Out in the Cold

Image Credit: fealessmen.com

Image Credit: fealessmen.com

Glazed streets,

Reflection of street lamps blinding.

~~

Snowflakes fall,

Unique and ghostly frightening.

~~

Steam grates bellow,

Clouds of white coagulate in the night.

~~

Sidewalk frigid,

Stiff and frozen to the bone.

~~

Passersby laugh,

Homeless and so alone.

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

To See in Color – Haiku

Image Credit: sodahead.com

Image Credit: sodahead.com

Look through the prism

Light refracts in rainbow hues

Coloring our world

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

Suffocation – A Tanka

Your blanket of lies

Pulled tightly around my head

Suffocating trust

Killing, what I thought we shared

Sun, moon and the air we breathe

~~ D. R, DiFrancesco ~~

The Empty Bed – Tanka

I blink and you’re gone

Half our bed is crisp and cold

Empty like my heart

Broken by my one true love

Destined to wander alone

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

Make it a Double

Smell of cigarettes,

Stale beer stains,

Threadbare carpet,

Old men,

Hunched over mahogany,

Varnish long faded,

Years of harsh use,

Stained glass,

Discolored by smokey haze,

Dirty ashtrays,

Artwork for the nicotine addicted,

Spilled whiskey,

Tears,

Young men,

Worn beyond their years,

Chasing elder dreams,

Following their path,

Door to stool and back,

Work feeds addiction,

Paycheck to paycheck,

All to payoff the devil,

Memories of yesterday,

Expunged by today,

Innocuous when numb,

Hey bartender…

Make it a double!

 

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

Spider’s Web

I gave you everything,

Heart,

Soul,

All that you asked,

You played coy,

Feeding my appetite for love,

With promises and feigned passion,

Luring me into your web,

Wrapping me in a silky cocoon,

Warm and safe,

Nestled in you arms,

A deceitful security,

If only I had not been so blind,

I would have recognized your fangs,

Impaling me to numbness,

Helpless and oblivious,

Under your anesthetic poison,

I waited trembling,

For you to squander all that I am,

Weakened by the deluge,

Blood and spirit abate,

Eyes flutter and roll,

Your beauty,

First limpid, fades to black,

The nothingness that is your soul,

Emptied,

You discarded my hollowed husk,

Leaving me to crumble,

And scatter to the four winds.

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

Wrong Number – Haiku

Image Credit: clevelandmovieblog.com

Image Credit: clevelandmovieblog.com

The telephone rings

A friend calls to meet for lunch?

Sorry, wrong number

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

Envy

Oh!, envious obsession,

One of seven deadly sins,

Lust for another’s possessions,

Breeds avarice and contempt,

All to what end?

A life of misery,

Constant sadness and dissatisfaction,

Hate, an unquenchable longing,

Reprehensible to a life so succinct,

Cherish the gifts bestowed,

Rejoice in nature,

The heavens,

In family,

For nothing is of greater import,

Earthly possessions are but temporary,

Absconded or lost in passing,

Leaving a desirous heart,

Empty and alone in what lies,

In the hereafter.

 

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

Sins of the Father – Haiku

Image Credit: reasons.org

Image Credit: reasons.org

Sins of the father

Son cast into the world

Misfortune sustained

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

Life on the Off-ramp

Hot summer days,

A/C blasting cold and refreshing,

Music blaring from the car radio,

Cardboard signs,

“Will work for food”,

Litter the freeway off-ramps,

Held by vagrants and transients,

Dirty and broken,

Looking for food,

Looking for a better life,

Hoping to survive another day,

You pass by averting your eyes,

Pretending…no wishing they were not there,

Not because of sadness for their condition,

But out of deep seated embarrassment,

Red faced by lack of action,

Of compassion,

Of sympathy,

Seeing them as less than human,

A drain on society,

Would some spare change put you out,

Not likely,

But then you would have to face reality.

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~