Tag Archives: family

Flowers By The Road – A Tanka

Flowers by the road

White crosses a reminder

Someones tragedy

Anonymous to strangers

Loved by family and friends

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Miles Apart

Living miles apart,

Acting like casual friends

Instead of siblings.

Visits far too infrequent

And our calls are far too few.

We have grown distant.

Not because of difference,

We are not that kind,

But because our life journey,

Leads us down different roads.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Dust And Cobwebs

Dust and cobwebs

Years passed

Forgotten to time

Unassuming vessel

Buried

Garments out of style

Mementos and trinkets

Sharing the tomb

Still life memories

Black, white,

Faded color

Youthful exuberance

Ancestors

Relegated to history

Resurrected

Celluloid

Smiles and hugs

Lasting impressions

Sense of pride

Who we are

Who we were

Who we will be

Simple attic

Dirty and dark

Meaningless to others

Family heirlooms

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Humbled By A Stranger

Talk of family

Words did not come easily

But I understood

Though our languages differ

We spoke as if long lost friends

You Colombian

Plagued by crime and poverty

Low pay your reward

Yet still you love your country

Love it with all of your heart

Me American

My badge of entitlement

Worn outward with shame

Embarrassed by my complaints

You my friend have humbled me

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

The Hands

I remember the hands,

Dark, calloused, weathered,

Like the old leather of my hand-me-down Buster Brown’s.

Skin the shade of olive;

Disfavored for their Napolitan roots,

Unafraid of hard work,

Unrepentant for the right and wrong that they’d done.

They played jacks,

Scuffled in the schoolyard,

Held the hand of their first love

All before the start of the First World War.

Trembled in fear,

Shouldered a carbine,

Took their first life,

Comforted their comrade as they passed on

During the ravages of the Second World War.

Returned home to the embrace of the wife left behind,

Prepared to resume peaceful work,

Lifting crates,

Tossing sacks

Unloading train cars,

Driving trucks

All to support a wife and newborn baby.

Cradled silently to his breast,

Calmed when she cried,

Held her hand on the first day of school

Waltzed during the father daughter dance

Clapped during graduation,

While holding two jobs to make ends meet.

Toiled never ceasing as the family grew,

Their work never eased.

Time bent and broke them making it more difficult,

But nary a complaint did they utter.

Finally age made the decision,

Putting them out to pasture,

A much needed rest ensued.

The years were kind,

Allowing them to pursue their passions,

Until clasped in prayer,

The Lord called them home.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Of Marriage Equality

This incessant fighting,

Selective equality,

Blatant discrimination,

Is this what America is about?

~

Answer!, Those of you waving the constitution in our faces!

You cannot pick and choose when to hold it in high esteem,

You cannot pick and choose when and what to disregard.

~

You say marriage equality is evil,

You say you are defending the children,

It will destroy conventional marriage,

Destroy the family.

~

Nay I say!

The demise of the two parent family occurred long ago,

Half consumed by the flames of divorce.

I ask you, is not love of greater importance?

~

Gay my friends, is not a disease,

It is not contagious,

It is not some choice made on a whim,

It is not a choice at all, but determined at birth.

~

You heathens hide behind your religion,

You hide behind the robes of your God

So that you can carry on your campaign of bigotry feeling justified,

Distorting the word you so deeply cherish

To the detriment of your fellow man.

~

Oh, but how funny it is!

How opinions change when they enter your life,

When they are your sons and daughters,

When they are your friends or next of kin.

Suddenly the world seems so much clearer

And that which you have taken exception to seems to disappear.

~

Raise your voices dear friends!

Stand with your brothers and sisters,

Stand with your sons and daughters,

Stand with those having little voice.

We must be one if we are to be a great nation,

United…Equal…and Free!

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

These Dreams I Still Have

These dreams I still have

Remnants of a misspent youth

Still push me onward

Unlike many of our young

Lost and wandering

~

Have we been failures

Left to fend for themselves

Both parents labor

This unavoidable plague

With our children as victims

~

Our culture has changed

Families expendable

Futures uncertain

Their dreams are left in tatters

If they ever had any

~

These dreams I still have

Are for our children’s futures

Prosperous and full

As mine was when I was young

Not something left in the past

~

~~ 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.

The Road Home

Stove burners blue flame

Dangerous heat

Warming frigid trembling hands

Radiator cold

Rent control all he can afford

Children absent and estranged

He’s invisible in this world

Old friends to the old man gone

Passed before his time

Rotary telephone shows its age

Symbiotically keeping pace

Silent and out-of-date

Thoughts of youth flutter

Flashbacks in his fragmenting mind

Remembrances of companions

Lost loves

And a wife

Still 20 to him,

After a lonely decade adrift

Living because he won’t die

He longs to sleep forever

But it is not God’s will

Not his time

Shuffling to the stove

He warms his trembling hands

To wait for meals-on-wheels

Or the Lord to take him home

 

~~ 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 ~~