Tag Archives: God

Betrayal

By D. R. DiFrancesco

You promised us forgiveness,

If only we would fight for you.

You promised us everlasting life,

If only we would die for you.

You promised us love and gratitude,

If only we would tithe to you.

You begged us for forgiveness,

If only we would lie for you.

You begged us for compassion,

If only we would turn a blind eye for you.

You begged for our silence,

If only to make our children not speak out against you.

You promise us things which you can not hope to deliver,

You beg us for things which you do not deserve to receive,

All while purportedly speaking in the name of God.

We will not forgive nor accept your hollow promises,

Forgiveness should be asked of your God not of mortal man.

As for your promises,

You do not hold the authority to fulfill them.

Keep them,

For they are not worth the breath you have wasted.

A Look In The Miror

Don’t judge me,

You are not God,

Don’t pretend to speak for God,

To know what he thinks, what he wants of me.

Don’t push your religion on me,

The Divine Word of God, written by man,

Interpreted by man,

In a futile attempt to change who I am.

Don’t condemn me,

You aren’t entitled to be my jury,

You are hypocrites and heathens,

Hiding behind your wall of self-righteousness.

Don’t loathe me,

Am I not your brother,

One created in the same image of your God,

Worthy of the love and respect given to those in your circle.

Don’t shun me,

Instead look at your reflection, then take my hand,

Walk with me and comfort my soul,

Are we not the same in the eyes of God?

To Almost Touch Heaven

By D. R. DiFrancesco

Staring into an ocean blue sky,

Gliding,

Cradled in the silvery wings of a bird,

So close God,

So close to heaven I can almost touch it.

This must be what it is like to die,

What it is like to ascend into the afterlife,

Weightlessly soaring,

Song of birds a symphony,

Leading my soul skyward,

Sun warm and inviting on my face,

Clouds of virginal white clothe me,

Comforting my weary essence.

At peace,

This must be what it is like,

What it is like to almost touch heaven,

On the wings of the silvery bird.

 

First Haiku

The heat of summer

Bakes the earth to cinders

Life thrives in this hell

———————————————-

Water carves the sphere

Bringing character from God

To the earth it’s canvas

———————————————-

Shattered window breaks

Leaving shards of glass below

Rocks thrown by children

 

In Memorial

She is gone now,

Weeks have passed,

Shock is no more.

Resigned to the fact that we won’t see her again,

We won’t share coffee around the kitchen table,

Won’t share meals at the holidays,

Won’t see the warm smile,

Won’t see the pride in her eyes at our little accomplishments.

Grandmothers are someone taken for granted,

They were always there,

From our beginning,

Naively we think that they will never leave.

Still something deep in our hearts knows  its a lie,

We lie to ourselves because its easier than facing the truth.

The status quo easier to take than the pain,

But nothing can stay the same.

Parents become Grandparents,

Children, parents,

The eternal cycle repeats like a palindrome.

I don’t pretend to know what lay beyond this fragile life,

We pray to, hope for, obsess about an unseen God,

Holding steadfast to our faith,

Grasping with clenched fists to the fabric of what’s left of our existence,

Knowing that in time, we to, will meet our maker,

Whomever we conceive our maker to be.

In this, our soul finds consolation,

Finding peace in our belief in the unknowable,

Finding relief in the belief that this world is just the beginning,

That eternal life is not a myth,

But instead a promise of something greater,

Something greater than anything created in our mortal imaginations.

In this hope,

We find comfort.

In this hope,

We find peace.

As we pay our final respects,

In this hope,

You will not be forgotten.

Instead,

In this hope of heaven,

We say goodbye.

Honor

U.S. Army 4th Infantry Afghanistan

Sun blinds me,
Sweat blurs my vision,
Leaving me disadvantaged,
Reliance on the senses,
An inconvenient certainty.

Stride faltering,
Dustdevils swirl behind me,
Exhaustion clouds my mind,
I can’t think straight,
Thoughts congeal in random patterns.

Skin burns,
Ultraviolet rays scar me,
Dirt covered crimson,
Cringe to the touch,
Sundown brings little relief.

Feet blistered,
My boots, my next best friends fail me,
Rest, not an option,
I must keep advancing,
Being left behind, inconceivable.

Backpack strains me,
My worldly possessions contained within,
Life and death kept at bay,
Sustainence, munitions, reminders of home,
All I have to call my own.

Never complaining,
Unspoken duty of every man,
Doing what must be done,
Personal harm not considered,
The oath more hallowed than hallowed ground.

Honor me,
Honor me not for the sacrifice,
Honor me not for the blood I’ve shed,
Honor me not for the widow I left behind,
Instead honor me.

For my love of God and country.

Piety and Hypocrisy

Father, Savior, Lord, Jehovah

Faith in the unknown

The eternal struggle never ceasing, never compromising

What to believe, that is the question.

Eons pass, bloodshed abounds

Differences mediated through conflict

Crusade or Jihad, neither is virtuous.

Blinded by rightousness, no one can see

Their lives spent and lost in pursuit of utopia

Yet contentment in this moment is never realized.

Is this the end to which the righteous aspire?

They gather in the name of peace

Projecting their false tolerance

A show…insincere in all its pageantry.

Beneath the surface bubbles hatred and hostility

Vowing to disencumber this world of the other

While smiling and greeting with a warm embrace.

Is this what the supreme being wants from us?

Are differing opinions to be snuffed out?

Our traditions say yes with a deafening roar.

Are not love and charity mightier than the sword?

More palettable then pain and suffering

To say yea would be only logical.

Still man endeavors to distort the infalable word

All for his own selfish devices

Leading the unquestioning flock to slaughter

Mindless and oblivious they follow their master.

To petition for truth, is construed as heresy

Faith the only path to eternal salvation

Yet acrimony toward our neighbors persists.

Does prejudice or averice have any authority to prevail?

An emphatic no should be the only a reply

If common decency were the essence of all relations

Peace and harmony would be all that exist.