Tag Archives: different

To Conform Is To Lie To Yourself

To conform is to lie to yourself,

To suck the joy out of this finite life.

It was never meant to be locked in a cage,

It was never meant to be stuffed in a box

Shrouded behind impenetrable walls

That blot out the sun and what lay beyond.

That is not living, it is merely subsisting.

Yet this is what our fears, our parents, our cultures preach,

Conform or you will be treated as an outcast.

Well then…perhaps an outcast is what I long to be.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Prejudice in the 21st Century

You look on appalled and concerned

Just as I look at you.

Maybe he’s out for walk,

Bird watching,

Enjoying the sun or the weather.

Oh no, that can not be,

We haven’t seen him before!

Where did he come from?

Where is he going?

He must be up to no good.

Casing the joint,

Looking to rob us,

Rape our women,

Set fire to our homes,

Surely he must be a criminal,

He does not belong here!

But why incredulous?

He doesn’t look like us,

His type doesn’t live in this neighborhood.

He’s the wrong color,

Certainly he must be muslim

Or gay,

Or dealing drugs to our kids

And hates this country.

This is the twenty-first century,

Haven’t we moved beyond our prejudice?

Shamefully…

No!

Hateful glances say no,

Joblessness says no,

Homelessness says no,

Hearts and minds say no,

Ignorance still exists,

The year,

The decade,

The century matters not.

In correctness some bite their tongues,

But their medieval minds dictate.

Thoughts expressed through actions,

Conversations held in the shadows,

The like-minded nodding in approval.

So little have we progressed,

Claims of enlightenment ring hollow.

Baseless assumptions poisoning us,

Fear used as justification,

Repetition brainwashing the ignorant.

When will it end,

This perpetuation of hate,

Cloaked as patriotism, religion,

Our constitutional right?

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Separate Lives Together

We live,

Separate lives together.

Sharing a roof,

A bed.

Lying back to back.

Void of touch,

Good night

Whispered to an old friend,

Settling for the mundane.

Waking hours,

Life lived apart,

Turmoil of the day,

Work, stress, aggravation,

Too tired to talk.

Meals,

Separate ends of the couch,

Silence for company.

Clink of fork and knife,

White noise,

Breaking tense solitude.

Grown apart,

Here for convenience,

Home, cars, bills, children.

Chains,

Anchors to this hell,

Repetitive, repulsive, depressing,

Loneliness consumes,

Leaving no way out,

Stuck,

In separate lives…

Together.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~