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May 2020 · 93
Pharisees
Dominique R May 2020
I don’t like religion
The kind that stokes the fire of someone’s ego
Before it consumes them
Burning away their compassion and common sense
Until they are nothing but hellfire spewing out of their mouth
Fueled by their fear and good intentions
Eyes glazed over and parroting their church leaders
Whose pulpits are built off of the money of their spiritually starved patrons
As they serve deceit on a silver platter
A religion that worships a God who is the embodiment of love
Should not use terror
As their love language
Apr 2019 · 257
Home
Dominique R Apr 2019
Home doesn’t have to be found
In the familiar four walls that shelter you
A door that closes
And local faces
Small grocery stores
And a one story mall
No
The familiar can be traded for the new
That can be home too
The bright sun twinkling off of the lake
Castles and hotels
And car rides with strangers
Your childhood bedroom will always be there
The creaking floors and carpeted steps of your family home will always be there too
A comfort zone shouldn’t be your final destination
So go
Embrace the familiar newness of it all
Take in the shocking cold of the water as you dive deep into the unknown
You’ve been lukewarm for too long
Apr 2019 · 372
Good Friday
Dominique R Apr 2019
Blood
Rolling off of your forehead
Obstructing your vision
A burden so heavy
Weighing you down
You faced it all alone
Shaking hands and hair full of dirt
Chains and broken trusts
Utterly desolate
Abandoned and mocked
Beaten and ripped apart
With nothing but possibilities and a ravishing love keeping you alive
Keeping you here
Nailed to that piece of wood
Apr 2019 · 224
Her
Dominique R Apr 2019
Her
I’m not sure why I wanted her. Strangers that have only communicated through likes and heart eye emojis on Instagram. Private messages and friends of friends. All I knew was I was drawn to her. Maybe I was just lonely and fastened myself onto someone whom I assumed desired me. Maybe it was the honesty in her words and the pain I saw reflected in her eyes that resembled mine. I pictured us walking through art museums, her reaching for my hand nonchalantly. Neck kisses, and silky hair between fingertips. This flicker finally evolved into a flame that would consume me if I did not share it. So I did. Promises of friendship evolved from this exchange after I confessed my feelings. Statements with phrases claiming self improvement and that you were not looking for a relationship popped up on my phone. A light sting filled my heart but at least now you know. And if you ever change your mind, I’ll be here.
Mar 2019 · 394
Haunted
Dominique R Mar 2019
I dream of confessions of love
Your face
And your hands on my waist
You are soft in my dreams
Vulnerable
You tell me that it’s all been a farce
That you really love me
And you were scared
Scared of the oceans you feel for me
But I am forced awake
And the darkness in my room laughs
Because we’ve been here before
It knows this story
My brain is my downfall
It’s rosy colored hues
And romanticized ideals
Not talking
Means not wanting
And ignoring
Definitely doesn’t translate to I love you
Life isn’t a romance novel
If he is silent
Listen
And walk away
Mar 2019 · 197
Old Bruises
Dominique R Mar 2019
I’m sorry you had to scrub your skin raw to get rid of any trace of me. I’m sorry that I can’t keep my feelings to myself, and that you can’t stand to hear them. But the truth is your face is on repeat in my mind, and to you I am only an echo of what could have been. Something to be forgotten and pushed aside on account of time and fresh opportunities. I’m sorry I can’t put this down, and just forget about you like you’ve forgotten about me. You’ve left an impression in my mind, and a bruise on my heart that I keep pressing, hoping you’ll somehow feel the same pain and come running.
Mar 2019 · 284
Ghosts And Demons
Dominique R Mar 2019
Am I your ghost?
Haunting the halls of your mind
Rattling door knobs and banging on windows
Begging to be let in
You are my ghost
Floating around the edges of my heart
Embedded in the carpets of my consciousness
Or am I your demon?
A nuisance and a thorn in your side
Something that just won’t go away
No matter how hard you try
I keep coming back
Torturing and inconveniencing
I see these as words left unsaid
Trying to right a wrong that was done long ago
You see them as something to forget
To Push aside, and try to hide
The worst thought of all
Is you probably see it all as nothing
But a chapter in your past
Already closed
I am no ghost to you
If I was
I’ve evaporated long ago
Mar 2019 · 222
Presently
Dominique R Mar 2019
He looks at you like you’re made of gold, not like a penny forgotten on the ground. Your eyes are more intricately designed than the stars, and they shine twice as bright. You’re now twirling in the kitchen together, and your smile reaches your eyes. You were discarded like day old bread, expired and no longer of use. Left out in the rain without an umbrella. But he strode up to you and gave you his, letting the rain soak him through.  Stolen glances and interlocked hands are now my story. No more sour milk promises and rotten apple compliments. Everything is sincere with you, and you don’t beat around the bush or cut corners. Hope is still my song, but now it’s in a new thing. It’s being loved presently, no more someday he wills. It’s everything on the table honesty, and gentle murmurs. He loves me so completely that I finally feel whole again.
Jan 2019 · 305
An Ode To Depression
Dominique R Jan 2019
I wish I could crawl out of my own skin
Shed like a snake would and start anew
My darkness interwoven within the rotting flesh now laying on the floor
But no
The darkness is inside of me
So take out each *****
One by one
And then nothing else is left
But the hollowness of my bones
And my aching muscles
Until I am nothing but an empty vessel
Jan 2019 · 1.1k
The Waiting Room
Dominique R Jan 2019
Why are we still here?
Scratching and pulling at your skin
Trying to find the answers in your silent stares and unspoken phrases
I am tired of wrestling with it so I just push it aside
Hoping to hide the discontent I feel
And the anger bubbling up inside
Too tired to beg for it anymore
Too ignorant to understand
I am sitting in a waiting room while the clock laughs at me
Mocking my helpless state
Hopeless but still waiting
This is how I will always remain
Even when I am long gone
My bones scattered in that waiting room
Hopeless but still waiting
Jan 2019 · 196
Hollow
Dominique R Jan 2019
I am hollow
Yet I am so full
Full of desire
Desire to be
Desire to grow
Desire to become so much more than I already am
To do so much more than I already am doing
I am trapped
In a skin full of anxieties and regrets
Bubbling up to the surface
Drowning out the good
my motivation and drive
Crushed under the weight of my skin’s indifference
I am trapped in a cage
Where I have the key
But no strength to put it in the lock
Jan 2019 · 114
February Nights
Dominique R Jan 2019
I crave simpler times
car rides to no where in particular
and you laughing so hard you’re silent
Eerily dark early nights
And the bitter cold prickling my skin
When responsibilities were light
and the only thing I had to worry about
was us being pushed together
Now I’m crumbling under the weight of obligation
Adulthood and anxieties are knocking at my door
But you’re still nowhere to be found
Jan 2019 · 261
Concrete Flowers
Dominique R Jan 2019
I’m trying to resurrect us with my old feelings
Maybe if I think about the old times enough new times will grow between the cracks
Like plants grasping towards the sky
Between slabs of concrete
I am grasping for you
Jun 2018 · 187
Change
Dominique R Jun 2018
I am on the cusp of something
A change of pace
Flipping my world upside down
Fear reaches its arms towards me
But I refuse to fall into them
Here I stand
In the midst of my fear
Ready to face
Whatever comes next
Fear will not win.
Jun 2018 · 242
An Attack
Dominique R Jun 2018
It’s like a stabbing in my gut
a sharp wave of terror
The sensation you are not in control
I’m not in control
I need to be in control
My mind races and gets lost in itself
My hands shake and reach out
But no one is there to grasp onto
Jun 2018 · 337
Rapunzel
Dominique R Jun 2018
I wanna live
I want to feel the sun on my face
Bury my feet in the warm sand
Curl my toes and feel alive
My mind is my prison
My thoughts are my shackles
I am stuck in routine
Desperate to break free
I don’t know what I want
I definitely don’t know what I need
But I know I want to feel alive
I want to feel like I am living
Not stuck in my tower
Watching people from afar
Leading lives that I wish I could lead
I am rapunzel
Wondering when my life will begin
When all along
I have the power
The power to change my life
To make it how I want it to be
I am stuck
But I long to be free
Jun 2018 · 602
In My Dreams
Dominique R Jun 2018
You only visit me in my dreams
Soft, the outline of you hazy
Whispers and shadows
We waltz around each other
Twirling, you hold me close
Ornate designs on the walls
And a sparkling crystal floor
The scene shifts and we are in a meadow
you put a flower behind my ear and grab my hand
Pulling me close and planting a kiss on my forehead
Suddenly, the world melts away and I am awoken
I am left with only a feeling
An echo of you
And as my memory of us together fades
I start my day with a murmur of your presence surrounding me
And holding me
Jun 2018 · 270
Drowning
Dominique R Jun 2018
I am drowning in a sea of nos
the waves tossing me and slamming me against the shore again and again
Indifference surrounds me and drags me down deeper
inhaling the salt water
I try and choke down the denials
rejection scraping my lungs
hollow words and polite hellos
ring in my ears
As I sink to the bottom
Jun 2018 · 310
Known
Dominique R Jun 2018
What do I know
I know nothing
I am known by no one
except One
Jun 2018 · 506
Hopelessness
Dominique R Jun 2018
The sinking feeling of an anchor dropping down to the bottom of the sea
Hopelessness
Waves slamming you against the shore again and again, gasping for air and only getting lungs full of sand
A lifeless body being spit out by the ocean
The tide gently caressing it
Like you would caress a sick child
Only to pull it back in
Where it will be swallowed by the depth
Remembered no more
Jun 2018 · 323
The One Who Didn't Stay
Dominique R Jun 2018
I can’t look at your face.
It is a reminder of what almost was.
A reminder of the sweet words that flowed from your mouth.
A reminder of the times we spent in your car, driving to nowhere in particular. Your hand casually patting my leg in intervals during light conversation.
A reminder of your plans and seemingly eagerness to talk to me.
A reminder of what could have been.
I’m not sure what happened between now and then.
What caused you to drift away, the tide carrying you in. Leaving not even a trace.
Do I miss you? Or do I miss how you made me feel?
You made me feel light and hopeful. Like I finally found it this time.
Like I found the one who would stay.
But you didn’t.
Jun 2018 · 276
Fragments
Dominique R Jun 2018
Afternoon light streaming through the window, a tight hug, playful words, an awkward conversation with strangers, blissful unawareness of anyone else because your arms wrapped around me is all I am aware of.
Jun 2018 · 317
Melancholy
Dominique R Jun 2018
I am surrounded by light but all i can feel is the darkness creeping into my soul. burrowing, making its home in me. I am surrounded by laughter but all i can focus on is the heaviness of my heart. I wish I could just stick my hand into my chest and pull out the melancholy. I wish I could reason with it. “You have no home here!” I’d cry. Throwing it into the sea. It would sink to the bottom and consume me no more.
Jun 2018 · 546
Fire & Stars
Dominique R Jun 2018
I have fire and stars in my veins
oceans in my mind
sparkling and shimmering
reflecting the morning sun
Inside of me are whole worlds
But it takes time
For me to reveal this side of me
Pull me back
Layer by layer
and soon you will see
The light streaming through the cracks
The water streaming out to caress your feet
Please be patient with me
I am worth the effort
The raveling and unraveling of my soul
is a process
and if you stay long enough
You will see
Jun 2018 · 205
Summer’s End
Dominique R Jun 2018
As summer's warm light began to fade, I felt you beginning to reach out. Warmth and light conversation filled the air, I floated on a cloud filled with hope. Than summmer began to flicker, and finally went out, and you disappeared. I wonder how many times you are to vanish before you are here to stay. I wonder how many times I am supposed to let you slip through my fingers before your fingers are permanently in mine.
Jun 2018 · 210
You
Dominique R Jun 2018
You
I cannot imagine

how deep Your love must be

for even when I stray

You gently take me by the hand

and lead me back to You

and when doubt and confusion

are infiltrating my mind 
You whisper to my heart

with a voice as soft as rainfall

promises of peace

and a reminder

that no matter what storm 
I find myself in 
You are right there

holding me through the chaos.
Jun 2018 · 255
Two Years, Four Days
Dominique R Jun 2018
Abruptly you reached out and just as quickly, you turned away. Silent exits are your specialty and missing you is mine. Two years older and I am still trying to make sense of it all. The way we’d dance around each other and the doors that would slam shut on our unspoken feelings. How I tried to reach out, but you were pulled away by God knows what and I was left to pick up the pieces. Two years clean, but my heart still aches when I catch a glimpse of your face. And I still count the time by how long it’s been since I last saw you. You messaged me four nights ago and my hopes shot up so high they’ve not come down since. Though, once again we found ourselves dancing around each other and putting up walls draped with polite conversation. I wanted so badly to tear those walls down but you drifted away before I got the chance and gentle but firm arms kept me from running after you. Leaving me with a mind filled to the brim with things left unsaid and hands grasping for answers to shed light on your sudden and violent change of heart. Did it hurt you to talk to me? Do you believe me to be so disenchanted with you that you figured you could walk away with no disclosure and without a second glance? But, what you can’t see is the dull ache that has made its home in my chest ever since I met you, and how it has blossomed and blossomed each time I’ve had to let go of you. You can’t see the way your name is etched into the back of my mind , and how your face frequents my dreams. If only we could get on the same page. But, we are both reaching, and always missing. Pulled away by our own misconceptions and each too haunted by the memory of each other. What could have been sings us its relentless tune, but the hushed song of hope is what I strain to listen to.
Jun 2018 · 418
Winter Haze
Dominique R Jun 2018
a cold winter evening

a haze of blue hangs low 
from the thick clouded sky 

the bleakness of this day seeps through my skin
 and envelopes me.
Jun 2018 · 353
Eloquence
Dominique R Jun 2018
I am sorry that I am unable to speak

with the eloquence that can paint pictures and move mountains 

but instead my words trip over one another or get lost
once they leave my lips 

so I’ve chosen to stay silent 

because it is easier to bear than fumbled words and mumbled apologies.
Jun 2018 · 208
War
Dominique R Jun 2018
War
I am at war with the thoughts I know I should not be thinking
, and the birds that have made nests in my stomach.
Jun 2018 · 219
4 Years
Dominique R Jun 2018
I will always have
a small sort of hope

tucked away 

in the dustiest corner of my heart
that one day

On some wintry afternoon

you will show up 

with love in your eyes

and me the only one on your mind.

— The End —