O’ Precious Neighbor – A Tanka

O’ precious neighbor

Though we live worlds apart

We are of one soul

One mind and of one body

Our stories end the same way

~

~~ Dominic DiFrancesco ~~

Farewell Knights Templar

Image Credit: wunderground.com

Image Credit: wunderground.com

The blood curdling scream from the dungeon below,

Made John pray to God for the hangman’s gallows.

This soldier of God stripped of vestments so pure,

Now nameless and faceless a test he was sure.

~

I’ve done what was asked by king, country and Pope

In exchange for a promise to Heaven elope.

If I fall in battle to those savages in the east,

To sling, bow and arrow or some other horrid beast.

~

Instead I’m betrayed by the kinsman I protect;

By cowards and fools those insignificant specks.,

Hiding behind crown whilst I lay on this rack,

Fingers and toes broke while they flail on my back.

~

These charges of heresy are baseless and false,

I’ll deny to my death, to my last beating pulse.

Phillip IV King of motherland France,

Cooked up this scheme devious to embolden his stance.

~

Our riches and land to be his at all costs,

No matter the lives of the Templar that are lost.

Castle and fortress captured by the crown,

Confiscated before Pope Clement could resound.

~

This murderous thief will be judged before God,

Without royal finements, naked and unshod.

Surely he’ll be banished to Hades for his crimes,

Whilst I’ll be looking down on his torment for all times.

~

Justice will be served though draw and quarter is my fate,

I long for the Lord at Saint Peter’s pearly gate.

For the righteous will receive promised Heaven’s just due,

Whilst river of fire awaits souls of evil to be threw.

~

Soon my dear comrades in paradise I will join,

Those of you who’ve gone before by the heathen on the coin.

We’ll reap our sweet vengeance on this coward of the throne,

He’ll burn in Hell, consumed by fire, for eternity alone.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Turning a Blind Eye – A Tanka

Image Credit: productiveflourishing.com

Image Credit: productiveflourishing.com

Turning a blind eye

Gives momentary relief

But changes nothing

Only actions gets results

Poverty kills if ignored

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Calls Go Unanswered – A Tanka

Image Credit: telegraph.co.uk

Image Credit: telegraph.co.uk

Calls go unanswered

Are you not at all concerned

Like ships lost at sea

When late to arrive at port

We send out a search party

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

The Funeral Pall – A Haiku

Image Credit: zimbio.com

Image Credit: zimbio.com

The funeral pall

Somber in finality

Remember the good

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco

Nothing But Blackness – A Haiku

Image Credit: redbubble.com

Image Credit: redbubble.com

I draw closed my eyes

Seeing nothing but blackness

Is this destiny

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Syrian Injustice

Led by a despot

Innocent blood stains the streets

Cries for help ignored

Are the lives lost all for naught

Genocide begs a response

~

If not us then who

Each passing day brings more death

More graves to be dug

More mothers weeping their loss

The regime must abdicate

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

What Awaits

I do not pretend, to know the truth,

Anymore than you…or the sun…or the moon,

Proving nothing short of ignorance otherwise.

~

What I do know, is that death is inevitable;

Whether life be a second, a minute or decades,

Of this I am certain.

~

Just as I am certain of my origin;

Beyond progeny…beyond paternity,

My essence existed before that of this earthly vessel,

And will certainly continue beyond it’s worldly demise,

Our human science has assured.

~

I am, however steeped in uncertainty,

Uncertain of what lay in wait after this finite adventure.

~

Will I be swallowed by consuming blackness,

Drifting endlessly…disjointedly into nothingness?

~

Will I be welcomed at Heaven’s pearled gates,

Greeted with open arms into a paradise?

~

Maybe Hell hath set it’s sights on my mortal soul,

Repaying me for the sinful life I’ve led?

~

Or will my soul join with others

To live once again,

In the vessel of another of the newly-born?

~

These all, are questions of faith,

Your faith…my faith,

Questions for which I have no answers.

~

After a lifetime of curious inquiry,

I hold no greater insight into the afterlife,

Than were so endowed in me at my birth.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

A Mother’s Tears – A Haiku

Image Credit: youthvoices.net

Image Credit: youthvoices.net

Another one gone

A mother’s tears for her son

Shot dead in the night

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

Love of Family

Consumed by treasure

Riches are not wealth alone

Like the love of gold

Love of family enriches

Living on after we’re gone

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~