Monthly Archives: October 2013

Do Not Cower in Darkness (Cyclical Rubaiyet)

Do not cower in darkness, in this imaginary fear

The black is nothing but starkness, in one’s own mind my dear

A thing of fairytales and nursery rhymes and legends of all kinds

Impotent in daylights harshness, our worries disappear

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Oh…the tricks and fears we dream with our active mind

No matter how many tears we cry there are always more to find

Dry your eyes my little one, for none of this is real

As daylight wanes, evening nears, dreams and nightmares intertwined

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Time will tell that all is well, for I know quite how you feel,

Bedtime comes to room you dwell, to God you pray and kneel

With deepest hope your wishes and dreams most in earnest hear

Before you know as parent this same to your own children heal

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~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

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AUTHORS NOT: This poem was inspired and modeled after the Persian Rubaiyet form introduced to me by Jen over at Blog It or Lose It, please check out her blog, I think you will enjoy it.

Pray Tell (Sonnet)

Pray tell–Does the universe despise me?

Beleaguered by torment and pain;

I drown as a ship down at sea,

No longer having anything to gain.

Projecting my anguish on others unknown,

Fate lies beyond the boundaries of my soul.

Smiles and laughs behind stone faces shown,

Nothing left of my heart, but a bottomless hole.

Tell me where…oh where does blame lie?

Surely without I am most convinced.

A belief to the day this body dies,

As casket lid closes on my last pain winced.

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Could it be–that perhaps it is I, that has all along been to blame,

None other than me by my God given name.

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~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

A Beautiful Smile

A beautiful smile, a tender face like your mothers,

A generous heart, we should not compare to the others.

You are not them, you are you, wonderous you,

Be proud of that, forever and ever remain true.

Though mistakes will be made my youngest one…

Know in your soul that you are the light of my day, my morning sun.

Judged more harshly than your sister or brother,

This was not my intention, I would never hope for another.

You are perfectly perfect just the way you are,

Bright as the celestial comet or a shooting star.

In your own way, you bring joy to me with every passing day,

Your laugh, sense of humor, funny faces, I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Each of you was born into this world with a gift,

Though oftentimes elusive when ensconced in siblings rift.

This is how it always is and how it has always been,

Its just how humans are, it has never been a sin.

Some are born with smart of book, others with common sense,

Some are gilded with a gift of the arts, while some remain on the fence.

This my sweet–is not a defect or a flaw instilled at birth,

Nor a judgement of your character, or a measure of your worth.

For you are worth the world to me, in all you are with your spirit free,

As I watch you mature and grow to become who you will be.

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~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Castle in Ruins (Tanka)

Montezuma Castle circa 1887
Near Camp Verde, Arizona

Castle in ruins

Never Montezuma’s home

The white man’s mistake

Thinking that he knew it all

Only to find he was wrong

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 AUTHOR’S NOTE:  Montezuma Castle is located in the Verde Valley of central Arizona, along a tributary of the Verde River called Beaver Creek. The Verde Valley provides a natural corridor and trade route between the southern desert and the northern plateau, and has been inhabited at different times by several different cultures.

There is evidence of Paleo-Indian hunter-gatherers in some parts of Arizona that date as far back as ten thousand years. In the Verde Valley, there is direct archeological evidence of human habitation dating back only about two thousand years, although it is almost certain that people were there long before that.

From about 600 to 1100 AD the region was occupied by a people with ties to the Hohokam, a major culture centered around present-day Phoenix. The remains of pithouses—one-room structures built of rock, mud, poles and sticks characteristic of the Hohokam culture—can still be found in the area. One such pithouse is on display at Montezuma Well, five miles to the northeast of Montezuma Castle along Beaver Creek… More

 

I Lay Prone

I lay prone before God,

Am I worthy of the gift he offers?

I have done nothing to deserve his graces,

His mercy, his saving, especially from myself.

I do not change, I am sinful as I was born to be,

As we were born to be by our father and mother.

Adam and Eve cursed me to a lifetime of sin,

Simply by their failure to obey,

Failure to obey their hunger and thirst for understanding.

This is where it all began,

The anger, the hatred, the intolerance,

This is where the eternal struggle began,

Of good and evil, Heaven and Hell, I bow before it,

Afraid of what I am and what I will become if I fail to comply.

I wander from one phase of mortal understanding to another

Though in the end, I find that I understand nothing.

I am but a grain of sand embodied in ignorance,

Destined to wander this earth searching for answers

Answers that have laid dormant within me,

But I was too frail to see.

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~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Diamonds, Silver, Gold (Tanka)

Diamonds, silver, gold

You never asked for treasure

My love was enough

Nothing more could I have asked

From this uncertain world

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Gather Round Ye Respectable Folk

Gather round ye respectable folk,

To witness God’s will be done.

Be still your plow and oxen under yolk,

Our cleansing has surely begun.

Ridding our midst of minions from Hell,

Let thy fires rage and consume.

At high noon on the ring of chapels twelfth bell,

Let thine sentence be seal of thy doom.

With bible in hand and righteous indignation,

The minister stern raises hand.

Tossing torch with a grin and pompous resignation,

Burning witches to ash by flames fanned.

Good Salem be freed from Satan’s cursed lot,

As thy God has so vocally commanded.

May their bodies for eternity lie in torment and rot,

Our morality, their souls remanded.

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~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

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AUTHOR’S NOTE: The Salem witch trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft—the Devil’s magic—and 20 were executed. Eventually, the colony admitted the trials were a mistake and compensated the families of those convicted. Since then, the story of the trials has become synonymous with paranoia and injustice, and it continues to beguile the popular imagination more than 300 years later.  More can be read at the Smithsonian Magazine website http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/brief-salem.html

It Rides on Horse With Crimson Eyes (Acrostic)

It rides on horse with crimson eyes

Cleaved head its eternal quest

Hades resurrected, for centuries tries

Avenging soul the Devil blessed

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By night the Hollow, Hell on earth

Onerous task in this Sleepy land

Demon slaughters for all its worth

Child and woman and man

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Raise its head from unmarked grave

A task of a gruesome sort

Ne’er resting until craniums been saved

Ensure the wrath of the apocalypse four

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~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Cataclysm

A cataclysm

Things…

Not just any things, but everything

Erupting…

Spewing fire, rock, ash

Vesuvius in the flesh

Raining devastation in torrents

Emotions flooding

Consuming everyone…

Nothing is spared

Rage uncontrollable

Wielding immense power

Resulting in blood and tears

Those that worship are left in ruins

Blaming themselves…

Their actions for this travesty

Without shame

Destructive behavior persists

Until there was nothing left

Nothing, but ashes and rubble

And a legacy of carnage

That will last for generations

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

As We Near Our End (Tanka)

As we near our end

Do we find any comfort

Letting life go dark

Heaven awaits its next Saint

May you pass in peaceful sleep

~

~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~