Category Archives: Poetry

Venus (Haiku)

Graced with true beauty

Beyond purely physical

You are my Venus

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Birth Of Day (Aubade)

Awake my love to witness birth of day,

Greeted by java’s scent and morning dove’s song.

Hurry, hurry my love for I cannot stay,

Approaching my time to depart; it won’t be long.

.

These lilies fresh I cut for you,

Gently placed in bedside vase.

Moist with cool early morning dew;

Unwrap yourself from linen and lace.

.

Awake my love to bodies tender touch,

Do not forsake this dawns advance.

For this heart is filled with love so much,

Pierce not my heart with slumbers lance.

.

Does the sun not warm thy angelic face,

Arise dearest love and take my hand.

A gentle touch to your cheek I trace;

Place your feet upon this cherished land.

.

Awake my love to witness birth of day.

.

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

~

According to Wikipedia, an aubade is a morning love song (as opposed to a serenade, which is in the evening), or a song or poem about lovers separating at dawn.[1] It has also been defined as “a song or instrumental composition concerning, accompanying, or evoking daybreak”.[2]

In the strictest sense of the term, an aubade is a song from a door or window to a sleeping woman.[3] Aubades are generally conflated with what are strictly called albas, which are exemplified by a dialogue between parting lovers, a refrain with the word alba, and a watchman warning the lovers of the approaching dawn.[3]

Aubades were in the repertory of troubadours in Europe in the Middle Ages. An early English example is in Book III of Chaucer‘s Troilus and Criseyde. The love poetry of the 16th century dealt mostly with unsatisfied love, so the aubade was not a major genre in Elizabethan lyric.[original research?][citation needed]

Running (Tanka)

We did it as kids

No modern apparatus

Born with all we need

Two legs and a desire

The beauty and grace…running

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Dearest Me

Dearest me…

What have you been afraid of all these years?

Just look at all the damage you’ve done!

Your fear of failure caused us to fail.

Your fear of rejection filled us with loneliness.

Your fear of disappointment stymied enjoyment.

Your fear of intimacy sustained our solitude.

Your fear of hurt built our hardened facade.

Your fear of living has stunted our life.

Your fear of dying has fueled an unending search.

Your fear, your fear, our fear…

What more do I want from me?

Have we not shed enough blood,

Given our pound of flesh,

Enough for a lifetime?

Wake up and smell the roses

We’ve been standing in this garden all our life

But we’ve been too afraid to see it.

.

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 I originally wrote this as my submission for the WDBWP Monday poetry prompt, but then realized it wasn’t the correct form.  I still liked the poem so I thought I would post it anyway.

Always With A Drink (Tanka)

Always with a drink

Not to sustain the body

But to numb the soul

Cowardice in a bottle

Shows weakness of character

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Liquid Adrenaline

Liquid adrenaline

Black and hot

Steaming like a freight train

Running the gauntlet thrown before it

Breaking through

At once there is clarity

Dawn’s fog is lifted revealing the beauty of day

Sights, the smell opens like an obsidian rose

Delightful and powerful

Bold and aromatic

Temporary, yet easily repeatable

In bountiful varieties

Mine–deep, dark and strong

Undiluted by flavors

Coffee–crack in my cup

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

~

Jem Farmer – The Boipoet -Tuesday Thinking Prompt – 24 September 2013

Prompt Word: Coffee

Don’t You Ever Learn (Epistle)

WDBWP Monday Poetry Prompt #22: What Would You Say to You?

~

I

Don’t you ever learn

You spent our childhood always trying to please others

But where did that get you

What about pleasing us

What about it

II

Our teen years weren’t much different

Still trying to please the same people

Ignoring what we wanted

You acted like some kind of martyr

I don’t remember anyone asking for it

III

We had things we wanted to do

Sports, career, dreams that should have been a reality

And what did we do

We didn’t follow through

We ignored our own desires

IV

Whose fault was this

It was nobodies but ours

To blame anyone else would be a lie

We didn’t stand up for what we wanted

So shut up and deal with it

V

Its nice though that we finally wised up

At least a little…maybe

We didn’t turn out half bad

We got smart and realized we missed her

And did something about it before she got away for good

VI

She’s put up with us now for over 24 years

And hasn’t killed us yet

Although we probably deserved it

A long time ago

We can be high maintenance you know

VII

And our children

What can we say

Thank God, the stars, dumb luck that they are great kids

The greatest treasure we could have asked for

A blessing if there ever was one

VIII

I’m thankful that they didn’t turn out like us

Well–At least not entirely

They did get some of their mother’s traits

Mostly the good ones…quiet she might be listening

Really, they don’t know how lucky they are

IX

After all is said-and-done

We should be happy with how things turned out

Family is what is important

In spite of us we are doing pretty darn well in that area

A loving wife, wonderful children and a comfortable life

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Crack In The Sidewalk

Cracks in this decrepit sidewalk,

Jagged…from narrow to wide to narrow again,

Desolate except for the weeds that call them home.

~

I tread carefully, almost gingerly,

To avoid bridging the divide,

To avoid crushing the resilient squatters.

~

Fragile are their tender shoots,

Breaking at the slightest tug,

Recoiling back into the safety of the crevasse.

Wounded they wait for confidence to return,

Only then rearing their heads above the horizon,

This act plays out continuously until the final stand.

~

The final stand when ripped out by the root,

Poisoned ‘til they shrivel up and die,

Or trampled to oblivion.

~

Stunted and savaged,

We will never know for sure

Whether they be weeds

…Or perhaps the most beautiful of wildflowers.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Fear Not (Haiku)

Fear not, my dear friend

I will be with you always

In eternity

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Insomniac (Sonnet)

Sleep evades I toss and turn

Begging for good nights rest

This is all for which I yearn

Searching for slumber in jest

Plague as a Vampire to obambulate

Passing hour after hour on end

Striving on my sanity confiscate

Of this my foe will not bend

Try as I might absolute I am sure

My struggle most nights will go on

An insomniacs fate for eternity endure

Lasting until I am gone

Maybe its time for Ambien’s magic

To sleep before body and mind go tragic

.

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

.

Word: Obambulate

Jem Farmer – The Boi Poet – Words at the Weekend – 21-22 September 2013 Poetry Prompt