a metaphor, as usual.

#life #lemons #lemonade

Dominique Espiritu Feb 2014

Love Has Already Fallen

Little girl,
Love is not a race track
That will leave you
Running
Around in circles.
There is no finish line.
Rather
Love is the spooky road
Less traveled
With thorny bushes
That ***** the very surface
Of a well-cared for
Heart.
Love is
Not what you expect it to be.
But walk step by step
Down the cracked up land
Of that torn up road
And at the very end,
You'll find
Promise,
Gleaming under bright sunlight.
Little girl,
Such fragile fingers
Cannot grasp on to light
No matter with skin-tight grip.
You're going to want to touch
And you're going to want to grab
But little girl,
Love isn't about touch
Or skin intertwined
But about compassion
And sacrifice
And words meant
That crawl around your heart
Like vines and
Vines need that promise of sunlight
To grow.
And grow
And grow some more.
You see, little girl
Growing takes time
And if you'd only steady the
Rushing
Pitter patter of your
Ecstatic heartbeat
Then maybe you'd stop ruining love
With impatience
With desperation.

For now,

You were left with something
I'm sure will make your heart content.
Stop looking around, little girl
Love is not a scavenger hunt
Love isn't something you can find
But
Love has found you.
Go ahead,
Fall in love.
But little girl,
Let me show you that
Love is rain during drought,
Love is light when all has darkened,
And while you're falling in love,
Love is the manna from heaven

That has already fallen

In the form of a Cross.

This poem just flowed. A little messier than usual but it flowed, and it needed to be written.
Love is He who is the greatest sacrifice of all time.
For love month, I didn't want to forget what Jesus did all because He loves us.

Dominique Espiritu Feb 2014

If Trees Were Insecure

I am a tree
That is still learning how to
Keep it's roots
Under moist soil
And away from little tripping feet.
I'm used to
Yawning
In the morning
Stretching
My branches
Until they have
Dropped the apple
Slightly too far from the tree.
And though I don't have
Much air
In my hair,
The leaves still fall.
Trust me when I say
It isn't worth it being this
Tall.
Sometimes I would long to pay
To not see everything.
The view from up here
Is ironically
Frightening.

Climb these heights
And I can't promise you no
Twigs in your hair
Or scratches on your arms.
This bark is rough
And these leaves,
Stubborn.
But the next time you
Stumble upon these roots,
Remember that I am the tree
That isn't all it looks.

Dominique Espiritu Jan 2014

How I Feel About Discipleship

I promise You
I'm going to
Live
By who You are today,
Paint
With the colors of Your promises,
Jump rope
To the music of purpose in my heartbeat,
And weigh
The value of Your steadfast love.

Steady

Is the last thing I want to be
For You.
I can carry my paint,
My jumprope,
And my scale to
Every
Wretched
Corner
Of this world
Just to prove
To every living soul
That You're more than just
A hero in a storybook.

Dominique Espiritu Jan 2014

10 Great Things About Overthinking

1.  My mind is a 20/20 vision pair of eyes.
I can see the specks
and seeds of irritation before they grow.
Plants,
They were never really good for these eyes.

2.  Let's go to the moon.
And I assure you,
While you sink your feet in moon dust
And swim in empty craters,
While I worry about how dark it is out here,
I get to enjoy the simultaneous twinkle of the stars.

3.  And because I'm paying too much attention,
I might even get to see one fly.

4.  You're thinking about how delicious this lunch is.
I'm counting calories.

5.  So,
what's for dinner?

6.  Hey, if she is
Indeed
Stabbing my back
With word weapons,
My 561-letter comeback speech
Is always ready
in the front pocket
Of my school bag.

7.  Its always  just a headache,
Never brain cancer.

8.  I love the newly opened eyelids,
In the mornings,
My first breath is a sigh of relief,
Yes.
I didn't die in my sleep.

9.  She's got a great body.
Her bones read,
No food and a ton of gym time,
I'm sure it's to make you smile.
And I hate to brag,
But I'm mentally fit.
I get to exercise
Analyzing every single detail
Of the twinkle in your eye
Of the flick of your lips
Of the depth of that frown
When you said
you were leaving.

10.  I think I've figured out why.