Image Credit: desertusa.com
Southwest jackrabbit
Silent and still as a mime
Ears perked for danger
~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~
Jackrabbit – Haiku
Category Archives: Poetry
The Unknown – Haiku
Image Credit: fs.fed.gov
The river glistens
Babbling it’s way seaward
Into the unknown
~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~
Cold, Cold Heart – A Tanka
Image Credit: dioxenya.devianart.com
The gray sky, clouds hover
Looks like another snow day
Cold, harsh, unfeeling
You left me for another
Shattering my heart like ice
~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~
Hidden Legacy
I hold no ill will toward you,
As so many years have passed,
Softening the blows,
Physical and figurative,
Mending the wake of destruction,
Which you so callously sowed,
With the passing of each scarred soul,
The shameful becomes legend,
Stories told…perhaps exaggerated,
By progeny twice or more removed,
Your only legacy,
Undeserving of even this remembrance,
You’ve blackened our name,
Are we to forgive you,
That is for God to judge,
Are we to pity ourselves,
No…for we are stronger than you knew,
With sadness we look back,
Cursing your existence,
Mourning your departure,
Loving you as father,
Despising you as man.
~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~
Cry for the Song Dog
A singular bay,
Followed by another,
Then another,
Their lonesome calls,
Echo through the granite canyons,
The pale summer moon,
Pays homage to their cries,
What must the Hopi and the Navajo thought,
Looking into the darkness of night,
O’ they knew the coyote well,
The hero, trickster and shapeshifter,
A buffoon,
A clown,
Seldom dangerous,
Never a nuisance,
That is the label of today,
Seeing the song dog as inconvenient,
Thrusting them out,
To places they don’t call home,
Still they are not be hushed, but resilient,
Distant howls,
Raised to the crystal moon can be heard,
Their sad lonesome cry,
Growing fainter and eerily infrequent,
As man advances on their prairie,
Leaving little hope for more,
Than a future of extinction,
Will anyone mourn the passing of…
The song dog.
~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~
Not So Different – A Tanka
Passing the fence line
Cattle and antelope mixed
Sharing grass as kin
Perhaps this is a lesson
Unlike but living in peace
~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~
Spring – Haiku
Image Credit: fanpop.com
Sun filled days await
As spring arrives in birds song
Dew replaces frost
~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~
A Very Human Success
I’ve longed for success,
Yet in my lifetime,
Remains elusive,
Each dream rescinds the previous,
Resurrecting new heights to aspire,
Settling for mediocrity would be surrender,
This is the human way,
Should we not instead be yearning for elation,
Our sole reason for being,
Instead of monetary wealth,
Finding happiness in work, love, life,
Treasures that cannot be bought,
Fools believe fulfillment lies in smelted gold,
Gold alone does nothing but poison the soul,
Hollowing out and destroying our hearts,
Becoming a false and idolatrous god,
Blinding us to true and lasting joy,
Perhaps success lies in simple things,
Very human things,
Family,
Friends,
Self.
Love of one’s self must be realized,
For void of this one cannot offer love to another,
Maybe success is already in our grasp,
If we would just be thankful,
No…grateful,
For all that we already possess.
Maybe…
If we were to look inside ourselves,
We would find that we have always been…
Successful.
~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~
The Harvest – Haiku
The warmth of the sun
Nature renewing the earth
Calling the harvest
~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~
Greener Grass
This gravel road,
A path oft traveled,
Lane you strode,
As your life unraveled.
~~
Yon horizon so far distant,
Where a better life must lay,
Hurry on forth right this instant,
For the sun will rise on a brighter day.
~~
On yonder side the grass must surely be greener,
As the old time saying goes,
This too passes as ones life becomes leaner,
With far too little to show.
~~
Much too often we chase exaggerated expectations,
When they seem right within our grasp,
‘Til euphoria fades to urgent consternation,
And your prospects they dwindle and lapse.
~~
Life lessons learned are the hardest its true,
As the scars and bruises do prove,
Out of the rubble and ash will rise a new you,
In spirit and nature behoove.
~~
We greet you back home as a most beloved son,
For you needed to find your own way,
This is only the beginning of the journey you’ve begun,
Welcome home for as long as you will stay.
~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~
Dom DiFrancesco 