Tag Archives: Judaism

Winding River, You Are Full Of Stones

Winding river, you are full of stones

Each covered in the blood of hatred.

Claiming to do as God commanded

You are false interpreters of the Word,

Stoning humanity into submission.

Under the guise of love you preach–

Conversion or death your message.

Yet in Heaven your Gods are the same,

Your aggressions on earth intertwined;

Surely there is enough blame for all.

Look! Your Holy texts are riddled with violence,

Deaths of men, women and children– so graphic;

Still you have the gall to point fingers at another!

You hypocrite, you heathen, you betray yourselves!

Each of you should be stoned for your digressions

You perpetrators of hate and death.

None of you are without human frailties,

None of you can claim to be speaking for Almighty God

For that–would be blasphemy,

Yet still you proclaim to know what is in God’s Heart!

Put an end this senseless bloodshed,

“Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”,

And nary a stone will ever be cast again.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Far and Wide, Far Beyond Horizons I’ve Looked

Far and wide, far beyond horizons I’ve looked,

Looked…looked until I glared at nothingness.

Staring straight into the gruesomeness of its face

It manages nothing but a hideous, jagged smile,

A chuckle from deep within its bowels born of hell.

I…what could I, a miserable wretch possibly do?

I am afraid, frightened of what I cannot see.

This monster is not deterred, I can feel its presence

Looming large over me, clawing at my sanity.

I can feel its steaming breath, hot at my throat;

Pulse racing, heart pounding, I tremble losing control.

Grasping the Book I raise it skyward

Screaming, crying, falling to my blackened knees.

Prostrate and bruised for a response, I wait

Yet there is none, no answer, nothing but silence.

Silence and nothingness are all that greet my tears.

I despise this hollow, sorrowful, lonely quest

Plagued with questions thicker than a locust’s swarm.

Nary an answer have I been offered all these years.

Appeasement through words written in an aged text,

My only comfort, based on a promise given in antiquity

I suppose this…this solemn promise alone,

Is the gift offered through

…Faith.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

A Lifetime Spent Forging Ahead

A lifetime spent forging ahead,

Ever closer to the raging river.

Tumultuous and wrought with fear

I approach the fjord fraught with peril.

I squint to spy a shore

The bank far too distant to see.

What awaits–Oh that is the question

Asked before, asked again eternally.

Its in the book of Testament Old and New,

Torah, Pistis Sophia, Koran among the few.

Through the ages told to look, to believe

And yes! Ye shall find what ye need,

But it is not so clear, nor has it ever been,

I can’t know what awaits on that far off shore.

Trusting there is more than what I’ve seen,

Like a warm blanket on a cold winter’s night

I must trust, I must believe through faith I will live,

For without what is left, but a story with a tragic end.

This cannot, must not be, never created nor destroyed,

I have been forever and will be forever more.

Mortal science has proven the mystics of yore,

There must be life,yes–I must live when I cross the river

As spirit abandons the bodies mortal core.

With each step I take, another step closer,

Sooner than later I will know, I will see what awaits;

Try as we may we cannot escape our human fate.

A fate long sealed by Adam’s rib named Eve

What else can we do, but trust and believe

That all is not lost, that living is not futile,

Lest we spend our days in tears as we grieve.

I refuse!  I will not grieve nor give in to hopelessness,

This by the grace of God I confess

To waste not one breathing moment in sadness

Instead to walk in the ways of gladness

‘Til my time on earth is through.

.

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

A Thirst Consumes

A thirst consumes me

One which water cannot quench

Is there a Heaven

Is there a hell, I don’t know

God knows…if he exists

This question of faith

To believe or disbelieve

I struggle alone

For no one can know my mind

Or the spirit within me

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Passion of Politics and Religion

Of this, I am as guilty as the rest.

Topics varied as politics or religion,

Taught at an early age never to discuss,

These are like powerful earth magnets

To man’s simple mind.

I am of the opinion that no two subjects can be

any more divisive than these.

Turning the mildest of men into mortal enemies

with the slip of the tongue.

I am not immune to this foible,

At times a slip, whilst other times

Thrown in venomous rage.

Can any one of us claim to have not done the same?

If yes…then they most certainly are liars.

What astounds is the passion,

Like that ensconced in two young lovers,

that politics and religion invoke.

Taunting red-faced opponents to spar

In a Battle Royale.

I have been both victor and defeated

In these most epic of battles.

Still I have not been deterred,

For my conscience would not allow it.

I have been the red-faced.

I have raised, nay, shouted to drown out my adversary,

Unwilling to consider an alternate view.

Oh yes…I have been guilty of tossing civility aside,

Of mannerisms befitting a child.

Would not a civil conversation have borne greater fruit?

Perhaps…perhaps not.

I have, as yet,, been unable to reign in my passions.

Remaining a convict to my own convictions,

I hope to one day receive parole

To discuss my opinions with ardor and civility.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Shame of Intolerance

Drama perseveres,
We remain shackled and chained to our past,
Bound to ideals thought long ago buried.
~~
Under the same sky we are born and die,
Returned back to the earth caste-less.
~~
Equality seems a distant dream.
~~
We feign to have grown,
Only to rebound to our stunted ways,
Taking aim at the latest victim.
~~
Shouldn’t we be color blind to the flesh by now,
Incomprehensible is it to have to legislate,
Over and over and over.
~~
These delusions are not the end,
Fear mongering has become both sport and folly,
Substituting understanding for hostility and ignorance,
Attempting to rally the naive.
~~
Those that hide behind their faith,
Calling evil, those beliefs that differ,
Claiming superiority,
Believe the propaganda.
~~
We think we have progressed,
Advanced beyond infantile characterizations,
But we have not, we have digressed ,
Becoming more intolerant.
~~
Residents of the rainbow are criticized and shamed,
As if their orientation was free will,
Demoralizing them as abominations before God.
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Shallow and nescient is your moral constitution,
When will those of conscience rise up,
Ushering in diversity and equality.
~~
Freeing those marginalized by a witless society,
To live full and fulfilling lives.

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~