Awash In The Swamp

Awash in the swamp, he’d supposed to drain

His promises proved lies now shown;

Oligarchs and thieves fall down as the rain

Your hopes and your dreams turned to stone.

 

We told you, we told you not to believe

This carnival barker cloaked in Versace;

Give it some time as I’m certain you’ll grieve

With your tears as they spoil your latte.

 

Prepare for the change that will turn back our time

To an age where our rights had no rights;

It’s you that will suffer for your ignorant crime

My greatest hopes’ that you lose sleep at night,

 

You’ve sold out our country with no care for her souls and left it in the hands of a jackal.

I hope you are happy as he rakes us o’er the coals while he and his ilk writhe and cackle.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

50 Word Story: Wasted Life

Brochures piled upon the bed, edges rabbit-eared from years of wasted dreams; the world lay before him if only he had the time.  As a child Jim dreamt of seeing Europe, Italy, Spain, but it is not meant to be.

A lifetime prison sentence has destroyed all of his plans.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Baited and Murdered

Baited and murdered

Head on a silver platter

Carcus left to rot

Foolish man with bow in hand

Now he’s wanted for his crime

Maybe now he knows

What it’s like to be the prey

Hunter now hunted

Perhaps the same fate awaits

A trophy for Zimbabwe

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Pondering Things

Pondering things more now than ever

I’m finding out how little I know.

I don’t understand human nature;

Its incessant need for power,

Its unquenchable greed,

Its innate ability to hate,

Its thirst to subjugate others.

Look no farther than the news;

War is spreading at a rapid pace,

Our young men and women are sent to fight,

For what…our freedom?

Only true if freedom flows from a pump.

Their blood is being exchanged for oil,

Sounds criminal unless you are a capitalist.

Poverty is running rampant,

The rich are getting richer

While the middle-class drowns

And the poor are being mowed under.

Our children are sunk into debt

For the privilege of an education.

Education is not a privilege but a right,

Only a fool would think otherwise…

You laugh…

Well then, a fool I must be!

With no where else to turn

We look toward the government,

Corrupt, divisive, they are of no help.

No! Don’t dare pull the party card,

Your blind faith in either cesspool is deplorable.

Don’t think for a second that they care about us,

Most of us don’t have the money to buy that kind of loyalty.

These behemoths only tolerate us because they have to.

Lobbyists and corporations are their real audience

Purchasing the destruction of our environment,

Sending our jobs overseas,

Corralling wealth for the pleasure of the minority

All for the destruction of the majority.

We…are…expendable!

In the end, what do I know?

I know what this country…this world could be,

It wouldn’t take much,

Just a little love,

A little compassion,

A little humanity,

But then…I am a dreamer

Who just realized…

How little I really know.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Imperfect System (Tanka)

Imperfect system

Still, it is better than most

Even when it fails

Of little consolation

To the living or the dead

 

~~ Dominic DiFrancesco ~~

What Drives Man

What drives man?

Greed, honor, sadness, love, anger, jealousy.

What drives man to madness?

The very same greed, honor, sadness, love, anger, jealousy.

Excuses for the evil that we do

Yet inexcusable by all accounts.

Innocence taken for causes only known to them.

Lives shattered!

Pain inflicted!

Sadness instilled!

No cause justifies their cowardice!

Their selfishness!

Their God complex!

These are criminals deserving of punishment,

Harsh and swift,

Showing no mercy,

For deeds done of their own free will.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Tragedy of Steubenville

Do not take pleasure

In the loss of two young souls.

Families tattered,

The victim forever changed,

Innocence left smoldering,

Trust left in ruins.

Is there no morality?

What happened to right and wrong?

A hollowed culture.

There are no winners this day,

Only losers can remain.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco