Category Archives: Poetry

O’ Precious Neighbor – A Tanka

O’ precious neighbor

Though we live worlds apart

We are of one soul

One mind and of one body

Our stories end the same way

~

~~ Dominic DiFrancesco ~~

Temptation

I have taken hold of my senses and emotions,

Both temporal and natural, or so I thought.

~

One, however refuses to submit,

Fails to retreat in the face of iron will.

~

This one will continue to elude me

I fear, until my dying day.

~

My nemesis, temptation, smells weakness

Drawing out the impetuosity of my youth.

~

It taunts me with promises of wealth and joy,

Promises of gratification and self-aggrandizing,

Promises of love and power and strength.

~

Incorrigible are these in their sloth and betrayal;

Resistance proves futile in the face of this demon,

This evil that has been plaguing man since time began.

~

I fear I will continue in this mortal struggle

Until I breathe my last breath

Or conquer this most human of addictions,

Temptation.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Farewell Knights Templar

Image Credit: wunderground.com

Image Credit: wunderground.com

The blood curdling scream from the dungeon below,

Made John pray to God for the hangman’s gallows.

This soldier of God stripped of vestments so pure,

Now nameless and faceless a test he was sure.

~

I’ve done what was asked by king, country and Pope

In exchange for a promise to Heaven elope.

If I fall in battle to those savages in the east,

To sling, bow and arrow or some other horrid beast.

~

Instead I’m betrayed by the kinsman I protect;

By cowards and fools those insignificant specks.,

Hiding behind crown whilst I lay on this rack,

Fingers and toes broke while they flail on my back.

~

These charges of heresy are baseless and false,

I’ll deny to my death, to my last beating pulse.

Phillip IV King of motherland France,

Cooked up this scheme devious to embolden his stance.

~

Our riches and land to be his at all costs,

No matter the lives of the Templar that are lost.

Castle and fortress captured by the crown,

Confiscated before Pope Clement could resound.

~

This murderous thief will be judged before God,

Without royal finements, naked and unshod.

Surely he’ll be banished to Hades for his crimes,

Whilst I’ll be looking down on his torment for all times.

~

Justice will be served though draw and quarter is my fate,

I long for the Lord at Saint Peter’s pearly gate.

For the righteous will receive promised Heaven’s just due,

Whilst river of fire awaits souls of evil to be threw.

~

Soon my dear comrades in paradise I will join,

Those of you who’ve gone before by the heathen on the coin.

We’ll reap our sweet vengeance on this coward of the throne,

He’ll burn in Hell, consumed by fire, for eternity alone.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Creativity – A Tanka

Image Credit: sportschump.net

Image Credit: sportschump.net

Creativity

Trying to break through this void

Where words elude me

She has left my side before

Returning in her own time

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

For Generations To Follow

How subtle the wind blows through my hair,

Like the gentle caress of a lover’s fingers.

I close my eyes, breathing deeply to draw in my ladies scent,

Warmth rushes my face as her sun shines down upon me,

Is there any sensation more wonderful to the soul.

Sparrows melodic song taunts my feet to tapping,

Keeping time, as though the conductor of natures choir.

Swooping with grace and tenacity I spy the redtail hawk as it startles it’s prey,

Continuing a circle of life that long predates me,

Beautiful yet disturbing in it’s raw aggression,

I remain undeterred by my love and admiration.

The river before me rages rapid over falls and boulder,

Sparkling like the queen she is at her coronation,

Teaming with sockeye driven by their spawn,

As I by the serenity of the wonders around me.

Is not the hand of God most perfect in the wielding of his tools,

Neither man nor science could compare.

I lay down in prayer and praise,

To honor and preserve this masterpiece called earth,

For the generations that surely will follow me.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Walk In The Sun – A Tanka

Image Credit: 1ms.net

Image Credit: 1ms.net

A walk in the sun

Natures call to blossom

Shoots and buds answer

Birds return from winters rest

A beautiful renewal

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Have and Have Not

You laud that all you have, you have earned

The blood and sweat of your toils payment

While covering the working poor and unemployed

With a blanket of hate and hypocrisy

Are not your hands outstretched

Collecting the tithe of the state

You are no different than those you so despise

It comes at no less a cost and is no less a handout

Than that received for the sustenance of life

Is sharpening your intellect from the pockets of the people

Somehow more noble than feeding children and the poor

You cry for the state to back down

While pickpocketing the very social programs

You so vehemently claim to detest

You hypocrite! You cannot have it both ways

You cannot suckle at the teats of mother state

While questioning that which she so graciously provides

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Silly Boys and Girls

Silly boys, they laugh and they giggle,

Silly girls in their skirts they do wiggle.

The girls laugh and point at the giggling boys,

As they make funny noises playing with their toys.

The girls turn away when they see the boys gawk,

The boys chase the girls with the speed of a hawk.

The boys yell and taunt as the girls run away,

The girls round the schoolyard away from them they stay.

Huffing and puffing the boys give up chase,

The girls in their stocking feet ran away with the race.

The boys and the girls in playgrounds and yards,

Laughing and singing, life was not hard.

This innocence squandered to the aging of youth,

Maybe in children we adults can find our lost truth.

Wouldn’t this be such wonderful thing,

Removing from stress, it’s life zapping sting.

There’s much we can learn from our children at play,

Like how to have fun each and every day.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

This Love, My Love I Have Procured

This love, my love I have procured

With this cadence thumping in my breast.

~

You have shadowed my sensibilities

Keeping step with tango’s passion.

~

Nothing more could I inquire of you

Than that which you have deliberately given me.

~

Fulfilled beyond words that you are mine and I yours,

Comrades and lovers in this roughshod world.

~

So rare in this realm of disparate souls;

Failures of the heart abound in every corner,

Tear-drenched souls void of our gift,

How sad their discomfort.

~

Neither crisis nor passing shall sever our bond;

Joined in Heaven we are destiny,

Our destiny, my destiny, your destiny,

For all these many years into eternity.

~

You are and have forever been

My love,

My friend,

My everything.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Turning a Blind Eye – A Tanka

Image Credit: productiveflourishing.com

Image Credit: productiveflourishing.com

Turning a blind eye

Gives momentary relief

But changes nothing

Only actions gets results

Poverty kills if ignored

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~