‎I went to the market and saw

‎something familiar and new.

‎They're called

‎strawberry apples,

‎And somehow they remind me of you.

‎

‎As I bite into its crispy flesh,

‎I tasted the delicate truth

‎You've bravely shared.

‎Sweet juicy thoughts came

‎over me:

‎Such loving God we have, 

‎Who hand-painted and gave life to

‎Strawberry apples and to you.

‎

- Cristine Despares

‎ 

I still remember the day

you held my hand and told me, 

you can drive for eternity 

all I have to do is wrap my arms 

tighter around you.  

Going through this new route with you,

I've lost count of the stop signs we've ignored. 

Turning red lights to green, 

always choosing to make love win. 

I swear, I'll put a brake on my fast thoughts,

so my words won't crash and hit you.  

Do you know that I always believe in you?

You're the one I want my ma and pa to meet; that's also true. 

My lover, will you still drive with all the baggage I carry with me? 

What if I tell you that I left 

all the reasons to love me at a gas station? 

Will I be enough to hit the road with you? 

Twenty years from now, when I no longer look like the singer you adore, 

when I can't make you blush like a teenager with a crush anymore,  

Will love still be enough for you to drive me home?

 Delicate gypsophilas,

sensual rabbit tails and roses

turning to late afternoon café hues.

Seasons change;

just when I thought

everything around me is getting

old and cold,

I saw the beauty of beginnings

in dried things.

Cold was this year

but it brought me to

your warmth.

I longed and chased

a ghost - that was my biggest crime.

I remember you said

you're haunted by a phantom

while we're in an empty overpass.

I've met you

for only one season

which feels like a lifetime.

We were a pair of cocoa beans

hardened by the past,

but now the only darkness

I know is a cup of hot chocolate

when I'm with you.

Just when I decided

to be a plain cold brew,

I found the creamier side

of me in you.

No witty plots.

No dirty politics.

You make this love

look like a house

I could always go home to.

You make this love

feel like a hot chocolate

in an autumn day

I never knew.

10/18/'20

Cristine A. D

with a phone call that puts the other one in an eternal flame.

- Cristine A. Despares









Hello poets! I recently watched Luca Guadagnino's widely-acclaimed film 'Call Me by Your Name' and it was breathtaking! Somehow, I feel that I need to get something out of my mind that clogs in my chest after witnessing such motion picture so here, a poetry of the film's highlights. I'm planning to write more poems about my favorite films so stay tuned. But for now, let's linger with this first. I hope you'll like it. If you haven't watched the film yet, do so and let your hearts bloom.

Ciao,
Tin

My mind is a mismanaged room.
I try so hard to keep it
clean and organized
- free from the dust of the past.
But Sadness,
like a mad garbage man,
always finds his way of messing it up.
He likes leaving my books
open on the floor after reading them.

Sometimes when I got home from work,
I find my dirty shirts all over my bed.
I pity them.
I know they’re the ones who receive
his frustrations when he loses his temper.

Last night,
a few minutes before Sleep
commanded me to start counting sheep,
he discreetly placed candy wrappers on my bed.
How do I sleep with pain crawling softly on my skin?

This morning,
I saw Sadness resting by my bedroom door.
I bet he’s drunk.
Weak as he seems,
I know he is never tired.
He’ll have another reason
to crawl back into my room
and conquer my mind.

I wonder when will he truly leave.

I walked under the starless sky as
darkness completely clutched the holy place
with its razor-sharp claws.
The Master was nowhere to be found.
No guidance, no consolation
entered in my ears.
A faceless voice cascaded from the sky and said:
Listen to the universe and you'll find Him.
I heard the distant barking of the dogs,
the leaves slicing the damp mist,
the secrets of the crickets,
 and the belching of the road dragons.
I sat motionless silent as the fat moon.
A fire within me dampened my eyes.
In my isolation, I met the Master.

- Cristine Despares