Sullen is my heart
For the deaths of our brethren
And our enemies
In the end we gain nothing
But continued violence
Rejoice not in death
Instead mourn every life lost
With deepest regret
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Monthly Archives: June 2014
Awake Before The Sun Rises
Corn Woman’s Task by Sandi J. Ludescher
Awake before the sun rises;
Bleary-eyed still resolute
No thanks are offered for her toil.
As she nudges her brood from slumber,
Calloused hands stroke the hair of her babies.
To gentle voice and loving words they wake
Casting acknowledging smiles skyward.
The aromatic scent of cornbread wafts from afar,
Inviting even at this early hour, tickling their tiny noses.
Ritual plays itself out day after day, morning after morning,
She would have it no other way.
This brood, her pride and joy is her life, her love, all that she lives for.
Every wrinkle like a path through time,
Each hair of gray that adorns her head
Are worn with pride and concern for them.
Her destiny and birthright lay before her, born for the love of her Brave…
These are her legacy.
What greater gift could a mother leave this world than her children, her culture
And Mother earth just as she found her.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Prompt: Jeremy’s Daily Challenge – Picture This Monday 23 June
Innocent Victims
Innocent victims
Children gone without a trace
We know the villains
Cowards preying on the young
Where is the world outrage
Each time it happens
It falls further down the screen
A ticker–its home
How sad we’ve become immune
To the plight of the helpless
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
History Repeats
History repeats
When in the hands of such fools
Yet we act as sheep
Why no popular outrage
Why no rolling of their heads
In conflict we lose
Covert forces we back turn
Unleashing turmoil
Whose weapons do they use…ours
Perpetuating terror
Al-Qaeda is ours
A monster we created
Now there is ISIS
Born of a foul petri dish
What could we have expected
When we choose to interfere
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Why I Ask Is It That We Choose To Destroy
Why I ask is it that we choose to destroy,
Leaving vast swaths of land ravaged,
Acres of ocean uninhabitable,
Water unfit for consumption,
Farms barren of life-giving crops,
Forests clear cut for human development
Exploitation of the gifts given to mankind,
Simply…I do not know!
Why is it that we deny the evidence,
Oceans rising to previously unrecorded levels,
Temperatures, the hottest in history,
Storms, perfect and oh so deadly,
Property destroyed and lives lost,
Still we refuse to believe,
Why–I do not know!
Why is it that we allow ourselves to be victims,
Plagued by profiteers,
Suffocated by our government,
Tolerant of our polarization,
Blind to our abuses,
Living as pawns to the powerful,
Yet we choose to ignore,
Why, I haven’t a clue!
Why we have allowed this to happen, I do not know,
We have become complacent,
Allowing our fellows to trample our dreams,
Stifling that which is our destiny
Instead of finding common ground,
Leaving us more distant than ever.
I wish I knew how to fix the ills of this world,
But I do not!
I like you, am only a temporary inhabitant,
Borrowing my time in this life.
Why must we destroy this precious world
Poisoning ourselves and those we love
With words and chemicals?
Material gain and profit are fleeting like this existence.
Shouldn’t we endeavor to make the most of what we’ve been given?
Isn’t this what it means to be human,
To use what we need leaving the rest for our future?
Perhaps I am naive,
A dreamer,
Or just hopeful,
But I must believe that it is not too late
For man to overcome his arrogance and greed.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Beauty Fades
Beauty fades;
Stripped of color
Under unrelenting sun.
Once vibrant petals
Brown and crumble,
Scattering dust and seed
To the four winds.
A life run its course
Gives birth to the next generation
Through its death in the dawn of spring.
Never regretting,
Never questioning its fate
It gives itself unapologetically
For the propagation of their future.
As with all living things
We are here for a brief time
To live,
To spawn,
To die,
Returning to the earth
From which we came.
A cycle that has repeated itself
For eternity.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
What Is Left Of This Experiment
What is left of this experiment
Could it be that we failed intention
Selling it to the highest bidder?
Look at us!
Brother fighting against brother,
Ideals defined by television news,
By partisan writing,
By ignorance and lack of humanity.
Not relegated to one party or another
This is but a symptom of the disease.
A plague we allowed to ferment;
Feeding venomous pustules by blindness,
Blindness to surroundings,
Blindness to the lies we’ve been fed.
Beginning many years ago,
Blamed on the latest–current ruler,
Yet it is ever so misplaced.
Each is just the latest in a long line of failures
Given to us by their parties,
Held up as a choice to the people.
Choice…ha, this is but a facade,
Leaving the people to believe that they staked claim.
This is but a belief of fools,
Those that fail to realize they are pawns,
Misled and offered the promised land,
Finding that there is nothing but hollowness.
What does it take to awaken the populous?
Will it take total collapse?
Will it take blood?
Might it take revolution?
This is our right…our obligation;
When our system fails we are called to fight,
Called to change what is broken,
Beckoned to change what is fruitless.
Perhaps we have run our course,
Made a great attempt at political perfection,
Failing over a long period of time.
Every society has suffered;
Drowning in its own pomposity,
Leaving it vulnerable to suffer its own consequences.
What will it take;
Absolute and total collapse I propose.
Imploding on our own girth,
Collapsing under our own weight,
Then being consumed by our foes.
When will will realize our fate…?
Not until we are reduced
To nothing but skin and bones.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Wildflowers Grow (Tanka)
Wildflowers grow
Their seeds know no boundaries
Showing perfection
O’ the strength in their beauty
And the lessons we could learn
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Does Grass Strain To Grow (Tanka)
Does grass strain to grow
Does the moon confront the sun
Does water struggle
Should we not be like all these
Conforming to our nature
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Father (Acrostic)
Fish out of water we are;
Acting courageously in the face of the unknown.
The mother bonds throughout the nine months,
Her instincts ingrained at birth.
Even though we put on the bravest of faces,
Reality and confusion set in…welcome to fatherhood.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Dom DiFrancesco 