Tag Archives: equality

So Much Seems Misguided In This World

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 ~~

This Nation Has Changed

This nation has changed

Sadly not for the better

Our blood has gone cold

Selfish, greedy and fearful

Unaccepting of our own

~

Once there was a time

Neighbors were as family

Help and help alike

Now it is all about self

Friends and family be damned

~

Love of another

Has been supplanted by greed

A match made in hell

Corrupting our very souls

Leaving us numb and hollow

~

We have become mice

Under the weight of our fears

Freedom taken back

Under the guise of safety

All done for our protection

~

We allow this theft

By elected officials

Willingly chosen

Buying into double-talk

Believing it to be true

~

The Constitution

Used like the Holy Gospels

When convenient

Equality guaranteed

Unless you don’t fit our mold

~

What happened to us

Give me your poor, your tired

Your huddled masses

Until you get in our way

Or we get tired of you

 ~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

We Belong – An Etheree

We

belong

as one with

our brothers and

sisters as we walk

this unkempt road of life

from beginning to it’s end.

Race, creed, color, orientation

do not define the person inside

they are but labels used to divide us.

………………………………………………………………..

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

How Joyous The Day Equality Overcame Hatred

How joyous the day equality overcame hatred,

Though with sadness I ask, “Why was it even necessary?”

We had not…no we have not moved beyond prejudice!

Replacing one group of brothers and sisters with another does not absolve us!

Oh yes! The faces are different, but the name is the same

And this–we call this progress?

Do not think me ungrateful…I am proud,

Though disheartened by so slim a margin,

Yet this is a triumphant day to be sure.

Still–there is so much softening to be done to the callous heart.

“All men are created equal” so proudly declared by so many

Is still, but a dream should you not fit their mould of convention.

Speaking as though preference of the heart is chosen

Shows their narrowness of mind.

It is not choice, it is ingrained by nature!

It is not a flaw nor is it an abomination,

It is who they are, just as you are how you were born.

That which you do not wish to understand should not draw ire,

But instead your silence…with our profound appreciation.

The time of state sanctioned intolerance is in it’s death throes

Though this alone will not change those ignorant of mind.

Yes, this battle will rage on,

For many, long after they are gone,

But know dear friends that bigotry and hate can not prevail

In the presence of humanity and love.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Authors note: I had been debating whether to write this poem firstly, because I am not a member of the LGBT community and secondly, because I don’t pretend to speak for or have any first hand knowledge of what they have gone through, but then I thought why not, we are all human beings, we all came into this world in the same way and we will all leave it the same way. I have been an observer of this struggle for equality for a very long time and quite frankly found it disgusting that it ever existed in the first place. To add to the distastefulness is the fact that public polling, for the longest time, showed that more than 50% of those polled were in favor of continuing state sanctioned discrimination. In America, we struggled for our freedom from oppression and proudly proclaim in our Declaration of Independence that “All men are created equal” and yet this freedom from oppression and equality only held true if you were a God fearing heterosexual apparently. This ideal was an absolute disgrace. So long as the parties are adults, what right does any human being have to prevent another human being from marrying the one that they truly love? Religious institutions may choose not to marry same sex couples before their altars, but they surely have no standing to prevent them before the law. Of course this is simply one man’s opinion, but I stand behind it wholeheartedly. Congratulations to all of you, it has been a very long time coming and you justly deserve this landmark win.

 

There Is A Thaw

There is a thaw, too long in the making;

Not just of snow and ice nor lake or window pane,

We are on the cusp of a thawing of ideals.

Like the first breaths of spring,

Fragrant and refreshing after a long brutal winter.

~

What beauty awaits as blossoms,

Every color of the rainbow paints winters bare landscape,

Each one equally beautiful.

So many had fought and died to see this day,

Sun shining, blue skies, a warming breeze

Before returning to the earth.

~

You were not forgotten

As successive springs sprout new generations

In the image of those preceding them.

Your loss was not for naught brothers and sisters,

A hopeful spring has come.

Spread beyond your garden borders

To mingle amongst the forests and fields.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Equal is Equal – A Haiku

Image Credit: seiu.org

Image Credit: seiu.org

Equal is equal

Only when convenient

Discrimination

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

A New Day, Another Poll

A new day…another poll.

Do they like us more today than yesterday

This referendum on hate and bigotry is sickening

We are not new,

We have always been here.

Hiding in the shadows for fear of retribution.

Frequently the target of slings and arrows

Thrown by our brothers and sisters.

Sadly, sometimes they hit the mark.

Why such animosity?

We breath the same air you do,

Drink the same water,

Eat the same food.

We are born of the sacred vessel like you

And we die alone as you do.

We love like you do,

We long to be loved like you do.

We are children of God like you.

You know us though you may not know it.

We are your sons and daughters,

We are your friends and acquaintances,

We are the person you pass on the street,

We are the teacher in your schools,

We are the soldier fighting for your freedom,

We are fireman and policeman,

We are the teller at your ban,

We are the checkout clerk at your convenience store,

We are parents,

We want to be parents,

We were born this way,

Though you think it a choice.

We are gay not broken,

We are not something you need to fix.

We are all created equal,

Wasn’t that the promise made to all of us

Not just to you?

                                 ~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

* I wrote this piece because I am tired of the endless polls regarding American’s attitudes toward gay marriage.  We seem to have this morbid fascination with the LGBT community to the point that  many of us are willing to discriminate against them just to keep them from marrying.  In my opinion, not only is this absurd, but it is also unconstitutional and should never have been an issue in the first place.  I personally have family members who are gay and I have neither treated them nor looked upon them any differently than anyone else because of their sexual orientation.  I have never felt threatened by them, nor have they ever been a threat to the children in our family.  They are terrific people.  Folks, you don’t chose to be gay, you are born that way.  Isn’t it time we get over our homophobia and extend the rights to them as citizens that they are guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution and put an end to this nonsense.

Equality – A Haiku

Image Credit: washingtonpost.com

Image Credit: washingtonpost.com

To level the field

Rewrite the class equation

Now we are equal

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Shame of Intolerance

Drama perseveres,
We remain shackled and chained to our past,
Bound to ideals thought long ago buried.
~~
Under the same sky we are born and die,
Returned back to the earth caste-less.
~~
Equality seems a distant dream.
~~
We feign to have grown,
Only to rebound to our stunted ways,
Taking aim at the latest victim.
~~
Shouldn’t we be color blind to the flesh by now,
Incomprehensible is it to have to legislate,
Over and over and over.
~~
These delusions are not the end,
Fear mongering has become both sport and folly,
Substituting understanding for hostility and ignorance,
Attempting to rally the naive.
~~
Those that hide behind their faith,
Calling evil, those beliefs that differ,
Claiming superiority,
Believe the propaganda.
~~
We think we have progressed,
Advanced beyond infantile characterizations,
But we have not, we have digressed ,
Becoming more intolerant.
~~
Residents of the rainbow are criticized and shamed,
As if their orientation was free will,
Demoralizing them as abominations before God.
~~
Shallow and nescient is your moral constitution,
When will those of conscience rise up,
Ushering in diversity and equality.
~~
Freeing those marginalized by a witless society,
To live full and fulfilling lives.

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~