Tag Archives: dying

The Sun Still Rose

The sun still rose as I knew it would,

The birds sang their songs,

The winds blew strong,

The grass remained green just as it should.

 

In dawns dim light I opened my eyes,

My wife lay sleeping by my side,

My children in the next rooms reside,

All of these cause joy in my heart to rise.

 

The waters flow cooling parched earth,

The skies still a brilliant shade of blue,

The flowers bloom as they always do,

These more valuable than material worth.

 

Life continues like every other day,

As it has O’ these fifty years on,

Caring not the least as each new day dawns,

For it knows no other way.

 

I guess I’m just part of this natural flow,

Arriving then passing with time,

Like the bird and the beast and the tree and the vine,

I’ll receive my calling to go.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Looking Through The Haze

The Dove - Alex Alemany

The Dove – Alex Alemany

Looking through the haze toward distant shores,

She knows that her love is here no more.

“Lost at sea” the cable said,

Whereabouts unknown they presumed him dead,

But nothing on earth or in heaven can quell,

Her hope against hope it was wrong what they tell.

Still the solitary dove of the purest of white,

Could not quench her anguish as day turned to night.

With palm against pane her pain tore too much,

At the strings of her heart he could no longer touch.

Then a tear weaved its way down her fair tender cheek,

As the knot in her throat silenced her effort to speak.

All she could do was weep for him that was lost,

Ne’er to give up no matter the cost.

She promised him her love forever and all time,

To him and him alone his memory enshrined.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

~

Prompt: Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie – Photo Prompt #7 – “The Dove”

The Church Bell Tolls

The church bells toll

Another mother soaked in tears

Another child gone too soon

A shot rang out in the dark

No one heard, no one saw

Just an unnamed face on an urban street

Victim of the violence that thins the herd

Taking a precious piece of our future with it

Cries drowned out with claims of infringement

What then is their answer

Do nothing

An eye for an eye

A gun for more guns

Their solutions absurd

Do we not live in a civilized age

This screams for a change of culture

Banishing hopelessness and despair

Curing symptoms not the disease

With reassurance and help

The offer of a hand when times are tough

Lip service pays them no homage

Hate and mistrust are it’s only spawn

Action in word and deed the only vaccine

Not changing with the times breeds failure

Failure of us all

Failure of the Grand Experiment

~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Their Playground

Their playground, our world

The bullies intimidate

Taking what they want

Caught in their dangerous game

We are expendable pawns

It is Deja Vu

Cold War resuscitated

There are no winners

Just two very big egos

Gambling our existence

.

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

I’m Not My Body

I’m not my body.

It’s nothing but a flesh vase

Holding the real me.

The me that was before this,

The me not of this world,

The me of spirit.

Who I was before my birth;

Nothing but essence,

Not created or destroyed,

The me of eternity.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Judge, Jury, Executioner

Judge, jury, executioner,

We decide the fate of the smallest of lives,

Crickets, mice, the common house fly, the family pet

Playing god with those we deem less significant.

Who handed us the gavel?

Who gave us the plunger of the lethal injection?

Who gave us the power to determine when a life will end?

We dole out this punishment with little thought

All because we call them pests

Or we don’t want them to needlessly suffer,

But this is not our role in this world.

Shouldn’t we allow them to transition in their own time?

We all have a time,

You, me, the cricket, them mouse, the house fly, the family pet,

One that will bring the end with or without intervention,

Though not determined by our hands.

…The sanctity of life.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

As Dusk Settles In (Tanka)

As dusk settles in

We bid farewell to the day

Ushering in night

Not so unlike that of man

Drifting from life into death

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

To Those Gone Without A Trace

To those gone without a trace,

What were your last thoughts?

What did you see?

What did you here?

To the  Atheists, did you find God?

To the Christians, did you ask Christ to save you?

To the Muslims, did Allah forgive you your sins?

This is not an indictment,

I would asked for all of this and so much more.

Did you feel abandoned?

Did your life flash before your eyes?

Did you see the faces of loved ones?

Did you hear the laughter of your children?

Surely I would have felt all of these things.

These questions bring me to tears.

I don’t know what I would think as I sat helpless,

And in the end would it really matter

In the face of impending doom?

These answers float on the wind,

And drift with the changing tides,

In places without names, undiscovered.

Know that wherever you are,

We think about you,

Hoping that your final rest is in peace.

Lost at sea.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Memories Dot Our Roadsides

Memories dot our roadsides,

Highway or rural it matters not.

Monuments hammered with tears serve as reminders,

Whitewashed, makeshift,

Adorned in faded flowers,

Bleached to muted hues by the noonday sun.

At times dressed with images,

Perhaps names or signs–loves of their lives;

Each one a silent storyteller.

Embarrassed, I often pass without offering a sympathetic glance,

Too consumed with my own circumstance to take notice.

This is not out of cruelty,

Nor is it for a lack of compassion,

But instead due to the chaos of everyday life.

Still–upon further reflection, I wonder…

Whose daughter, son, mother, father were they?

What story do they have to tell,

What were their hopes and dreams,

Are those left behind coping?

Questions are these for which I have no answer.

A solitary cross marks a souls final earthly moment,

Pleading to be noticed and remembered.

I hope to take the time, if only a moment

To wish their spirits well

And to pray for closure for those left behind.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Were Today Thy Last (Sonnet)

Were today thy last, wouldst thou giveth all ye had,

Or wouldst thou hoardeth as the miser does.

Hiding his worth from all his lasses and lads,

Vowing to take it with him as if thy soul it was.

~

Foolish art thou who believeth this lie,

For nothing of this world shalt survive the beyond.

To ash it doth turn on the day that we die,

It matters not how precious nor how fond.

~

Thy treasures are but bobbles, no worth doth they hold,

Once thou hath taken thy deep and final breath.

Arrogance and greed, both foolhardy and bold,

Revealed as thou art lowered to thy grave upon death.

~

Giveth now with the fullest of hearts for thy time upon earth is but brief,

Resulting in lightness and joy in thy heart to thy soul this shalt come as relief.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~