I love you young one
Your little quirks and your laugh
Jokes at my expense
Being your father and friend
Is all I could have hoped for
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
I love you young one
Your little quirks and your laugh
Jokes at my expense
Being your father and friend
Is all I could have hoped for
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
In your loving eyes
I find the peace I’ve longed for
Perfect companion
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Unconditional
The love shown by man’s best friend
It’s interesting
Maybe we could learn something
From our four-legged partners
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Greatest friends were we
Long before we were lovers
Our bond has been strong
No more could I have ever asked
My companion, my beloved
Spoken from the heart–
Never have I loved you more
Than I do this day
Twenty five years espoused
Once two, we’ve lived long as one
One heart and one soul
Through time, traveling this path
Winding and rocky
We comfort each others pain
‘Til we taste our final kiss
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Thoughts are provoking
When voiced in arrogant tones
A putrid venom
Raising the ire of foes
Stinging the hearts allies
A higher standard
We aspire to be held
This has always been
Yet we bully and coerce
We push, shove and we degrade
They aren’t our children
We are not their guardians
Ego says elseways
Sometimes it’s best to step back
Letting cooler heads prevail
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
I entertained the thought of loving you,
But a selfish heart was blind to all except its own conceits.
No time for anyone else,
Nothing but what satisfied its needs.
You offered love,
You offered kindness, compassion and passion,
The fool that I was missed it
Or chose not to see it.
Really–what’s the difference;
Blind is blind,
Ignorance is ignorance,
Splitting hairs is all that it is.
Does it really matter what its called?
You said you were leaving,
Did I try to stop you…
No!
I watched you walk away;
Not one tear in my eye,
Nary an ache in my heart,
Only perhaps a touch of relief for the freedom.
It makes me sick to think about it,
Embarrassed, ashamed.
Years passed and chance reared its head,
You never gave up on me,
Never hated me as I hated myself.
Your love for me remained though I didn’t deserve it.
I was not worthy.
I eventually grew up, throwing aside my childish ways,
Realizing that who stood before me was exactly who I wanted,
Exactly who I wanted to give my love to.
You took me in,
Sheltered me,
Loved me,
Forgave me my insensitivity,
My foolhardiness;
Never reminding me of it..
How can I ever thank you enough for saving me
…From myself
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
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.
Sand, coarse and hot runs through my fingers,
Blending seamlessly with others of their kind,
This endless sea of granulated wonder.
Alike, of similar origins, living in their same world;
Not so unlike the vastness of our own terrarium.
Under the skin, are not our similarities overwhelming,
Blood, bone, tissue, mineral, hopes, dreams, ambitions,
Born, living and dying as we all must, it is not a choice,
Nor an option given to us at first breath.
Look hard around you,
Oh, how the tricks of the eye are so convincing,
Seeing only that which is physical.
What does this tell of the being?
What of their hearts, their souls,
Their minds, their aspirations,
Their pain and suffering?
Nothing! For the eye is a fool,
Easily leading and misleading the mind,
Diverting maliciously from another’s essence,
Their true being and all that is important.
The shallowness of outward impressions limits us,
Preventing us from knowing, befriending, understanding.
Ignorance feeds us foremost,
Our temporal gluttony gorges us,
Making us something less than human,
With our flawed vision of what should be.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
I see you–sights of you everywhere I go,
Awake, asleep, eyes closed or open.
I feel you in every moment of every day,
When I’m alone or in a crowd.
You my love are so ingrained in me,
Individuals–yes, but we are one.
We share a history and travel into one future,
Plotting course through this life.
Joys and sorrows, trials and tribulations,
All have made us who we are,
Made us stronger through adversity.
These are not to be regretted, but cherished,
Part of living the life we have been given.
Not one moment would I change,
Would I give back exchanging it for another.
We are who we are my love,
No more from this life could I ask.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
A look, a pant, a gentle nudge,
Awake, excited to start the day.
It takes no more than a subtle budge,
To coax them on to run and play.
~
From birth to passing their childlike heart,
Endears them to the soul of man.
Its been this way from the very start,
Proud and loving at our side they stand.
~
Loyal ‘til their final day,
They’ll leave us not until our end.
Ne’re a doubt at our feet they’ll stay,
A heartfelt thanks to man’s best friend.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~