What Lives Within Us

What lives within us,

Deep beneath skin’s shallowness?

Beauty is finite

Where the senses are concerned.

 

Time eats away at our flesh…

No one is immune.

The mirror lies to the young.

 

Tricked by ignorance

They believe it’s forever.

Surely age doth prove them wrong

As it has done for eons.

 

Better spent is time

Seeing the beauty within.

Love and compassion,

They have no physical bounds…

They cannot be kept.

These are things of true beauty,

Things cherished for a lifetime.

 

Given with no material cost,

But having immeasurable value

These are what are precious to me.

 

This is the beauty,

That lies deep within.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Darkness Falls Upon Angel Choir

Darkness falls upon angel choir

Heaven mourns the funeral pyre.

 

Senseless death, skins evening shade

With their lives by hatred paid.

 

No justification nor reason exists

For racism and prejudice to persist.

 

The sixties clearly were not the end

For Black Lives Matter we must defend.

 

How sad it is hate thrives this day

Hunting others like birds of prey.

 

The south has risen, of this I fear

Though reason why is not so clear.

 

As house of God nor fortress strong

Could save their lives from evil long.

 

Nay, I did not know them, but it matters not

They did not deserve this deadly plot.

 

I mourn this day for humanities loss

As beautiful lives have paid the cost

 

Again and again hate rears its head

And every time folks wind up dead

 

Ask this question, if you think you can

Is this really the promised land?

 

For some perhaps, but others no

This is no sitcom or drama show.

 

These lives are real they’re flesh and blood

They need not perish in a godless flood.

 

Perhaps if we stand against hatreds rule

We’ll cast them down into the fiery pool.

 

And raise this nation into Heaven’s light

By doing what we know is truly right.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

What is Our Purpose

What is our purpose

Living this life of struggle

With touches of joy

Fighting to enter this world

Then suffering to get out

In between is life

That can’t be taken with us

When we meet our end

Again I must ask…

What is our purpose

.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

A Tearful Goodbye

A tearful goodbye

Falls as the door is closing

When two become one

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Civil Rights Movement

Civil rights movement

Alive and well in our young

Picking up the torch

We hoped these days passed

Only to smoulder again

Into raging fire

.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Tragedies Shadow

Tragedies shadow

Looms large over the fallen

Raining blood and tears

Some choose to help, some to pray

Some choose to turn a blind eye

Or no choice at all

Afraid it might be too real

Who am I to judge

I cannot speak for others

As I do not know their pain

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

And Then The Earth Shook (Haiku)

And then the earth shook

Screams, tears…nowhere to run

Terror in Nepal

.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

What is the Measure of a Man’s Life

What is the measure of a man’s life,

I don’t know but for myself.

Money never bought me happiness;

At least none that lasted more than a brief moment.

Cars…I’ve had many,

Exciting when shiny and new,

But their luster is lost over time as is their value.

I do not live in a palace,

It is modest to say the least and more than I need.

Retirement savings are but a dream,

I will likely work until I am called home.

With all this…what is the measure of my life?

It is family, my wife and children,

Their love for me as I love them.

It is the sun that rises overhead

And the life-giving rains that fall,

It is everything that nature provides.

It is living in harmony with the natural world,

Not fighting it or conquering it.

Yes, there is bad mixed with the good,

Pain and suffering mixed with the ecstasy,

But at the end of my days,

This will be the measure of this man.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

So Many Aches and Pains

So many aches and pains

Never use to be this way

I could go for hours

Suddenly the years take toll

And the body does rebel

Very strange indeed

These natural frailties

That affect us all

One can cosmetically fight

But in the end…aging wins

 

~~ Dominic R DiFrancesco ~~

 

Ravaged By Years

Embed from Getty Images

 

Ravaged by the years

Bodies surrender to time

Winter of our lives

 

~~ Dominic R. DIFrancesco ~~