Scorched Earth, Tragic End (Tanka)

Scorched earth, tragic end

Dignity strewn far and wide

–No rest for the dead

Stranded in frozen boxcars

Awaiting man’s compassion

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Echoes Of Laughter

Echoes of laughter

Smiling faces of children

–Innocence at play

Sights, sounds of another time

When being a kid was cool

The cries of hunger

Tears streaming down sunken cheeks

–Modern travesty

While the rich still get richer

Children starve for no reason

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

We’re All Transient (Haiku)

We’re all transient–
Like fall drifts into winter
The cycle of life

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Boom

Boom!

Explosions foretell impending doom.

Shrapnel tears, litter, debris,

Screams of those one cannot see.

Missiles launched behind human shields,

Zionists and zealots refuse to yield.

Suffering little as the innocent die,

Denying they’re complicit, a terrible lie.

Which side is right, which side is wrong,

Difficult to tell they’ve hated so long.

Whether Gaza, Israel, Russia, Ukraine,

War is still war just with different names.

Fighting for ethnicity, Allah or God,

They’re “holier than thou” is just a facade.

Violence and death under whatever name,

Can’t be justified no matter what the claim.

Which leads me to wonder whether peace is desired,

With every bomb dropped and each rocket fired.

These wars have carried on for eons ‘til today,

I wonder if they really know any other way.

While their innocent suffer and hatred is bred,

I doubt they will stop until all sides are dead.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

We Are Still At War

We are still at war

Though it is invisible

To the naked eye

The media doesn’t care

Only the families do

Far away from home

Tears are shed–

With each phone call

Praying for good news

Or maybe no news at all.

They are alone with their fears

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Wheels Of Bloody War Continue To Turn

Wheels of bloody war continue to turn,

Backing foreign rebels whose motives unclear.

While villages and cities continue to burn

We’re spoon fed a diet of who we should fear.

~

Millions of dollars to be funnelled covert,

To whom we don’t know, just trust us we’re told.

Protecting our interests how could it possibly hurt,

This story gets older the more that it’s told.

~

Creating future enemies with training and guns,

A lesson that we still have not learned.

Viewed by the world as reincarnated Huns,

Our reputation, our flag once again burned.

~

Another “War on Terror” with no defined win

A phrase perhaps coined oh so rightly

Though resources and patience are stretched ever so thin

We’re lied to with teeth clenched so tightly

~

We’re told this is for the protection of all,

As if we couldn’t see through their disguise.

It’s all about profit and a wealth of crude oil

Wrapped in “freedoms” meager blanket of lies.

~

Our love for our cars, our boats, our planes

And all things founded on fossil fuels.

We take what we want without easing their pains

Makes us look like great bullies and fools.

~

Then they claim concern for the welfare of man

When it’s really nothing more than an act.

Money and greed and taking all that they can

Is an evident though an oft denied fact.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Sullen Is My Heart

Sullen is my heart
For the deaths of our brethren
And our enemies
In the end we gain nothing
But continued violence
Rejoice not in death
Instead mourn every life lost
With deepest regret
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Beauty Fades

Beauty fades;

Stripped of color

Under unrelenting sun.

Once vibrant petals

Brown and crumble,

Scattering dust and seed

To the four winds.

A life run its course

Gives birth to the next generation

Through its death in the dawn of spring.

Never regretting,

Never questioning its fate

It gives itself unapologetically

For the propagation of their future.

As with all living things

We are here for a brief time

To live,

To spawn,

To die,

Returning to the earth

From which we came.

A cycle that has repeated itself

For eternity.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Brother Fights Brother (Tanka)

Brother fights brother
Will expressed through violence
So death marches on
All for ideology
Refusing to live on peace
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

On This Somber Day

On this somber day

Where allied blood once ran free;

I am reflective.

Wondering…what it was like

Staring down death and bullet.

Alone, but not so,

Brothers shoulder to shoulder

On that distant shore.

Seventy years on it lives

In those few that still remain.

You can see their pride,

You can see their welling tears

As if yesterday.

Thinking about friends they’d lost

As the price for our freedom.

Remember their dead.

Many scarcely got to live;

Few had said goodbye,

None had regretted the cause

That changed world history.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~