Author Archives: Dom DiFrancesco

Christmas Past

Christmas2

By D. R. DiFrancesco

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Tree lined streets draped in white lights

Shine like so many stars in the heavens

Shop windows with edges frosted

Frame the season in all it’s glory

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Boys, with their noses pressed to the glass

Breath leaving an innocent fog obscuring their vision

Electric trains guarded by toy soldiers

Smiling wide eyed observers left speechless with anticipation

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Little girls drawn to sparkling blue eyes of dolls that cry Mama

Bathing them in hugs and kisses

Joy of the holiday blushing their cheeks

The sweet innocence of the child

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Santa Clause greets his loyal believers with a knowing grin

Rosy red cheeks and a beard of snow his calling card

Ho Ho Ho echos above the noise of the crowd

Signaling the approach of Christmas day.

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Sidewalks filled with holiday shoppers

The joyous sound of carolers fills the frosty air

Good cheer is the calling of the day

Were it only that these feelings would last throughout the year

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Reminiscing on past Christmas’ brings such happiness

With simpler times came fewer expectations

The latest toy or game was less important

Instead family, friends and the true meaning of Christmas became the greatest gifts of all

Cherish the Time

By D. R. DiFrancesco

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Treasure the time had with those you have lost

For we can never know when it will end

Will we be here tomorrow

Will we see the sunrise

Will we see the sunset

Only God in Heaven knows our fate

Draw close, those you hold so dear

Hug them and kiss them and tell them that you love them

For regrets are most damaging to the soul

The past is in the past

Time gone, is gone never to return

Let good memories be of comfort to you

We pray that sadness will not be your constant companion

Live on for them

Thrive for them

Keep their spirit alive through you

Know that they are with you, watching over you

Smiling upon you in everything that you do

Take solace in knowing that they love you

For one day your spirits will reunite in the heavens

A Senseless Loss (Sandy Hook Elementary School Tragedy)

cn

By D. R. DiFrancesco

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To rationalize this cycle of unfettered hate

Would only lend credence to the insane

The innocence of children left to a horrible fate

Snuffed out by a killer’s reasons arcane

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We weep for them, for what we have lost

A future taken in an instant never to grow up

Never to have know them, an insurmountable cost

Terrible and tragic their loss we never can make up

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We light our candles and say a prayer

Hoping their Maker greets them with open arms

For all we can do is stand united and show them that we care

While trying to figure out how to protect others from Satan’s harm

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Who could have known or perhaps have foretold

What tragedy would await these children so pure

Our own  we’ll pull close and tightly hold

To be confident they safe I am sure

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Thou shalt not kill a commandment most true

May this murderer burn in eternal hell

For you’ve taken from us so much more than you knew

In a moment of silence we toll the bell

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We stand with the mothers and fathers who weep

Tears that cannot bring their babies home

Never again to lay them down to sleep

Their hearts laid bare, broken and alone

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What more can I do but say sorry and grieve

For a loss no one can ever justify

I drop to my knees and beg their souls to take leave

And with mourning and sadness say goodbye

The Love of Fear

Credit - denverlibrary.org

Credit – denverlibrary.org

By D. R. DiFrancesco

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Fading light settles in

A prelude to the eerie silence of night

Shadows cast their nets over daylights reign

Capturing the throne under cover of darkness

What games are in play

When evil lurks in the minds eye

Clear as sight, solid and treacherous

We fear that which we can imagine

Imagination resurrects the childhood stories and legends told

By Shelly and Stoker and the Brothers Grimm

Feeding the monsters and demons they preach

What odd fellows we are

Envisioning the worst in man and nature

Vividly foretold in ancient myth

In recesses deep and subconscious

We live to love what terrorizes the soul

Extracting joy from what scares us most

A strange conundrum of human nature is this

Void of logic and common sense

That what frightens us should serve to entertainment us

Inner Peace

By D. R. DiFrancesco

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The dust settles like a blanket on the troubles of the day

As evening sets, stress and worry dissolve into nothingness

Prodding a smile to softens the creases in my face

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With eyes closed I can see a new me, reborn in spirit

Negativity gives way to bliss as I fill myself with abundant joy

Are not love and happiness the keys to a full life

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What love can be given from a saddened heart

It would be insincere or at the least passive

Not what one needing to be cherished deserves

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Sharing happiness is inconceivable out of misery

While living in distress, jubilance lies repressed corrupting the essence

This most surely is undeniable

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As heart and mind refocus on what’s good in this world

I find myself in soulful contemplation of who I am

Questioning who I’m supposed to be

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Through enlightenment I have come to love myself

Not selfishly, but sufficiently to project onto others

Filling me with joy and a sense of inner peace making me a better man

Jeweled Desert

Credit - gorp.com

Credit – gorp.com

By D. R. DiFrancesco

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The late fall sky

Bathed in tangerine and magenta

Fragrance of Palo Verde and Cottonwood fills the air

Serenity cloaks the towering granite peaks

Wrapping them in shades of purple and gold

Exalting their millennial majesty

The coyote’s bay

Floating effortlessly through the canyons

They share their lonesome longing song

Adorned as if otherworldly

Cacti and the gnarled Joshua tree dot the desolate Sonoran desert

Prickly and unpretentious in their beauty

The landscape ruled by snake and scorpion

Rattle of the tail and venomous sting, relics of the deadly precipice

The destiny awaiting the oblivious visitor

Rain devoid xeriscape

Designed by the marvelous hand of nature

Wondrous in it’s simplicity and complexity

Man could not have created such a miraculous wonder

For our nature is to destroy

Still the creator left flawed beings as the keepers

To cherish and protect his prized ecru jewel.

A Question of Eternity

Credit - window2universe.org

Credit – window2universe.org

By D. R. DiFrancesco

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Who am I

Did not my spirit exist be for me

Perhaps not in this form,

Though most surely it did exist.

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The things I am are not new to me

My essence existed at the beginning

Conception did not create it nor can death destroy it

So who was I before.

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Maybe a river running through Africa

A blue whale navigating the seas

Or maybe a playful butterfly flying on high

Could not part of me have existed in all of these.

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In this I find comfort

The body being merely a vessel

Temporary and dispensable on loan from the earth

To be gladly returned upon passing.

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The energy that is me remains

Free of this vessel

Free to become whatever the universe deems fit

Glorious and unhindered by my physical being.

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There is peace in thoughts of this

Knowing I have always been and will always be

Could this be the eternal life spoken of in religion

Whether of God or of nature, we may never know.

The Gift

credit - fanpop.com

credit – fanpop.com

By D. R. DiFrancesco

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In this most festive time of year,

Let us not forget amongst our Christmas cheer,

In whom the honor of this day be blessed,

Exalted on High above all the rest.

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Every year at this time we tend to get lost,

Spending more than we have at almost any cost,

For fear we’ll disappoint the ones that we love,

Most surely we wouldn’t, petty things they’re above.

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This is not why the Lord brought his Son to this earth,

He is the gift in Christmas that was given at birth,

Nothing in this world to Him could compare,

With the sacrifice of Christ that God wholly did share.

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Our boxes and bows are mere trinkets to Him,

Valueless in comparison might I go out on a limb,

Tinsel and garland are beautiful it is true,

Lights of white, yellow, red, green orange and blue.

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These are not what Christmas time is about,

Not the trees, decorations, or the gifts that you tout,

Its about love and charity done all the year through,

Kindness shown unto others in all that we do.

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Its being thankful for Christ as we live out His word,

For benevolence though silent can still be powerfully heard,

This may be the greatest gift that as mortals we can give,

A gift we may freely offer for as long as we live.

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So enjoy your Christmas trees and your twinkling lights,

Just remember our Lord and His Bethlehem night,

For His gift that He gave so many years ago,

Is the only one we need through joyful song we do show.

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Draw nearer to you all your family and friends,

Shouting praises and prayer up to heaven you send,

We celebrate your birth baby Jesus whom we hold oh so dear,

May we embody the Christmas spirit all through the year.

Secrets Better Left Spoken

By D. R. DiFrancesco

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Secrets clutched tightly to our breast

Scared to show vulnerability

Hiding those things which make us cry, make us bleed

From a world we don’t think could understand.

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Are we untrue to ourselves

The lies we hide deep within our hearts

Beat rhythmically to escape the fleshy prison

Only to be pushed back into the darkest recesses of our souls.

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No one is immune

Deceitful is he who denies his susceptibility

Who has breathed that has not hidden his weakness

Protection from our humanity.

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Our society prides strength

Scoffing at compassion and emotion as if a sign of frailty

This is absurd, yet it resonates loudly among us

So we shelter that which makes us mortal.

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Maleness dictates the subjugation of feelings

One cannot be strong and show emotion

So we masquerade them in anger and violence

Unleashing rage through pestilence and war.

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Our progeny suffers

Families torn asunder in fits of acrimony

Childhoods left in tatters by pent up defiance

Fallen to the tragedy of shame.

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Depression festers, virulent and deadly

A secret best left unmentioned in polite circles

An illness of the mind cannot be real

You are a man, you must act like one.

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The imposition of this philosophy is for fools

Harmful and destructive to the mind, body and soul

Anxiety, depression, suicide the unwelcome victor

Do these secrets make you proud.

credit - carroll.edu

credit – carroll.edu

Unalike at Birth

Credit - csmonitor.com

Credit – csmonitor.com

By D. R. DiFrancesco

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I ran the race, but tripped and fell,

The starter’s pistol heard clear as a bell.

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They say we start out as equals its true,

Sadly the shortest of fates straws I drew.

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The field is not level, its slanted you see,

The caste at your birth influences who you will be.

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Yes this can change its not written in stone,

You’ll have to push harder and higher alone.

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Your families old money makes for a pre-made man

While I scratch and I claw doing all that I can.

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As I’m running my race I can see you ahead,

Getting farther and farther from the path that I tread.

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You claim we are the same from conception to birth,

My mother cleans houses, what’s your Daddy’s net worth.

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The systems unfair, some say evil and cruel,

Treating those of less fortune as inconvenient and worthless fools.

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Because you say this is not so does not make it true,

I work as hard if not harder than many of you do.

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Still I live paycheck to paycheck without a spare dime,

Hoping and praying someday good fortune in turn will be mine.

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I would change my condition if only time would allow,

But with work, home, and family to their pressures I must bow.

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You laugh and call us stupid behind country club doors,

We are those that wait on you, clean up after you and shine your marble floors.

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How dare you proclaim that this system is fair,

From your ivory towers, sprawling mansions, and mountain top lairs.

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Remember there are those far less fortunate than you,

Born without the golden slipper, silver spoon our betterment you subdue.

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I look forward to the day when in my shoes you must walk,

Maybe then you’ll show compassion and stifle harsh talk.

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Until then I will struggle and work ‘til I drop,

Pray the system will change and this punishment stop.

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When fairness for all is the law in this land,

Maybe then we can solve our problems walking arm in arm and hand in hand.