Tag Archives: government

Fear-mongering And Terror

Fear-mongering and terror

Spouted from the hallowed halls.

Worry not they shout,

We are here to protect you,

We know better than you,

We know the dangers.

Think…

At what cost?

They ask us to trust them,

Give us just a little they say,

Just a touch of your freedom.

It’s for a noble cause!

We only need it for a short while.

Like fools we consent;

Placating us under their umbrella of protection.

With each fearful rant they ask for more.

See how we kept you safe,

Nothing has happened,

But they are out there

Waiting to pounce,

They want you dead!

Asking one more for ounce of our liberty;

We gladly give it with a relieved smile.

Rumors of anxiety and dread persist,

Appeals subside,

They won’t know,

Devouring our freedoms under cover of darkness.

Alphabet soup can keep it hidden,

NSA, CIA, FBI and the rest.

Considering us ignorant and weak.

Reading our mail,

Listening to our most intimate calls,

Perusing out texts,

Nothing is private,

Nothing is sacred,

Our lives, open books for their amusement.

I ask you…

Who are the terrorists now

And who are the lambs?

Our way of life is eroding,

Just as the oligarchy has long-planned.

Extremists can sit back and watch,

As we surrender our greatness,

Under a cloud of fear,

Never having to fire another shot.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Casual Observers

Are we not all but casual observers

This game…though not such a game that governments play

What is it they do not tell us in the name of our own good

Who are they to decide what serves us best

Are these not our lives, our futures, our hopes, our dreams

They toy with these for their own folly

For the sake of national pride we label others as evil

Without looking within at our own flaws

Puffing chests, bellicose, with an arrogance befitting fools

Answering tit-for-tat with ever greater threats of destruction

This chain of ceaseless violence, when will it subside

Years of pain, years of suffering have taken their toll on this weary nation

I ask, what have we won, show me…show us

Do we need another war, more bloodshed of the innocent,

Further sacrifices by our brave men and women delivered as pawns

for subversive economic gain

Isn’t it time to seek peace after so much loss

And break this cycle of violence.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Opportunity

Opportunity

Who are the fortunate ones

Who will be left out

No question more pertinent

In this most troubled of times

Was this the promise

Is this all we should expect

For all the effort

To be let down by country

When it’s help is needed most

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Let’s Hear It For The Gipper

Image Credit: whitehouse.gov

Image Credit: whitehouse.gov

An embarrassment lay before the trustees feet.

No courage, no diplomacy from the ivory seats.

~~

They bicker and fight at the masses expense,

Void of logic this makes absolutely no sense.

~~

Elected to do all the peoples good work,

To captain the ship with nary a perk.

~~

Not to be so, as their pockets belie,

They weakened the law and stole all the pie.

~~

Neither a sliver did they take nor merely a slice,

They keep going back many times more than twice.

~~

Still as cattle to the polls we can’t help but repeat,

As if we were held to the fire by our feet.

~~

When will the swarm awaken from their dream,

To see that this always has been part of the scheme.

~~

Divide up the nation into haves and have nots,

Feed those without means into the haves corporate plot.

~~

This countries demise may be its own wretched greed,

Blind or not caring for a citizenry in need.

~~

Many poor have been baited that less gives you more,

A theory disproved by many before.

~~

Even Greenspan did admit that “trickle down” was a farce,

The wealth it went up, but the trickle fell sparse.

~~

Thirty years on, on the brink of collapse,

Austerity it is as we watch prosperity lapse.

~~

But still the Gipper’s name is held up enshrined,

His legacy it ticks like a bomb out of time.

 ~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Have and Have Not

You laud that all you have, you have earned

The blood and sweat of your toils payment

While covering the working poor and unemployed

With a blanket of hate and hypocrisy

Are not your hands outstretched

Collecting the tithe of the state

You are no different than those you so despise

It comes at no less a cost and is no less a handout

Than that received for the sustenance of life

Is sharpening your intellect from the pockets of the people

Somehow more noble than feeding children and the poor

You cry for the state to back down

While pickpocketing the very social programs

You so vehemently claim to detest

You hypocrite! You cannot have it both ways

You cannot suckle at the teats of mother state

While questioning that which she so graciously provides

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Passion of Politics and Religion

Of this, I am as guilty as the rest.

Topics varied as politics or religion,

Taught at an early age never to discuss,

These are like powerful earth magnets

To man’s simple mind.

I am of the opinion that no two subjects can be

any more divisive than these.

Turning the mildest of men into mortal enemies

with the slip of the tongue.

I am not immune to this foible,

At times a slip, whilst other times

Thrown in venomous rage.

Can any one of us claim to have not done the same?

If yes…then they most certainly are liars.

What astounds is the passion,

Like that ensconced in two young lovers,

that politics and religion invoke.

Taunting red-faced opponents to spar

In a Battle Royale.

I have been both victor and defeated

In these most epic of battles.

Still I have not been deterred,

For my conscience would not allow it.

I have been the red-faced.

I have raised, nay, shouted to drown out my adversary,

Unwilling to consider an alternate view.

Oh yes…I have been guilty of tossing civility aside,

Of mannerisms befitting a child.

Would not a civil conversation have borne greater fruit?

Perhaps…perhaps not.

I have, as yet,, been unable to reign in my passions.

Remaining a convict to my own convictions,

I hope to one day receive parole

To discuss my opinions with ardor and civility.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Hail To The King

We are living in a land of broken dreams and promises,

Those with means, rush to deny what should be obvious to the rest,

Ha! It’s the Land of Opportunity, for whom I ask?

Common is it for the common man to grow then stagnate,

Trapped in the tracks of his caste.

Not for lack of desire, but of meaningful opportunity.

Crawling up and up only to find the steps paved in jagged glass,

Barefooted from birth we are cut and scarred with each step,

No red carpet nor ivory towers lay in wait.

Instead pittances to pacify the masses are offered to give hope,

Promises that they too are worthy of abundance,

These promises ring hollow…leaving us with the taste of sand,

While the oligarchy scoffs from their luxurious boardrooms.

Cries to the state offer little relief,

As they themselves are counted amongst the elite,

Leaving the rest to scrounge for scraps in their rubbish heaps.

This was not the promise of this once great nation,

Old money, family money, dynasties, unfettered corporatism…greed!

Safeguards dreamt by the founders have been tilled and buried,

Bastardized by modern men with corrupt ideals.

Shall we once again embrace…

The monarchy!

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Enemies of the State – A Tanka

Image Credit: npr.org

Image Credit: npr.org

Can we be hunted

“Hypothetically?”,  Yes

Like deer in season

Residing in the forest

Guilty without due process

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

A Ship Gone Adrift

What little I have,

What little hope I hold out,

I hold out for you my brothers and sisters,

As this ponderous ship lumbers on.

Burdened with the heavy load of it’s own pomposity,

It lists port and starboard under it’s shifting cargo,

Tacking to-and-fro to navigate to calmer waters.

Captain and crew befuddled by the turbulent course,

Confused, cries of “Mutiny!” wring out from the deck,

Their cries fall on deaf ears.

On course for the eye of the storm,

The captain, in his pigheadedness refuses to yield,

Refuses to see the oncoming torrent,

Refuses to change course,

If not for him, but the sake of his crew.

Equally obstinate,

The crew abandons ship with nary a word,

Cowardly defecting to save face,

Leaving captain and cargo,

Feral and adrift to meet their fate.

For a ship untended…

Seldom reaches the safety of port

 

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~