Tag Archives: joy

How Odd It Is At This Ponderous Time (Sonnet)

How odd it is at this ponderous time

The bridge we cross ‘tween joy and sorrow.

Meant to share in Christmas rhyme

Instead we fret about tomorrow.

Is not this day of bread and drink,

Of Christ and gifts and family and friends,

To mean much more than what we think,

Yet still we stifle good will towards men.

We forgo a day to celebrate in joy,

As many can give no more than tears.

Another year their dreams destroyed;

They should not suffer torment and fears.

Amongst the presents and lights and bows

Be certain the kindness of Christmas does show.

.

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Thoughts of Correctness (Sonnet)

Thoughts of correctness–political or otherwise rise this time of year,

Merry Christmas replaced by Happy Holidays so as not to offend.

Is this not still Christmas which we for so long held dear,

There has been no change in the calendar I do portend.

.

What–pray tell is of such offense during this season so joyous,

Are not both happiness and goodwill the same amongst all?

Making merry at this time was once so pleasant–boisterous;

Kind smiles and hearty handshakes have suffered in pall.

.

Abstain if you must, from this merriment we freely offer,

Wallow in self-pity and become victim to your social demise.

There is far more to Christmas than filling retailers coffers,

Its a chance to renew our faith in man with a clearer set of eyes.

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Regardless of religion take from this holiday what you will,

For if nothing but kindness and generosity, then your heart it will fill.

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~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Heartfelt Forgiveness (Tanka)

Heartfelt forgiveness
Should be our aspiration
Not just empty words
The lesson passed before us
I hope we weren’t distracted
.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Winters Chill Fast Approaching

Winters chill fast approaching,

Trees barren of supple leaves

Stand cold and hard–unfeeling.

Still my heart beats–

Pulsing warm and full of life;

Though invisible to the naked eye

Like the tree…I live,

Waiting to usher forth that which I hold close.

My passions roil inside begging release,

But this runs contrary to my grain.

Struggling as that of the springtime bud

To escape from their dormancy.

Perhaps this cocoon is of my own making,

Protecting me from imagined fears.

I push…push with all my might

Against my ivy covered shell

Long shuttered to keep the frost at bay;

Exposure to the cold starkness of life too much to bear.

This is not what it is to live

Instead it is simply existing,

Void of true joy, void of heartfelt bliss

I will hibernate no longer.

This will be my spring, my season of renewal,

Buds of my inner self will burst forth

Freeing me of my self-imposed bondage,

Allowing me to thrive

In the sunlight of the everlasting day.

.

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Happiness Abounds (Tanka)

Happiness abounds

In communion with loved ones

One can achieve peace

Is this not what’s important

Above all things of this earth

 ~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

I Lie

I lie…

Down with myself in the darkness

Unable to decipher the meaning of my life.

~

I lie…

To myself just as I always have,

Pretending to be something I am not.

~

I lie…

To others by hiding behind a mask and a smile,

Showing them what they want to see not who I am.

~

I lie…

Everytime I deny my dreams their breath

Leaving them to choke in the pool of my mind.

~

Is stifling our hopes and dreams truly living,

Making the unsatisfying our lifes work?

Were we not born to rise to our own vision of greatness

Not for financial gain alone, but for our God given passions sake?

~

I lie…

But I am trying to bury my fears,

Trying to live the dreams that I was born to realize.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

I Chase After My Shadow

Ball Boy by Chris Jones

I chase after my shadow in hopes of pouncing

Its direction changing with each passing hour

In pursuit of the reddest of red balls bouncing

As red as reddest rose the tenderest flower

~

To what purpose I know you’re most surely asking

How foolish this boy I know it seems

Dreams of tag and dodgeball basking

Ear-to-ear my smile brightly gleams

~

A child at heart I choose to savor

Otherwise old and boring I’d be

Easily at home with juvenile behavior

Young in my mind and heart you can see

~

How simple it is a boy and his ball

A game for one or many to play

Toss up and catch or bounce off the wall

It doesn’t really matter, it’s fun either way

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Jem Farmer – The Boi Poet Monday ‘s Masterpiece 21 October Prompt

Grand Plans

Grand plans, so many have I had,

Scribbled on scrap paper,

Bled onto soggy bar napkins,

Etched into the walls of my mind

As you, I’m sure have likewise done.

Isn’t this our way?

A human fault, or perhaps a gift depending on one’s perspective.

These dreams, this plan is what makes our time so glorious,

For without these, our finite period would be mundane.

I can not imagine another breath without them.

We must fuel the flames of hope, nurture our deepest desires,

Those that keep us moving forward into every new day,

Isn’t this our way?

.

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Encircled In Autumn

Encircled in Autumns chilling grasp,

Warmth of tea cup in my hands I clasp.

Just cool enough for a sweater in evening,

No animosity toward Summers most abrupt leaving.

Crunch of the leaves and the crisp in the air,

Young and old attitude, devil-may-care.

Breathing in freely a new lease on life,

Renewing loves vows of husband to wife.

Truly beauty exists in the wane of the year,

Another season born, greeted with cheer.

As winter approaches and darkness takes hold,

We all settle in for long months of cold.

Please do not obsess and never you fear,

Take comfort in the arms of those you hold dear.

For this, as surely as winter won’t last,

Time and time again as done in the past.

Daily the sun rises and Spring will return,

A lesson in grade school we all must have learned.

.

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Through The Window Of Time

An old fading brownstone,

For many a decade it has not been alone.

~~

If only we could see what it’s eyes must have seen,

Maybe then we would know where we’re going and where we’ve been.

~~

The cobblestone streets that lead past it’s front door,

Crumbled from the weather and travelers burdens I’m sure.

~~

It’s residents present and long ago past,

Have seen what this world has offered to the last.

~

The carriage, the train, the automobile,

All graced this place whether wood, iron or steel.

~~

From street lights of gas or electric lights glow,

They lit up the sights of another nights show.

~~

So great a loss of life fighting wars on two fronts,

A choice to drop the bomb would end hostilities at once.

~~

Parades and floats to the sailors joyful kiss,

Soldiers home from war we gratefully would not miss.

~~

Then a plea to the cops into Korea we did go,

But our hands were handcuffed by the reluctance we did show,

~~

A stalemate was called that we live under till this day,

Neither a win nor a loss could be granted either way.

~~

A call for equality from the King did he shout,

With hoods and with nooses the cowards tried to drive them out.

~~

Watching as a President is taken before his time,

Paying respects in a long and somber funeral procession line.

~~

The brownstone’s broad eyes did shed tortured tears,

As a people came to terms with an unsure nations fears.

~~

Ducking behind window boxes from the riots we did hide,

From tear gas and protesters we kept our children safe inside.

~~

Then there’s the hell of this little place Vietnam,

Over 58.000 lost never to return home.

~~

To this day we don’t know what it all was all for,

A chapter we’d prefer to lock behind a locked door.

~~

Then cries for peace and love in song did they roar,

Long hair, love beads and bell bottoms they adorned.

~~

Three days of love from a Woodstock would live on,

Though Jerry Garcia, Janis and Jimmy are now gone.

~~

A gas crisis, Beirut and the hostages in Iran,

Oil, our Marines and our citizens held in foreign lands.

~~

Then along came the Gipper to rescue us from us,

Bringing our people back without much muss or much fuss.

~~

The economy turned around while trickle-down became law,

Taking twenty plus years to find out there was a flaw.

~~

In 2001 we were brutally attacked,

By suicide bombers that should have been tracked.

~~

Our World Trade and Pentagon, the heroes in a Pennsylvania field,

So many had died, so many have been killed.

~~

In retribution and revenge we invaded Iraq,

To topple Saddam and push the Revolutionary Guard back.

~~

Into Afghanistan we marched as others had before,

With an uneasy partner in Islamabad and Lahore.

~~

An attempt to democratize third-world tribes,

Costing our mothers their sons and daughters sacred lives.

~~

Osama Bin Laden is dead at the hands of the Seals,

One more terrorist down knocked back on his heals.

~~

All to what end I don’t think anybody truly knows,

We’ll wait for history to say, to see how it goes.

~~

Our economies in turmoil, our politics a disaster,

Compromise and diplomacy no longer can they master.

~~

Fiscal cliffs and debt ceilings in our sights looming large,

It’s hard to tell if anyone in D. C. is in charge.

~~

Where we go from here is anyone’s guess,

Raise a glass and make a toast and hope for the best.

~~

Our past world glories seem far and away,

As we long for that time to be ushered in today.

~~

Our yesteryear’s are pocked with our failures and successes,

Hoping cooler heads prevail and our virtues to protect us .

~

O’ the good and bad this old brownstone must have seen,

The lessons taught through history, I’m hoping we did glean.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~