The cardboard roof does little to keep the icy rain and bone-chilling cold from compounding his pain. Looked upon as a piece of worthless trash, he is invisible to passersby..
Perhaps if they realized they were just one paycheck away from his Hell, they’d offer him a bit more sympathy.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Stench of urine,
Cardboard shacks,
Shopping carts,
Tattered clothes,
Hand-me-downs from the dumpster I suppose.
Rummaging through waste baskets,
Feasting on tainted food scraps,
Hiding in the shadows,
Sleeping on steam grates,
Misused,
Abused,
Something less than human.
Left for dead in the cold,
Filth in the form of flesh and blood,
But have you ever looked into their eyes,
Heard their hearts beat,
Seen them cry,
Gasp for their final breath?
I’m sure you haven’t
As you stepped over their broken bodies,
Avoiding them like the plague,
Chuckling at their despair,
On your way to your comfortable life.
Can’t you take a moment to lend a hand,
A little food,
A little shelter,
A bit of cash,
Instead of treating them like lepers,
Feeding off teets of the man..
You don’t know them,
You don’t know their stories,
Their hardships,
Their tragedies,
But you should…
They are our brothers and sister after all.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Broken by living
An old man lies fetally
Praying for his death
Torturous life on the street
Trades its mercy for your soul
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Peeling back the layers
Like an onion of marble, brick, wood,
Concrete, steel and plaster.
What lies beneath this man-made skeleton?
Flesh, blood, bone,
Hopes, dreams, promise,
Failure, disappointment, longing,
Pain, suffering and sorrow,
Wrapped in the package human.
Wealth nor status makes one immune.
Life infects rich and poor alike,
Birth and death spare no one,
Entering into their pact with nothing
And fulfilling the contract with no reward.
These truths are guaranteed
Despite a desire to bury them in denial, religion or alcohol.
Make what you will of your life
Ignore those that cry to you with outstretched hands,
Divert your eyes from malnourishment,
Turn your back on humanities fallen,
Do this and more without conscience
As a soulless miscreant is bound to do.
This is your choice.
Or join this race we all run…offering,
Time, money, love,
Compassion, sympathy, understanding,
A helping hand, encouragement,
As much or as little as you have,
This is what it means to be human,
To be in communion,
Asking nothing in return.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Dom DiFrancesco 