I think,
Mind cluttered with words,
Lines,
Life,
Trash,
Looking for an escape,
A blank page,
A song to sing,
Anything,
Something to feel release,
Pressure,
Cooking up inside,
No anger,
Just excitement,
Bursting to create,
Art,
Happiness,
Love,
It matters not,
Pen,
Brush,
Heart,
Soul,
Tools all the same,
On which canvas I will exact a gentle touch,
Is the question which awaits an answer.
~
~~ 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 ~~
Torrential storm of random events
Beyond control your mood doth set
Thrusting outward in time repents
A heart in sorrow, forgiveness gets
~
I know not why I shelter inside
Negativity of others inside my mind
Or what I create I cannot hide
Instead of release ‘til death do bind
~
Should not happiness instill us all
Casting out that beyond control
Living in joy postpone bearer’s pall
Before its too late to corpse console
~
Random events are as they say
No path nor end hath fate defined
Life as we make and live this day
Should not be treated as a grind
~
Up to us all, our inner smile
Nourish and nurture to heart’s desire
Striving to best our every trial
Patiently dousing our temper’s fire
~
Easier said, more difficult to do
In this life we live on lease
Being as one with nature wrings true
Thriving and resting in peace
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
As drama unfolds
Hiding insecurity
I am wondering
Why do I question myself
When I should just be happy
This tears at my soul
Leaving a hole I can’t fill
Even though I try
Can this be considered fair
In the grand scheme of my life
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
This journey,
One traveled by us and all that came before,
Has been paved with blood,
Watered with sweat,
Graded with pain,
Sprinkled with joy;
This road is the only one we know.
Although different obstacles may impede our way,
Cause one to stumble while another may fall
And allow another to wander a street paved with gold,
This road must begin at our beginning
And end at our ending regardless of effort,
Caring not how long it takes
Or what treasures we collect along the way.
Our intention alone is to live well in this, our reality.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Time for making time
To do the things that one loves
What ever that is
Like the wick of a candle
Whose end burns ever closer
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
I was once asked,
“When death stares you in the face what will you say?”
I pondered and sighed and smiled a smile I could not erase.
Thank you…
That was my answer,
Thank you for my life,
It has been full.
Thank you for my wife,
My lover,
My partner,
My children,
Thank you for every sunrise,
Every sunset,
Every shooting star in the heavens,
Thank you for all the love,
The sadness,
The joys,
The pain,
I couldn’t have gotten on without you.
These are but a simple few of all for which I’d give thanks.
Of all that I am thankful for, I am most thankful for time,
Not for how much or how little,
But thank you for the time that I had in this beautiful tortured world,
Amongst those I love,
And those that loved me.
For these I am most thankful.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
How joyous the day equality overcame hatred,
Though with sadness I ask, “Why was it even necessary?”
We had not…no we have not moved beyond prejudice!
Replacing one group of brothers and sisters with another does not absolve us!
Oh yes! The faces are different, but the name is the same
And this–we call this progress?
Do not think me ungrateful…I am proud,
Though disheartened by so slim a margin,
Yet this is a triumphant day to be sure.
Still–there is so much softening to be done to the callous heart.
“All men are created equal” so proudly declared by so many
Is still, but a dream should you not fit their mould of convention.
Speaking as though preference of the heart is chosen
Shows their narrowness of mind.
It is not choice, it is ingrained by nature!
It is not a flaw nor is it an abomination,
It is who they are, just as you are how you were born.
That which you do not wish to understand should not draw ire,
But instead your silence…with our profound appreciation.
The time of state sanctioned intolerance is in it’s death throes
Though this alone will not change those ignorant of mind.
Yes, this battle will rage on,
For many, long after they are gone,
But know dear friends that bigotry and hate can not prevail
In the presence of humanity and love.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Authors note: I had been debating whether to write this poem firstly, because I am not a member of the LGBT community and secondly, because I don’t pretend to speak for or have any first hand knowledge of what they have gone through, but then I thought why not, we are all human beings, we all came into this world in the same way and we will all leave it the same way. I have been an observer of this struggle for equality for a very long time and quite frankly found it disgusting that it ever existed in the first place. To add to the distastefulness is the fact that public polling, for the longest time, showed that more than 50% of those polled were in favor of continuing state sanctioned discrimination. In America, we struggled for our freedom from oppression and proudly proclaim in our Declaration of Independence that “All men are created equal” and yet this freedom from oppression and equality only held true if you were a God fearing heterosexual apparently. This ideal was an absolute disgrace. So long as the parties are adults, what right does any human being have to prevent another human being from marrying the one that they truly love? Religious institutions may choose not to marry same sex couples before their altars, but they surely have no standing to prevent them before the law. Of course this is simply one man’s opinion, but I stand behind it wholeheartedly. Congratulations to all of you, it has been a very long time coming and you justly deserve this landmark win.
Sanguine is this soul of mine,
Joyous in being, breathing, loving, all that this creation has thrown at me,
Be it pleasant or not I am thankful.
Goodness does not come without pain..this has been my experience.
I am not bitter for the anguish I have endured,
The blood I have tasted on my tongue, the bruises worn in honor,
They have strengthened my resolve,
Enhancing that which brings me solace and jubilation.
You are not alone!
This misery, your father and your father’s father before him withstood,
All for a chance to taste euphoria,
Are these not the jewels for which we spend a lifetime in search?
Dear friend, be not weary or disillusioned;
Beyond this torment is bliss– be it in this world or the next.
We, one and all, are pawns in this game,
One whose end is synonymous,
Whether rich or poor, with the victor being…
The human condition
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
The unexpected
Colors the dull hues of life
Like the painters brush
Morphing the starkest canvas
Into a virile art work
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Dom DiFrancesco 