We Aren’t Born To Hate (Haiku)

We aren’t born to hate

Instead it is something learned

~~ Taught by ignorance

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

I Entertained The Thought of Loving You

I entertained the thought of loving you,

But a selfish heart was blind to all except its own conceits.

No time for anyone else,

Nothing but what satisfied its needs.

You offered love,

You offered kindness, compassion and passion,

The fool that I was missed it

Or chose not to see it.

Really–what’s the difference;

Blind is blind,

Ignorance is ignorance,

Splitting hairs is all that it is.

Does it really matter what its called?

You said you were leaving,

Did I try to stop you…

No!

I watched you walk away;

Not one tear in my eye,

Nary an ache in my heart,

Only perhaps a touch of relief for the freedom.

It makes me sick to think about it,

Embarrassed, ashamed.

Years passed and chance reared its head,

You never gave up on me,

Never hated me as I hated myself.

Your love for me remained though I didn’t deserve it.

I was not worthy.

I eventually grew up, throwing aside my childish ways,

Realizing that who stood before me was exactly who I wanted,

Exactly who I wanted to give my love to.

You took me in,

Sheltered me,

Loved me,

Forgave me my insensitivity,

My foolhardiness;

Never reminding me of it..

How can I ever thank you enough for saving me

…From myself

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Today He Did Rise (Tanka)

Today He did rise

As foretold by the Bible

Many years ago

Still the lesson hasn’t been learned

Refusing to live in love

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Stares

Stares

Talking in hushed tones

Diverting eye contact

Ducking low so not to be seen

Prejudice and hatred

What could be more obvious

Skin color

Accent

Weight

Height

Disability

Religion

Sexual orientation

Dress

All poor excuses for ignorance

Next time–look in the mirror

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Privy to Others Conversations (Sonnet)

Privy to others conversations, my ears are burning,

Listening to the incessant feeding of negatives hunger.

Voraciously seeking the sympathy, they’re yearning,

Causing me to wince, my nerves they shudder.

~

Perpetuating hatred–conspiracy under guise of neutrality,

Practicing not what they publicly preach.

Choosing instead to live a different reality,

One that’s close-minded, but so in their reach.

~

Why is it that man prefers deafness, to be blind,

Rather than change the narrowness of anuninformed course.

Archaic is their thinking of the most ignorant kind,

Thinking they can change others, spewing shallow discourse.

~

If only they would look inside to goodness buried deep within,

No place could vile hatred hide, the world’s healing would begin.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

 

Ignorance (Acrostic)

Its not an excuse for inhumanity

God did not make us omnipotent

Nor did He make us judge and jury

Only He commands such authority

Racism, discrimination, hate

Arrogance, intolerance

None have a place in civilized society

Courage to withstand is paramount

Even though they will want us to burn

.

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Discrimination

Discrimination

By religious objection

Legally sanctioned

Isn’t it time we grew up

And let bygones be bygones

Yet some of us can’t

Gays can be refused service

In Arizona

That is if the law passes

Welcome back to the stone age

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

~

 AUTHOR’S NOTE:  For those that are interested here is a link  to the story that prompted me to write this piece.  Arizona is placing a bill in front of the governor for her signature or veto that allows individuals, businesses and religious institutions to deny service or admission, primarily to members of the LGBT community so long as they can show that their discriminatory actions were prompted by their religious convictions.  This is disgraceful in my opinion and certainly does not make me proud to live in this state.

Those Who Quickly Judge (Tanka)

Those who quickly judge

Can miss the greatness in life

That stands before them

Like ostriches in darkness

With their heads stuck in the sand

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

I Look Upon Such Great Divide

I look upon such great divide

Families fighting through verbal battle

No middle ground, forced to choose sides

Opinions grasped like so much chattel

~

Scarcely since Our Civil War

Have differences raised so much ire

Tell me–what is all the anger for

Fueling tinder to spark the fire

~

Inundated torrent of adapted news

All with clearly chosen leanings

Partisan sides, a burning fuse

Caring not for truth or meaning

~

We drink like cattle at the trough

Hearing what we choose to hear

Everyone else’s minds gone soft

Perpetuating mood of hate and fear

~

One and all looking for someone to blame

Misplaced trust keeps fanning the fire

As rhetoric strives to focus their aim

Their lust for blood on a funeral pyre

~

Once an asset was a public informed

Now we are led astray like sheep

Our minds and senses propaganda stormed

To the point we dream it in our sleep

~

Questions arise, what liar to believe

None of them are worthy of trust

Making their quest to cheat and deceive

We pray their riches turn to rust

~

When oh when will we ever learn

Its up to us to force a change

Instead, watching while we crash and burn

Isn’t our complacency rather strange

.

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Thirst and Hunger

Thirst is not a disease

Nor hunger a plague waged as a personal attack..

The dirty and downtrodden are not animals with opposing thumbs

Foraging through trash bins for food.

Their children are not parasites to be frowned upon!

They love just as you do with the same wants and needs.

Hands cracked and calloused know hard work.

Many toil hard and long for the barest of necessities

Only to fall short, thankful for assistance.

Yet you despise the poor collectively,

Lazy, blood suckers, bums, leeches,

Used as terms of endearment.

Speaking as though you know them or their circumstance

You display nothing but ignorance.

What do you know of their lives, their pain, their poverty?

Many are victims of economics,

Failing of health or disability,

Casualties of familial history,

Deprived of education,

Forgotten or blamed by the very souls with the power to change.

Greed and loathing blind,

Banishing compassion and humanity to the pits of hell.

.

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~