Tag Archives: death

In Memorial

She is gone now,

Weeks have passed,

Shock is no more.

Resigned to the fact that we won’t see her again,

We won’t share coffee around the kitchen table,

Won’t share meals at the holidays,

Won’t see the warm smile,

Won’t see the pride in her eyes at our little accomplishments.

Grandmothers are someone taken for granted,

They were always there,

From our beginning,

Naively we think that they will never leave.

Still something deep in our hearts knows  its a lie,

We lie to ourselves because its easier than facing the truth.

The status quo easier to take than the pain,

But nothing can stay the same.

Parents become Grandparents,

Children, parents,

The eternal cycle repeats like a palindrome.

I don’t pretend to know what lay beyond this fragile life,

We pray to, hope for, obsess about an unseen God,

Holding steadfast to our faith,

Grasping with clenched fists to the fabric of what’s left of our existence,

Knowing that in time, we to, will meet our maker,

Whomever we conceive our maker to be.

In this, our soul finds consolation,

Finding peace in our belief in the unknowable,

Finding relief in the belief that this world is just the beginning,

That eternal life is not a myth,

But instead a promise of something greater,

Something greater than anything created in our mortal imaginations.

In this hope,

We find comfort.

In this hope,

We find peace.

As we pay our final respects,

In this hope,

You will not be forgotten.

Instead,

In this hope of heaven,

We say goodbye.

Theater of Life

By D. R. DiFrancesco

Naked and raw
Blasting from the womb like a seedling from its pod
Screaming for the first breath
So begins the amazing campaign
A politician elected to life.

Born out of love or lust
The aftermath which is indistinguishable
Unquenchable contest for sustenance
To triumph is all that is known
Primal urges the impetus to persist.

Adolescence brings arrogance
As maturity is sluggish to prevail over unrefined emotion
Enmity and dispute become commonplace
Tightening the reins like those of an untamed mustang
Welcome, right of passage.

Time quells obstinacy
While Respect replaces contempt
Competition for dominance is no longer primary
Instead wisdom is honored rather than detested
Seeing in age what we hope to become.

Understanding seems second nature
Now seen through the eyes of the aged
What once so obscure, is now clear as crystal
Modeled in the image of those that came before
To live in us as both a blessing and curse.

Son becomes father, daughter becomes mother
The circle enclosed as adolescent morphs into elder
Kindred souls flow like a river never-ceasing
Reproducing life through life’s rushing waters
Simply actors are we in this great play.

Leaving behind those we’ve reared
Progeny that embody what is transcendent
Nature and happenstance will dictate their course
While predecessors move on to nights last voyage
Rhythmically repeating the cycle of life.

For the Love of Money (A Poem)

Do we know what heavens lie
Beyond those which we create for ourselves
Toiling to caress all that mortal wealth can acquire
Pushing aside that which is more precious.

Forage on with meaningless tasks if you must
Avoiding those to be held so dear
Putting distance between you and your loving child
For fortune and fame so fleeting.

You treasure that which lasts so briefly
Misguided steps divert your moral path
Placing that which is corporeal above what is sacred
Leaving family and friendships to suffer and drown.

Set opulence and copiousness in their proper place
Share abundance with those living in stark scarcity
Rekindle your union to spouse and child
For nothing in this world can be taken with you.

The Fox and Rabbit (A Parable)

By D. R. DiFrancesco

To keep the fox at bay

You scurry down the rabbit hole

Hiding behind your harvest of vegetables and fruits

A feeble attempt to prolong your existence

The fox is patient this much is true

Cunning and hunger are his advantage

Scared and indecisive you ponder what to do

“I’ve got it!” – you say

Thinking you can outsmart the fox

The fox waits, patient and quiet

You feign courage

Hopping from behind the store

Nose twitching and wriggling

You try to catch his scent

But the fox is clever and hides

You crawl out of your rabbit hole

Thinking, “If I’m fast he won’t catch me.”

As you hop out, the fox pounces

Your world goes dark.

The fox smiles, satisfied

He has done what nature intended

Hiding in your rabbit hole

With your horde of foodstuffs for protection

And still…

Greed and boastfulness could not save you.

A Personal Story, Is this Coincidence or Something Else?

I feel compelled to share a brief story with you  that has both touched me greatly and amazed me at the same time.

Yesterday afternoon I completed and posted a poem, “Wither Away“, that was a very personal poem about my grandmother.  Suffering with chest pains, she had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure about 4 months ago and her doctors gave her 6 months to a year to live.   The doctors also made it clear that there was nothing that they could do other than to prescribe medications to make her comfortable.

Initially after diagnosis she had more good days than bad, but of late the opposite was true and she became unable to get out of bed without being carried.   As you can imagine this is a very hard thing to watch happen to someone you love.

Now to my point.   Whether by fate, a premonition unrecognized by me, coincidence, or something else that I can’t explain I received a call from my parents last night to tell me that my grandmother had died early yesterday morning.   They chose to wait to tell me until I had gotten home from work so that I didn’t have this on my mind all day.

I know that this type of thing is not unheard of, but it does make me wonder how something as seemingly random as posting a poem could turn out to be so prophetic, at least to me anyway.  I guess it will just have to remain one of those strange occurrences that happens to a person during the course of their life.

My grandmother was 92 years old when she passed on.  I will miss her deeply.

T.G.M.

March 16, 1920 – June 7, 2012

Rest In Peace

Wither Away

By: D. DiFrancesco

The pain of watching one wither away
Indescribable and yet inescapable
Remembering how vibrant and energetic they were
We think they will never go away.

I can still see her
In the kitchen apron on making a meal
It doesn’t matter which one it was
They all are precious memories to me.

I was a child
She was everything to me back then
Eyes shining, the silkiness of her voice
These were some of my happiest days.

Then childhood passes
Like the sweep of the second hand
Harsh reality clings like beads of sweat
Those once so virile commence to fade.

We try to stave off the inevitable for as long as we can
But alas it proves useless
No magic elixer can halt the decline
How swift does frailty overcome us.

Her eyes have sunk into evenings dark abyss
The hunch in the back, a sign of a life of burden
Her stride gives way to a shuffle
The mercy of others her only salvation.

No longer able to self-sustain
Twilights arms embrace who she once was
A child returns from where it started
The circle of life incarnate.

Her mobility has vanished, now forever prone
But oddly the memories of her past are clear
Thoughts from more modern times she can’t remember
Eternities multitude is calling her home.

She’s withered away, her grace in passing inspires
In her destiny we see ourselves
We fear this most as our time here is finite
To our maker we must trust our mortal souls…farewell.

A Common Life

A COMMON LIFE

By: D. DiFrancesco

Dreams of greatness pass
Like the flickering flame of a candle doth die.
Youth brings thoughts that cannot last
Through every hope reality replies.

Ambitions push for fame and glory
These too are dashed in fires eternal.
Ministering to the flock the age old story
Left for lifes pleasures carnal.

To serve with honor next desired
On oceans of blue and green not to be.
Parental opposition they both conspired
To steer this ship into calmer seas.

So many attempts have I endevored
To make my way on paths I’ve chosen.
To no avail the byways severed
A common subsistence I’m now beholden.

Regrets at one time there were so many
Now reconciled I am at peace.
Born to this world a life of frenzy
The joys of experience cry out for release.

Tears no more will my eyes engender
My path to destiny fulfilled.
To the little things I prize surrender
A troubled conscience now stilled.

I worry no more of roads less traveled
As a life lived well is a life worth living.
Those that I love smooth what I have raveled
Content to pass on with all I’ve been given.

So worry not for me when the time doth come
The fruits I’ve inherited, greater than my share.
Resolute I’ve gifted far more than some
Prepared to leave this world with nary a care.