The smell of baked bread
Like perfume of memory
Grandma at the stove
O’ how joyful was childhood
When things were much simpler
Adulthood does dull
Senses fade to the background
Turning cynical
Happiness replaced by stress
O’ how soon we do forget
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Gone
My Youth
My Freedom
The adventure
Giving way to a cautious existence
~
The price we pay for our maturation
If we let it
Restricting
Joyless
Dead
~
Fight
Rise up
Remember
Your days gone by
While breathing it is not too late to live
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Venture into this world with a free and open mind
Let not negativity toward spirit corrupt
As the old saying goes “Seek and ye shall find”
Push onward and never give up
.
This world–an oyster–is yours to discover
The wonders and mysteries await
Secrets yet unknown are yours to uncover
As curiosity and passion conflate
.
Do not ever doubt your pureness of heart
Or your ability to achieve in this world
There is so much ahead before time to depart
Let this tapestry of life be unfurled
.
If ever you feel that you’re mired and afraid
Know I’m here, through your successes I’m repaid
.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
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 ~~
Lifelong friend,
We speak without speaking,
Share a history we both have lived,
Characters in a story that we both have told.
Our parents cut from a similar mould,
Blue collar, God fearing, salt of the earth
We are cut from that same cloth.
Neighbors as children and again as adults,
More like sisters than our sisters,
Distance only a temporary hindrance,
How peculiar our bond.
What path our futures may hold, I do not know,
What I do know is that you will color mine,
And I yours,
Lifelong friend.
~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~
* Written from my wife’s point of view about her best friend who she has know since she was 6 years old. They grew up together almost 3,000 miles (and 40 years ago) from where we live now and now her best friend and her husband live waking distance from us. That is a friendship, one which I never had. I think this is wonderful.
By D. R. DiFrancesco
Do you like what you see,
Molded after what you dreamed I’b be,
Sheltered behind walls of stone.
My wings clipped,
Meant to keep me safe,
Instead, caging my will to fly.
I knocked on fates door,
Only to have it slammed angrily in my face,
Resigned to a destiny of civilized certainty.
Is this the path I would have chosen?
Maybe, but that was for me to adjudge,
I never had the chance to find out.
Adolescence enslaved me,
Chaining my desires, preventing them from soaring,
Pushing me in directions that you found acceptable.
Age held no respite,
Desire for approval ingrained into my being,
Second guessing decisions through your minds eye.
Passage to maturity should not proceed this way,
Life’s lessons are meant to form us,
To be our guide through our metamorphosis to adulthood.
Despite being bound to the past,
Handcuffed to the vision of what I was supposed to be.
I have broken free of the iron shackles of my youth.
With no time for regrets I have freed me,
Unlocking my hopes from the dungeon of childhood,
Escaping the hangman that would have stifled my future.
Look back I would not change a thing,
Realizing that your protectiveness although misguided, decided who I became,
Leaving it up to me to alter the path on which I strode.
In strength I have become myself,
Confronting my shortcomings with an iron fist,
Finding the goodness in what I have become.
Harboring no compunction,
You did what you did out of love for my well-being,
Although flawed doing what you thought was best.
For this I thank you.
Dom DiFrancesco 