Author Archives: Dom DiFrancesco

Goodbye to a Fickle Friend

I’ve blamed you for my failures

My lack of progress and time

I’ve blamed you for my regrets

Even before I knew you

Denial is such a fickle friend

Used as a crutch to discredit one’s shortcomings

This is nothing more than a charade

A game I have played for a lifetime

A look inside bore the reflection of truth

It was me all along

My own worst enemy

Incessant procrastination has held me back

Over-thinking every minute detail has crippled me

Accomplishments lay out of reach to no one else’s fault

It was never you at blame for my failures

Nor my lack of progress or time

Regrets were never realized through you

I have deflected my imperfections long enough

The mirror has parlayed a harsh reality

Leaving me exposed to the frailty that has been the catalogue of my life

With eyes splayed wide, the path before me is clear

Freeing me to pursue all that I’ve spent a lifetime avoiding out of fear

For this I am forever grateful to you

In spite of me

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

Bittersweet Welcome Home

They come back to no fanfare

No parades

No cheering crowds

No ticker tape

Forgotten but for the relief of  their loved ones

Scars are not always etched in blood

So cuts are unseen and more debilitating to the flesh

They hide all they have seen and heard

The things that changed them

Smiling as they always do

Cordial though their language has become harsher

Colored with the profanity perfected through months living in squalor

They do not talk in details as they prefer to forget

Driving the pain and memories deep below consciousness

They pray them never to return

Their minds standing strong in defense of sanity

What do we say to them

What do we do for them

I’ve asked myself this a thousand times

Hold their hands

Embrace them

Love them more than you have ever loved them

Comfort them when they cry

Reassure them when they flinch

Hold them tight when dreams shatter their sleep

They are not who you knew before

Their lives have been forever changed

Engendered through terror and courage in the face of unknown enemies

We must be there for them

This is all I or anyone can do

 

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

Poverty – Haiku

poverty

Do you feel thankful

Given the bounty possessed

Remorseless in greed

~~

Riches plaster walls

The smell of money lingers

Eyes closed to the poor

~~

To show charity

Draws empathy to the plight

Still poverty lives

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

I Am

Image credit - optionalpha.com

Image credit – optionalpha.com

This imperfect surface

Skin, hair, nails is not me

I am in my head

Emotion, hopes, dreams, ambitions

Wrapped in this disposable package

No bottle can contain what can’t be seen

Cut me and I bleed, red and warm

Still you’ve taken nothing from me

I have not been altered

Love, compassion, disgust

Strong as before, they did not seep from the wound

It may scar, raised and ugly, but I surely will heal

These afflictions are but temporary

Simple setbacks that only strengthen my character

You trip me

The fall leaves me scraped and bruised

Black, blue and painful to the touch

This is not the first time I have fallen

Most certainly I will fall again, this is part of life

Scraps heal and bruises will disappear without a trace

And I will continue on, a better person for the experience

Passion, sadness, tenacity, empathy

These help define the real me to the world

I am not the face you see on the street

I am not the clothes that I wear

I am not what I present to the naked eye

What I am is so much more

Masquerading behind what you observe

Look deeper, discard what you see

Take your time, a surprise awaits you

The treasure I offer is there for the taking

I will show you the real me if you are bold enough to ask

So ask, be bold

You will find that I am emotion, hopes, dreams, ambitions

I am love, compassion, disgust

I am passion, sadness, tenacity, empathy

And I am so much more

Not all that I am is good

I am imperfect in my humanness

Constantly evolving into who I want to be

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

Ravaged By Nature

Sullied winds chatter chimes lashed to greyed beams

Warped and splitting with age, appear none too long for this world

With each ring an angel must surely get their wings

As remuneration for a melody so heavenly revealed

~~

Steps crippled, squeal as mice in traps are bound to do

Bowing under the burden of the weary traveler

Fortitude ingrained, revives the weakened conscripts

Whose preparation has made them cordial adversaries

~~

Tawny hinges weathered by sun, beaten by the wind cry in pain

Remorse etched into their hammered finish confesses their age

Chagrined by subjugation, the door slams

Announcing defeat to it’s audience of none

~~

Dark but for dust pirouetting through muted shafts of light

Stirred by shuffling boots, tattered and worn thin by extended employ

Creaking under foot, floorboards rebel in unison with their owner

Shrunken and contorted from the weight of existence

~~

Ping of coils break the stagnant silence of the vessel

Sagging lumpy seat replaces a once firm cushion

A quiet ah, escapes from the lungs in expiration

Sense of relief but for the strain of fabric

~~

Cracking joints echo of broken glass in freefall

Legs wobble by exhausted mortise and tenon

Laden with rings, table balances precariously in an uncomfortable dance

Unsteady and unsure, time has reaped it’s revenge

~~

Tired well beyond youth, mortality returns from holiday

Waiting to reveal what lay interred beyond these walls

Neither refinish nor repair prolong to eternity

Only temporary and finite are the workings of men

~~

Man conspires with the dwelling in cosmic ways

Each subject to the ravages of the lifetime moment

Materially morphing into a shell of the original creation

Inevitably conceding to nature’s crowing fate

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

Fisherman’s Welcome

Feather floating noiseless to the sand far below,

To rest on dunes erupting in granulated waves.

~~

Their spartan populous withdrawn by storm and tide,

Only to reappear like immigrants in distant lands.

~~

Screeching cries of gulls flock shatter silence,

Angels tipped in black searching for the days next meal.

~~

Insatiable appetite wills winged soldiers onward,

Scavenging for fish or for crab or for worm.

~~

Fisherman’s friends are the dunes and the gulls,

A beacon to the nearness of home.

~~

The boat is a shepherd towing gulls in it’s wake,

Swooping low to put eyes on the catch.

~~

Port is in sight, but this does not deter,

Showing neither fear of man or of sea.

~~

A nod of the head and a knowing smile shared,

Eases pain from their back breaking chores.

~~

Loved ones await braving inclement weather,

To welcome the unsung with open arms.

~~

The next home-bound crews will be greeted in like,

With the dunes and the gulls as their mates.

~~

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

For granted these men do not take.

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

Buying the Farm

FarmRuined

No more will fields of cotton or corn stalks wave

Where winds of progress sow their seed

Generations weep the sweat they gave

Betrayed by faceless corruption and greed

~~

Agrarian ways sold to the highest bidder

Weakened by a nations diminished resolve

Ill effects they fail to consider

Of a livelihood they so nonchalantly dissolve

~~

Our sustenance awarded to foreign lands

No thought given to our founding traditions

So many necessities taken out of our hands

Forcing this debtor nation into submission

~~

John Deere once green sits plagued with rust

Barns and silos like monuments sit vacant

Conglomerate farmers betraying our trust

Their harvests destined for the seafront

~~

Farms and fields are no longer held sacred

Mere property to be bartered, bought and sold

Paid not to plant so many acres left arid

There is more money in building homes we are told

~~

We’ve sold off our future for a profit it seems

Self-sufficiency a thing of the past

Our founders would tremble at the love of excess we deem

Prized more highly than that which will last

~~

The road on which we travel is a perilous one its true

Its course for our own sake we must alter

Lack of fortitude to do what we know we must do

To a second place status we will falter

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

Mistress of the Sea

Barnegat Lighthouse - New Jersey - USA

Barnegat Lighthouse – New Jersey – USA

An elegant lady stands a silent watch

Never taking rest or wavering in her duties

Decades of battering by nor’easter, ice and tropical gale are for naught

She may be worn and tired, but she remains strong in her resolve

Wind swept torrents are no match for her refinement

An A-line of red and white graces her elegant stony figure

Utilitarian in dress and form make her no less lovely

Many a man has looked upon her with starstruck affection

Standing tall, her crown highlights her magnificence

With eyes crystal clear and bright, she was born to see the unseen

Beholden to her unwavering radiance are those forever in her debt

She has comforted countless souls lost in nights hollow embrace

Surely treachery amongst the shoals would spell certain doom

Taking their hands, she leads them to certain safety

Welcoming ports embrace them by her blessing

Returning them back to family and loved ones unscathed

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

Lady San Estrella

Dark and exposed after eons under the sculptor’s chisel

Laid naked to the elements and the seasons

Sharp, jagged and formidable, few dare confront you

Either out of fear or rightful respect

~~

A few fools dare scale your rocky crags in quest of your treasures

Cutting deep into your subterranean veins

Drawing out your blood and secrets through violent means

Leaving hollows only to be left abandoned once bled dry

~~

Still this does not detract from the adoration of your admirers

The saguaros raise their arms to the sky in praise

Brave faced monolith, you offer comfort in spite of the desecration

Providing shelter to those that dwell under your protection

~~

Your strength and bravery are none diminished

Inspite of the riches stolen from your purse you hold your head high

Taking revenge on those with careless intentions

Showing no remorse in light of the pains you’ve endured

~~

It could be said that nature has been cruel to you

Yet you have not taken this to heart

Your life can not be counted in mere mortal years

Since you have outlived those that laid claim to your precious abundance

~~

Our prayer is that your future holds you in appreciation and respect

No more to cut and scar your rough hewn beauty

You are a wonder to behold

To be looked upon with reverence as the creator intended

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

Brokenhearted

When passions fail tears bathe the wounded soul

Drowning the pain so freely inflicted

Hurt is temporary by design so be unyielding

Willing arms are outstretched to comfort you

You will not be abandoned for I am with you always

~~

No words need spoken

Your silence speaks the volumes of emotion enveloping you

My heart is torn and bleeding in your agony

Tearing at me like shards of shattered glass

Razor sharp and unrelenting in intensity

~~

Healing seems impossible amongst the ruin of betrayal

But you must have the courage to trust again

Take my hands and give me all of your sorrow

This is what my love and friendship tender

Without condition or reservation

~~

Know that you are adored by those around you

Your loss and heartbreak is shared with compassion

Drawing out that which tortures your spirit

Leaving you consoled and warm

Able to experience love again

~~ By D. R. DiFrancesco ~~