Tag Archives: beauty

A Step Toward Cliffs Edge

A step toward cliffs edge;

Downward falls rock and sand,

Bouncing, ricocheting off stone walls,

Shear and treacherous in route to their destiny.

Equilibrium falters on unsure footing,

Perched high above circling birds,

An unnatural scene for man.

Carved by wind and water

Otherworldly vastness astounds.

Its artist appears a distant ribbon of green-blue

Winding mesas and chasms ,

Ever chiseling to greater and greater depths,

Slow, deliberate, unnoticed by all but the creator.

Revealing what is evident to all but fools;

How abruptly the human spirit can be dashed,

Minimizing our self-aggrandizing achievements.

What feat of man could compare?

We are but amateurs

Crawling in hopes to walk,

Attempting to master the unmasterable,

Devastating perfection, striving to control.

Can we not just appreciate the grandeur,

The depth and breadth of this– Grand Canyon.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Beauty Surrounds

Beauty surrounds,

If we only take time to observe.

Caught in the trap of modernity,

Should we not exalt these wonders,

For the sanctity of nature,

Is most breathtaking to behold.

Our towering buildings, bridges, fountains, sculptures,

All the great works of the ages do not compare.

Man’s achievements are but specks,

Mere blemishes woven into this worldly fabric.

The Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, the giant redwoods,

the mighty Mississippi, the Rocky Mountains,

Overshadow anything man’s simple mind could envision.

Yet through our mortal determination

We destroy the masterpiece that sustains us.

Let us slow down…

Take a moment to appreciate what surrounds us

Before we further damage this gift we have been given

Leaving nothing but ugliness and regret

To those that will follow.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Cerulean Sky – A Tanka

Cerulean sky

Blackbirds singing in willow

Warm sun on my face

Perfect time for reflection

Under natures pergola

~

~~ 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 ~~

Sunrise Light Flickers – A Haiku

Image Credit: thecounselingctr.com

Image Credit: thecounselingctr.com

Sunrise light flickers

As golden shafts breach treetops

Wrapped in nature’s arms

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Paradise – A Haiku

Image Credit: startedsailing.com

Image Credit: startedsailing.com

Breeze catches my sails

Crystal waters lap the hull

This is paradise

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

A Dream Walk

Do I dare walk this twisted mile

Beneath the sway of the weeping willow canopy.

An aire of pecan and clover

Floats on a warm moist wind,

Hypnotizing my senses.

Lured like steel to magnet

I saunter on my dream swept way.

Grassy fields cropped to a dandy’s perfection,

Paint a canvas of green

Dimpled with the smiling faces of daisies.

In the distance,

The silhouette of a weary plow horse

Pinches the emerald horizon,

As it grazes to reinvigorate.

With each yard strode,

A cloud of dust, summoned by my wake

Climbs to the heavens,

Whisked skyward by the tepid breeze.

Stricken by the silence,

Only the swirling song of  Morning Doves for company,

I reminisce of a time before my time.

What simplicity in this wanton beauty,

If only this were home.

 ~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Mirror on the Soul

A warm summer breeze

Skin glistening in the sun

Like the souls mirror

Releasing your true essence

Out to a waiting world

~

A Tanka

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

In the Wake of Barnegat Bay

clamming

Clamming on the Barnegat Bay

Marsh grass swaying to summer’s breeze music,

Wafting smell of sulfur…cattail decay permeates the air,

Skeleton legged egrets skate over muck and mire,

Silently stalking, without trace or print,

Fisher of frog and killie and eel satiate the craw,

Atypical beauties gliding amongst driftwood and jellyfish.

Gulls chatter wakes the quiet of the rustling reeds,

Circling, cawing in haphazard patterns above the sea,

Groupies to fish laden boats anxious for port,

Unafraid…swooping to touch the hand that feeds,

Scraps of innards, heads, tails treats for the monochrome crew,

Relentless in their acrobatic aerial pursuit.

Sullen skies harvest chilly rains, whipping winds churn the bay to froth,

Whitecaps endlessly roll across turbulent waters,

Crashing to port and starboard in a symphony of wind-swept spray,

Biting hardened faces, skin soaked..raw with each pull of the rake and tong,

Muscle aches, such minute reward, so honorable the sacrifice,

For bushels of clams…the elusive cherry stone.

Brutality of summer’s heat nor winter’s cold deters,

Boats of wood, chipping and weathered, flat-bottom or “v”,

Designs dreamt in the mind of another century,

Purpose built, purpose born, rugged men, bred for the rigors,

Calloused, barnacle laden, weaned from the land, cast to the sea

Baymen one and all, men to their briny cores.

Bay of cedar and Atlantic salt, treacherous inlet throat,

Darkened by sources of origins mixed,

Nectar of life to fish and fowl, baymen and boater, lovers of marine,

Beauty whilst beast when stoked by storm,

Life giving…treacherous for the ignorant and uninitiated,

Wondrous, mysterious…Barnegat Bay.

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

* I grew up along the Barnegat Bay, in New Jersey and worked as a commercial clammer for a number of years.  This type of work is not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but it certainly was honest work and taught me the value of persistence.  This is an absolutely beautiful area to live in and now that I live in the desert, I realize how much I love and miss the bay and ocean.