Storm Clouds Boiling (Haiku)

Storm clouds boiling
Thunder rattling windows
Bowling for the gods

~~Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

To Have Lost At Love (Tanka)

To have lost at love

A horrible thing indeed

Never to have loved

Is a gift truly wasted

That can never be retrieved

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Moulin Rouge

Ladies and Gent at the finest affair,

Linked arm-in-arm with noses in the air.

Paying no mind to the commoner on the street,

Entering the great hall they prepare for a treat.

A show for the ages with music and dance,

They surely wouldn’t miss it given the chance.

Seductive young ladies kicking legs in the air,

Dancing the can-can with nary a care.

The Gents take to whistling, they hoot and they holler,

While the ladies most appalled grab their men by the collars.

Such a circus is this with no animals or tent,

They must on this Sunday go to church and repent.

For now though they’re free to do as they please,

Revelling in the lust of the show as they tease.

Enjoying their sins amongst cigar smoke and booze,

Welcome Ladies and Gents to the Moulin Rouge.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Prompt: Jeremy’s Daily Challenge – Picture This Monday 15 September

At the Moulin Rouge by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

At the Moulin Rouge by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Pain Like No Other

Pain…like no other

Living–wrong side of the tracks.

Dirty and hungry;

Sunken eyes reveal sadness

Under shroud of filthy streets.

Urchins you call them,

Throwaways to be ignored,

Wastes of human flesh.

Where is your humanity?

They’re people like you and me

Children of this world

Worthy of our sympathy

Worthy of our love

You best take heed!

For one day it may be you

That is spit upon.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Knowing Right And Wrong (Tanka)

Knowing right and wrong

We blame it on upbringing

Wooden switch draws blood

He’s just a child of four

How terrible could he be

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

It’s still not too late!!!

I thought you all might be interested in this poetry anthology featuring 19 great WordPress poets, some of whom you may know and others you don’t. In fairness, I am honored to be included amongst the 19. Emily Sturgill did a wonderful job in coming up with the idea, coordinating the group of poets and publishing this book. Why not check it out.

Erasure (Acrostic)

Erased–blood stains and voices

Roadway washed clean by rain

Anger and outrage quelled

Silenced by media’s waning interest

Under the ground in which he’s buried roots still grow

Racism–spreading like crabgrass

Eviscerating the people of justice.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Theater Of Life

Naked and raw
Blasting from the womb like a seedling from its pod
Screaming for the first breath
So begins the amazing campaign
A politician elected to life.

Born out of love or lust
The aftermath which is indistinguishable
Unquenchable contest for sustenance
To triumph is all that is known
Primal urges the impetus to persist.

Adolescence brings arrogance
As maturity is sluggish to prevail over unrefined emotion
Enmity and dispute become commonplace
Tightening the reins like those of an untamed mustang
Welcome, right of passage.

Time quells obstinacy
While Respect replaces contempt
Competition for dominance is no longer primary
Instead wisdom is honored rather than detested
Seeing in age what we hope to become.

Understanding seems second nature
Now seen through the eyes of the aged
What once so obscure, is now clear as crystal
Modeled in the image of those that came before
To live in us as both a blessing and curse.

Son becomes father, daughter becomes mother
The circle enclosed as adolescent morphs into elder
Kindred souls flow like a river never-ceasing
Reproducing life through life’s rushing waters
Simply actors are we in this great play.

Leaving behind those we’ve reared
Progeny that embody what is transcendent
Nature and happenstance will dictate their course
While predecessors move on to nights last voyage
Rhythmically repeating the cycle of life.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Author’s Note: This was the very first poem that I posted on WordPress back on June 30, 2012.  I haven’t read this poem in a very long time and fortunately I still like it.  I thought it might be nice to sprinkle a few pieces into the mix that many of you may not have seen.  I hope that you like them.  Thank you all for the long time support that you have shown me, I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.

Wouldst Thou Love Me Were I A Peasant (Sonnet)

Wouldst thou love me were I a peasant,

Owning little but what hangs upon my back.

I thinkest thou would not find this so pleasant,

Discarding me for all of this world that I lack.

 

Wouldst thou speaketh to me were I a leper,

Or ignore me whilst turning a blind eye.

I thinkest thou would prefer me fettered,

In shackles where none could see me cry.

 

Wouldst thou hold me if I were a poor wretch dying,

Alone and filthy on thy city thoroughfare.

I thinkest thou would leaveth me bloody and lying,

‘Til the ravens come to taketh their share.

 

Is compassion so hard for thee to perceive, casting feeling aside with nary a care.

Giveth from the heart and thou shalt conceive, a life full of blessing worthy to share.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

It Comes Not In A Jar

It comes not in a jar,

Can not be boxed, placed in a sack.

There is no recipe,

No cookbook, no formula to concoct.

There is no raffle,

No lottery, no auction to crave.

It’s no magic potion,

No spell, no wand you can wave.

Very often there’s pain

It slashes, it slices right down to the bone.

Frequently it’s blind,

It’s crippled, it’s stunted as others have shone.

But more often than not it results in true bliss,

It’s passion, it’s love that is tops on the list.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~