Image Credit: dimijianimages.com
In the dark of night
We fear what we cannot see
Praying for the dawn
~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~
Fear of Night – Haiku
Tag Archives: fear
Shame of Intolerance
Drama perseveres,
We remain shackled and chained to our past,
Bound to ideals thought long ago buried.
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Under the same sky we are born and die,
Returned back to the earth caste-less.
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Equality seems a distant dream.
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We feign to have grown,
Only to rebound to our stunted ways,
Taking aim at the latest victim.
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Shouldn’t we be color blind to the flesh by now,
Incomprehensible is it to have to legislate,
Over and over and over.
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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.
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Those that hide behind their faith,
Calling evil, those beliefs that differ,
Claiming superiority,
Believe the propaganda.
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We think we have progressed,
Advanced beyond infantile characterizations,
But we have not, we have digressed ,
Becoming more intolerant.
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Residents of the rainbow are criticized and shamed,
As if their orientation was free will,
Demoralizing them as abominations before God.
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Shallow and nescient is your moral constitution,
When will those of conscience rise up,
Ushering in diversity and equality.
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Freeing those marginalized by a witless society,
To live full and fulfilling lives.
~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~
The Love of Fear
Credit – denverlibrary.org
By D. R. DiFrancesco
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Fading light settles in
A prelude to the eerie silence of night
Shadows cast their nets over daylights reign
Capturing the throne under cover of darkness
What games are in play
When evil lurks in the minds eye
Clear as sight, solid and treacherous
We fear that which we can imagine
Imagination resurrects the childhood stories and legends told
By Shelly and Stoker and the Brothers Grimm
Feeding the monsters and demons they preach
What odd fellows we are
Envisioning the worst in man and nature
Vividly foretold in ancient myth
In recesses deep and subconscious
We live to love what terrorizes the soul
Extracting joy from what scares us most
A strange conundrum of human nature is this
Void of logic and common sense
That what frightens us should serve to entertainment us
Childish Insecurity
By D. R. DiFrancesco
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Its a masquerade,
Decorated in random shades of color,
All to hide the true self from you.
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I am ashamed of the real me,
For what reason I do not know,
Afraid I might be thought less of.
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Oh the pure foolishness,
A game played solely in my mind,
Grounded in a child’s fantasy.
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The excruciating pain of insecurity,
Every face a mirrored distortion of me,
Laughing, whispering, looking away.
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They avert their eyes,
As if glimpsing some hideous monster,
There’s nowhere to hide.
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What a horrible delusion,
I fabricate my own nightmares,
Without the comfort of slumber.
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Travails have haunted me,
Ripping confidence asunder,
Though time after time I’ve overcome.
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So ingrained is this sense of doubt,
It is woven into my being,
Like an old friend I could scarcely do without.
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Still each new day is a struggle,
A torment to beat back,
Another chance for me to rise above myself.
Image: Standford University
The Looking Glass
A window,
Like any other window,
Panes separate reality from fiction,
Anonymity, my closest friend.
The sidewalk,
Crowded with actors in this play,
Passers by looking up,
I’m part of the backdrop,
Important to the scenery,
Insignificant to the story,
But at least I’m still on stage.
I watch and listen,
Taking in the hustle and bustle outside,
So cliche’ yet so relevant,
The horns, the taxis,
Rushing to get to God knows where,
All to make another dollar.
People scramble,
Suits and ties, bohemians and homeless,
Sharing the same life on the streets,
Avoiding eye contact,
Avoiding making it personal
Too afraid of feeling empathy for those around them.
The children,
Double-dutch and hopscotch,
Brings back memories of simpler times,
Things weren’t so complicated back then,
Fire hydrants to beat the summer heat,
Careless and carefree were the names of the game.
My hands to glass,
Breath fogging my lens to the world,
Wishing I could be part of the show,
Instead of just a prop,
Destined to remain alone,
A fish in this fishbowl I call home.
A window,
Like any other window,
Panes separate reality from fiction,
Anonymity, my closest friend.
Overcome
With each step forward
We open doors into the unknown
New challenges rush to face us
Throwing up a gauntlet to halt our progress
Forcing us to confront our fears
Our doubts push us to grow
To thrive
To succeed at all which we strive to do
No matter the constraints we place on ourselves.
The Dead of Night (A Poem)
By D. R. DiFrancesco
Nightfall settles in
Overtaking the light
Howling, hooting, cawing sounds
Startled, peering up, down, left, right
Noise from all directions
Fear and angst clutter the mind.
Irrational thoughts of dread
Rustling leaves and brush
Freeze as though flash frozen
“What’s that?” said internally
“Nothing but the wind.” the reply
Nerves pricking the skin like a million needles.
Trembling, feeling breathless
Shadows unfold, something is watching
Moonlight and movement weave their tale
Nonsense as the pace hastens
Trying to outrun torment
Trepidation weighs heavy.
Lightening flashes, knees weaken
Surroundings visible in the flash
Lost, the scene barbaric
Foreboding wrenches at the soul
Uncontrollable, Tears flow in streams
Screaming, the only respite.
Senses amble untamed
Drenched, sweat cold and moist
Disoriented struggling to find the way
Surreal, clutching the sheets
Muscles tighten, eyes open with a jolt
Relieved it was only a nightmare.
Disturbed?
White noise
Distorting my senses
Images like flashbacks fill my mind
Thoughts, past, present and future
Blur the lines between fantasy and reality
Sanity or insanity
Who is to say which is which
Its difficult to tell anymore
Dreams materialize in painful rushes of sound and color
Awake…No rest, can’t sleep
Unfolding into vivid nightmares
They seem so real
Glimpses of my innermost fears
Each breath becomes more labored
Struggling to claw back to consciousness
I can feel the blood pulsing through my veins
Rapid, it battles to sustain me
The pounding in my head clouds my vision
Strong burnt coffee the medicine
Nerves steady…Fog recedes
Jarred back to life by the caffine
Another day of subsistence
Endeavoring to crawl out of the darkness
Alone and lonely.
Dom DiFrancesco 