Do you know the cost
Hatred, discrimination
Rot society
Licensing vile factions
To spew ugly rhetoric
We hear this danger
From the pinnacle to base
Brothers and sisters
Singled out for their difference
Treated as misfits…pariahs
Leadership for all
A political promise
Faded at “I will”
We’re racing to the bottom
Tethered to an ignorant
Explain your blindness
Your willingness to sell out
Friends and family
On the words of a blowhard
Who we now call President
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
We have regressed.
What little progress we’ve made
Has been erased by hatred
And fools thrashing for power.
Watch the news,
See and hear the racist tools
Drooling over every word
Spewed by their xenophobic christ.
He has no answers,
He has no substance,
Yet they follow blindly
Like fairytale mice.
There is danger in words
Stoked by the fire of ego.
We are told to be afraid…
That threats loom in the shadows,
But this peril does not come from people of color,
Or Muslims,
Or gays;
No, the greatest danger
Comes from within.
McCarthy must be smiling from the grave
As his new disciple takes the stage.
From Hell surely he must be pleased.
God help us all.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
We look for problems
In things we don’t understand,
Then try to solve them.
Irrational fears drive us
To discriminate by law
Or and religion.
This won’t make them go away,
They’ve always been here,
But we’ve been too blind to see.
Maybe love is the answer.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Life, liberty and
The pursuit of happiness
Words that we hold dear
Except in Rowan County
Where you must be straight as well
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Christianity…
Some claim it’s under attack,
An imagined war.
Practice whatever you please,
But don’t force it on others
I guess church and state
Are only kept separate
When it’s convenient.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Faded asphalt riddled with glass and stone
Scorched deep black by disenfranchised frustration.
Called thugs and lawless, anger bubbles over,
But still nothing has changed.
The sixties are alive in well in the twenty-first century.
Civil rights are still just a dream for many
Though we’d like to believe otherwise.
So what! Segregation has been legally abolished,
The back of the bus is no longer reserved,
But what the law cannot abolish is racism.
It cannot regulate the prejudice minds of man,
It cannot extract it from our senses,
Perhaps blindness is the answer,
Plucking of the eyes from the skull.
What else can save this species,
It has been on this spiral for eternity?
Look at our history!
Enslavement, segregation, discrimination,
Poverty, lynchings, so little progress.
Yes, some of these have faded,
Replaced by polite prejudice,
But still nothing has changed.
Perhaps one day,
The ignorant will close their eyes,
Open their hearts
And realize that color is only
…Skin deep.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Religious freedom
Legal discrimination
For modern zealots
Jesus Christ would be appalled
At your narrow mindedness
Constitutionally guaranteed
Why do we need another law
.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
‘Tis more dangerous than any weapon created by man,
Born of spirit and Heaven’s hand.
Free to be opened and enjoyed like fine wine,
Or corked up and saved for another time.
In anger it rages and wishes to impart harm,
Praying before action that reason sounds alarm.
Planning and scheming are some of what it does best,
Running through scenarios, putting them to the test.
At times acting irrational as in the case of lust or love,
Acting without thinking giving primal urge a shove.
Evil when plagued with illness deprived of right or wrong,
Difficult to cure lasting the whole life long.
It’s never been more dangerous than when behind a wall of brick,
Ignorance and jealousy and hatred make it sick.
Closing off one’s mind is a terrible and awful waste,
Something that should be frowned upon as a sheer and utter disgrace.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Prompt: Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie – Photo Challenge #16 – “Portrait”
Gabriel Neffke
So much seems misguided in this world
Though perhaps it is me that is misguided, I do not know.
Is it wrong to expect more from us as a people,
To give with an open heart,
To love without consideration of race, creed or color?
Touting the sacredness of our religions,
Our freedom to worship as we please,
We are stifled,
Narrow of mind,
Driven to discriminate in the name of our God.
We preach against other free peoples,
Demanding their conformity to our world view,
Threatening hellish consequences for disobedience.
This is not freedom–
Shackled by our religions, it is we are enslaved!
Find one among us that is not simply trying to survive,
Doing the best they can in these uncertain times.
Does your Holier-Than-Thou attitude raise you above them?
Does belittling your brothers and sisters bring you closer to God?
Does freedom and equality apply to only those with whom you are in consensus?
It does not you hypocrites;
Your religion is distorted and not of God!
You are not ordained to be judge and jury
Carrying out sentence on your brethren!
Take heed of your own shortcomings,
As I am certain there are many
And this world shall be a better place.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Stares
Talking in hushed tones
Diverting eye contact
Ducking low so not to be seen
Prejudice and hatred
What could be more obvious
Skin color
Accent
Weight
Height
Disability
Religion
Sexual orientation
Dress
All poor excuses for ignorance
Next time–look in the mirror
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Dom DiFrancesco 