Prickly Pear Cactus in bloom.
Image Credit: http://www.bhg.com
A cape of thorns worn
Crown of pink its head adorned
Desert grown jewel
Prickly Pear Her Majesty
There is beauty in this beast
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Warm are the subtle winds that steer me on,
Nary a cloud sails across the sky sea of crystal blue.
The scent of Palo Verde and Mesquite wave winter gone,
Hummingbirds flutter in search of their sugary brew.
~
Noonday sun turns pale and naked skin to tan,
While grass awakens, springing back to a deep cool green.
Scorching heat does rise from barren desert sand,
As lightning quick geckos scurry hoping not to be seen.
~
Return it does to life this arid sometimes hellish land,
Though the living most often desire not to be found.
Spending their time on the cooler nighttime sands,
Sheltered from the blazing sun in their holes underground.
~
A mysterious lifeless land though the desert seems to be,
Much in common does it have with the depths of the worlds deepest seas.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Storm clouds rushing in
Starving drought with blessed rain
~~ Praying for relief
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Saguaro arms raised
Reaching skyward towards heaven
In eternal prayer
Like a monk doing penance
For a life of transgression
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Desert heats collapse
Banished back to whence it came
The abyss of Hell
Welcome the chill of Heaven
With falls gracious arrival
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Image Credit: mnartists.org
Beautiful, succulent and fragrant
Petals of hot pink
Hiding angers scorn
Not so unlike a woman wronged
Fighting back with female wiles
Resisting with all her might
Bondage of natures torture
Scarred and gnarled by fires storm
Starved and thirsted she lingers on
Reaching, reaching ever higher
Limbs reaching for heavens gate
‘Til chopped low to arid ground
Faking death only to rise from the ashes
Returning to her noble stance
Blooming in summer solstice
Bathed in perfumed flowers sweet
Leaves of green hide thorns to bleed
Arms reaching ever skyward
Praying for peace amongst hellish fury
Born to a life most undeserving
Troubled mistress Bougainvillea
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Hades screams its torrid winds,
Scorching earth of bone and skin.
Desolate ground of sun bleached sand,
Reminiscent of lunar land.
~
Scrub brush torn from shallow root,
Crushed to dust while under foot.
Watching step for danger lurks,
From thorn and fang and stingers work.
~
Blistering flesh under cloudless sky,
Waterless fools most surely die.
So this goes for man and beast,
It matters not be most or least.
~
Call of hawk and vulture above,
No place for cardinal, sparrow or dove.
Unforgiving this land it takes,
Seizing on each and every mistake.
~
Birds of prey circle and wait,
For nature to inflict a certain fate.
A hearty meal in barren land,
Relying on the feast at hand.
~
Wasteland though it seems to be,
There’s so much more than the eye can see.
It’s beauty lies not in pleasing flowers,
Nor in forests where great pine trees tower.
~
Instead it lies in stark contrast,
To seashores blue landscape so vast.
Inhospitable appearance its enduring charm,
In spite of all potential harm.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Image Credit: asergeev.com
This heat from Hades
Scorching unprotected flesh
The bone yard awaits
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Borders porous fence
A thousand miles…freedom
Better life awaits
If only we are not caught
Sent back to our poverty
Dreaming the same dreams
From different time and place
No ships, no Ellis Island
Only a desert
Separating a new life
From a life lived in squalor
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
The crimson sky fumes with the rage of desert summer,
Turning springs flowers of gold and lavender to tawny dust.
Scorpion and rattler laze in awe,
Cherishing the warmth of the arid sun.
Cacti dot the plains, green and angry,
Breaking the monotony of the monochrome landscape.
Beneath even the most lovely of spouts lays a heart of bramble,
Drawing first blood from all but the sturdiest patron.
Lonesome ballads of the song dog eclipse the dark silence,
Howling teardrops rain upon the parched surface.
Rife with dwellers only dreamt of in nightmares,
Exotic, ghoulish, yet beautiful,
A vista both barren and thriving beckons.
Calling the adventurous to pay homage,
Genuflecting in respect to this alien canvas.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Dom DiFrancesco 