Does benevolence pain you?
It should not…
Others welfare-
Mustn’t be a cause of discomfort,
But a source of joy,
A gift of fulfillment,
Done out of obligation,
Not of demand,
Instead an obligation,
To care for your brothers,
And sisters in need,
In their moment of distress.
Time or money,
It matters not,
When done out of…
The goodness of heart.
~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~
Hot summer days,
A/C blasting cold and refreshing,
Music blaring from the car radio,
Cardboard signs,
“Will work for food”,
Litter the freeway off-ramps,
Held by vagrants and transients,
Dirty and broken,
Looking for food,
Looking for a better life,
Hoping to survive another day,
You pass by averting your eyes,
Pretending…no wishing they were not there,
Not because of sadness for their condition,
But out of deep seated embarrassment,
Red faced by lack of action,
Of compassion,
Of sympathy,
Seeing them as less than human,
A drain on society,
Would some spare change put you out,
Not likely,
But then you would have to face reality.
~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~
No one hears the child
Cries of hunger are ignored
Food is tossed away
The richest country on earth
Isn’t there enough for all
~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~
Image Credit – thinkprogress.org
An infant’s cry shatters another sleepless night
A mother, devoid of life sustaining nectar clutches her baby to her breast
A father weeps silently, drinking in his plight as if hemlock
Sadness shelters the family under its ramshackle peak
Hopelessness feeds their malnourished appetites
What excuse can be waged in this modern year
Brown or white, skin is of no significance
It is not a barrier to the ravages of hunger and poverty
Saying it does not exist does not make it so
As ignorance is not an excuse for blindness
Is there not enough for all
Are not sunken eyes and bloated bellies reason to intervene
Reason to give voice to the cries that no one hears
To tears shed that no one sees
To dreams dreamt that no one believes
Compassion and empathy must foster change
The sighted must open the eyes of the blind
The deaf must be compelled to hear
This is humanities charge
~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~
Dom DiFrancesco 