In search of answers
Man’s spiritual quest for truth
Leads to the unknown
Is there Heaven or Hell
Or are we the creators
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Tag Archives: hell
Things So Real – A Tanka
Things so real I see
Punished by bizarre demons
Under hellish sky
Shudder and shake, eyes flutter
Another sweat drenched nightmare
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Blackness and Dread – A Dark Poem
Blackness and dread have come over me,
I know not for how much longer I can resist.
Something unnatural here has staked claim to my soul;
Amongst these damp, dark, mossy castle walls
Light of day does little to diminish my fear.
I can feel it’s presence whilst awake and in slumber,
It speaks to me, taunting me to do unspeakable evil.
I am not the monster this darkness wishes me to be
Tho’ I fear I must be going mad!
I have called on God for strength, but to no avail
He has left me to my own voice.
My wife of O’ these many years fears me,
I am not the man I was,
I have paled, the purple beneath my eyes ages me.
Venturing into the night with nary a word nor explanation
I remember this not, tho’ my clothing doth bear evidence.
I wake to incessant scoffing yet am utterly alone outside of my bed,
Is my mind playing tricks on me,
What have I done, where have I gone?
My shirt dotted in crimson, bloody knife sheathed at my waist,
My hands painted scarlet speak of some unconscious evil.
I have never…could never hurt a living soul,
Yet this throbbing in my skull,
These incessant nightmares claim otherwise.
What I see in my minds eye disgusts me, tho’ I am horrifyingly intrigued.
Screams, shrill and bloodcurdling haunt me.
I can see the faces of females I have never known
Yet they lay at my feet, faces contorted in terror.
I am looking down upon myself and my bloodied hands
These women have been disemboweled,
Steam rising from their flayed vessels in the cold night air,
I laugh heartily at their horrific demise.
These are just dreams!
Nay! They are but nightmares, figments of an active imagination!
They must be!
But my hands bear witness to my dreams.
They are but one and the same, though I know not how.
What have I done, why must I be tormented?
Clearly God has forsaken me!
I dare not show my face beyond these castle walls,
I dare not reveal what I have truly become to my wife and children;
I have become a pariah to my family and this world,
I am ashamed!
Voices chortle saying, “You know what you must do!”,
“Join us! Join us!”.
This pain hath become unbearable,
Pounding, pounding, unceasing, these voices.
Hand drawn to the knife handle I contemplate my end.
The hammer continues to beat upon my temple
As the beat of a drum, constant and rhythmic.
Drawing blade from sheath I tremble, I know what I must do,
Whilst the voices drone on in their monotone “Join us!”.
Lips quivering, eyes tearing, I long for my prior life,
My family, my mind void of this Satan, but it is not to be.
To the hilt, I drive the blood caked knife through my throbbing temple.
Black…Nothing but blackness,
Still there is pain,
The pounding,
The hammering,
Forever tormented even in death,
Surely I must be cursed to hell.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Cast Out These Demons
Cast out these demons
That torture my wretched soul
Like the bane of Job
Carrying on by faith
Though physically tormented
~
Am I strong enough
A question I’ve often asked
Getting no response
I fear that I’ve been given
Much more than this man can bear
~
Destined to struggle
Though I know I’m not alone
This holds no comfort
As I wander through this world
Defending against evil
~
The mortal evil
That plagues all men from within
Instilled at their birth
Threatening to damn our souls
To the immortal hellfire
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Could This Life Be Hell – A Tanka
Could this life be Hell
Meant to test our mortal souls
Through torment and pain
Nothing is impossible
In the wisdom of God’s plan
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Comedy and Tragedy – A Tanka
Living this stage show
Scripted as Heaven or Hell
So Shakespearean
At times its a comedy
At others a tragedy
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
What Awaits
I do not pretend, to know the truth,
Anymore than you…or the sun…or the moon,
Proving nothing short of ignorance otherwise.
~
What I do know, is that death is inevitable;
Whether life be a second, a minute or decades,
Of this I am certain.
~
Just as I am certain of my origin;
Beyond progeny…beyond paternity,
My essence existed before that of this earthly vessel,
And will certainly continue beyond it’s worldly demise,
Our human science has assured.
~
I am, however steeped in uncertainty,
Uncertain of what lay in wait after this finite adventure.
~
Will I be swallowed by consuming blackness,
Drifting endlessly…disjointedly into nothingness?
~
Will I be welcomed at Heaven’s pearled gates,
Greeted with open arms into a paradise?
~
Maybe Hell hath set it’s sights on my mortal soul,
Repaying me for the sinful life I’ve led?
~
Or will my soul join with others
To live once again,
In the vessel of another of the newly-born?
~
These all, are questions of faith,
Your faith…my faith,
Questions for which I have no answers.
~
After a lifetime of curious inquiry,
I hold no greater insight into the afterlife,
Than were so endowed in me at my birth.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Hell’s Minion – A Dark Poem
Image Credit: goodreads.com
A mist lay o’er the old town square,
As candles flicker in cottage eyes,
To venture out, no one may dare,
Emboldened fool will surely die.
~
In darkened night the moon lay black,
Unearthly pitch to ward off man,
Fear for those who’ve not come back,
Fell prey to Satan’s ghastly plan.
~
Yon forest breaths the caw of crows,
Hoot Owls cry echoes resound,
In what direction no one knows,
From high above the mossy ground.
~
What Hell bestowed on sky and earth,
In shrill and curdling scream,
Instilled by evils wretched birth,
Unfurled in nightmarish dream.
~
The butcher lay to weed us out,
His sickle bathed in blood and spoils,
Gullet cut, no voice to shout,
Easy prey…Nay! sweatless toil.
~
Demon cloaked in onyx murk,
Ne’er seen with mortal’s naked view,
O’ terror, we shan’t let caution shirk,
Vigilant we must all struggle through.
.~
Pray to God the sun will rise,
Beseech the villain back to Hell,
Look upon Heaven to flay disguise,
Release from prison where we dwell.
~
Still sun will set and night will grow,
No closer to trapping the horrid beast,
In faces of strangers and kin we know,
Who next be the blood bathed gory feast.
~
A tap at the door…whom by God could it be,
Overwhelmed with the play of the mind,
Ever slow did I open through pitch could not see,
Peeking head ‘round the door from behind.
~
Twas it wind, or rain, mayhaps a stone at it threw,
I presumed was a knock at the door,
Mustered courage did I gather to do what I must do,
As I shuffled myself to the porch.
~
An icy chill did rise, up the length of my spine,
As the door slammed behind me with haste,
Extinguishing candles, immersing me blind,
Backing up in my steps I did trace.
~
My next to last step to my knees did I fall,
At the boots of a figure in black,
Turning ‘round, sure to face my funeral pall,
To the side of my head he did crack.
~
Taste of blood on my lips, as the iron from a fire,
Blurred vision as I’m yanked by my hair,
To my feet I was dragged to the square of the shire,
Say a word, nay I wouldn’t have dared.
~
In silence, with strength this devil held tight,
Pray I did, for my soul to please save,
As courage I gathered with all of my might,
I begged for my death to be staved.
~
With sickle in hand I knew time was through,
Pay the piper for sins of my youth,
Upright and firm, though in pain it was true,
In death sins be hidden from truth.
~
Blade razor sharp from my neck blood did fall,
Crimson rivers down my chest it did spill,
A stroke from the edge warm and tired was all,
Up to God I commit all my will.
~
When daybreak did come to reveal gruesome site,
To Hell where the demon had fled,
Nary trace did he leave from his pitch darkened flight,
Except for the shire dwellers head.
~
A century on, Satan’s minion ne’er captured,
Legend passed down through third generations,
Unsettled and fearful still awaiting the rapture,
Asking God for consoling libations.
~~~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
The Wretch Within
Mirror shattered,
Bluish-green razor edge inviting,
Showing me pieces of who I used to be,
In fractured frames,
Blurring the lines of my worn and weary face.
To go on seems pointless,
In light of the disappointment I’ve sown in my life,
What relief cool glass to flesh would bring,
Were it not for the disappointment it would usher,
The woes of family and friends,
The abomination I would be before God,
The cowardice of my soul,
The greater Hell I would face.
Maybe this life is the biblical Hell,
Perhaps everything hereafter is Heavenly,
I do not know,
I can not know,
These things beyond the knowledge of man,
Revealed as mystery whilst I breath.
Of this I am certain, I will carry my burden,
Not for me as I am beyond hope,
But for those around me,
To prevent the shame of my imperfections.
Maybe this is the cross that I must bear,
Heavy…splinters piercing my flesh,
Wretched in this worldly skin.
~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~
Dread of Night
Howling winds under amber moon,
Barren oaks crackle dry and brittle,
Skipping leaves rustle, dead and fallen,
As dogs aghast, bay at the dreadful night,
How eerie trembling in fright unfolds.
Shadows long and deep bury the living,
Cast down upon the earth in a tumultuous dance,
Sights and sounds of Hell inspired.
Whilst blackened figures roam unhindered,
Tricking eyes and mind to terror.
Spying what in logic can not be real,
Hence, even this is of no solace,
As synapse take their nightmarish toll,
Painting masterpiece of horror contrived.
With shutters locked taut, to hold back the fear,
Blankets drawn tight up over head,
Eyes pursed hard to block out the light,
We lay in silence to hide from the dead.
~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~
Dom DiFrancesco 