Tag Archives: living

It Occurred To Me Today

It occurred to me today–

Prompted by a voice,

Not in my head,

No, it came from a voice on the radio.

I’ve heard this voice a hundred times,

Heard the same questions,

Heard the same answer,

But today–

Today of all days I actually listened.

What is life?

What is living?

That’s when the light finally turned on.

It’s the glorious journey of learning how to die.

We do it daily,

We do it with every breath.

We look to our religions,

Our Gods, our souls for the answer.

Why?

In the desire to leave this world in peace

With dignity,

With the hope for something after,

Something more than this temporary existence.

And why shouldn’t we?

Are we not returning to our beginning,

To the earth,

To the air,

To the heavens,

As we have been blessed to do.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Lives Lost

Lives lost–statistics–

Death scrolls on the news ticker,

We can’t feel their pain.

Vaccinated from the world

We live in ignorant bliss.

Do we really care?

Our own are an afterthought

In our decade wars.

How truly cold we’ve become

Trading life for apathy.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Violence Begets Violence

Violence begets violence,

Through blood and terrible pain.

Hatred begets hatred,

With every fallen name.

 

Actions in this moment

Last for generations to come

Long after reasons forgotten

Our passions still succumb.

 

Perpetuating animus

At the cost of innocent life

Caught in the crossfire

Stainless victims of this strife.

 

Given a moment of thought

Or a look in a childs face.

Would we be so rash

To kill instead of embrace.

 

Perhaps someday great wisdom

Will seed the hearts of man.

To recognize the evil

Exacted since time began.

 

The hope for lasting peace

Lives in my fondest dreams.

Though unlikely in this lifetime

Nor ever so it seems.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

We’re All Transient (Haiku)

We’re all transient–
Like fall drifts into winter
The cycle of life

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Boom

Boom!

Explosions foretell impending doom.

Shrapnel tears, litter, debris,

Screams of those one cannot see.

Missiles launched behind human shields,

Zionists and zealots refuse to yield.

Suffering little as the innocent die,

Denying they’re complicit, a terrible lie.

Which side is right, which side is wrong,

Difficult to tell they’ve hated so long.

Whether Gaza, Israel, Russia, Ukraine,

War is still war just with different names.

Fighting for ethnicity, Allah or God,

They’re “holier than thou” is just a facade.

Violence and death under whatever name,

Can’t be justified no matter what the claim.

Which leads me to wonder whether peace is desired,

With every bomb dropped and each rocket fired.

These wars have carried on for eons ‘til today,

I wonder if they really know any other way.

While their innocent suffer and hatred is bred,

I doubt they will stop until all sides are dead.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

A Weathered Key

A weathered key turned in a worn out lock;

Rusty hinges creak as the lid is gingerly raised,

Aged dust drawn as if by vacuum fills the musty air,

Like so many travellers on their worldly journey.

This steamer trunk long forgotten;

Adorned with France, Belgium, Canada, Japan…

Reminders of its travels and the sights it has seen.

Memories of good times,

Memories of some not so good,

Memories of long nights,

Smoke filled taverns,

Exotic women,

Exhilaration in the unknown,

Glorious sunsets,

Distant shores,

Warm breezes,

Tearful goodbyes,

This musty old trunk, like my mind

Covets memories of days-gone-by.

Perhaps they too are weathered and worn,

Adorned with tattered tags of my life’s travels,

And relegated to a dingy attic,

But they are mine and mine alone

To cherish all the days of my life.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

The Question

Whether from space or terra firma I feel minuscule;

A pawn in some cosmic game in which I am an illegitimate player.

Who is this phantom puppet master pulling my strings?

I haven’t a scintilla of an idea…

I never have–

Though I’ve never ceased wondering.

All this palaver of an omnipotent Being perplexes me.

Where is He,

Who is He,

I have not a clue.

I’ve spent my entire life grazing on the spiritual texts,

Looking for answers to the eternal question.

I suppose that it has not been all for naught however,

As I have become inure to many of the horrors of this world because of them.

Even so the questions come in waves

Like brontides they shake me to my very core.

Unnerving and unsettling are they.

As another day closes with nary an answer

I suppose I shall sit in my darkened room;

Pondering the meaning of life

While I am bathed in the fragrance of fresh cut chrysanthemums

And enjoy a relaxing spot of tea.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

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Prompt: Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie – Wordle #14

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Mindlovemisery's Menagerie - Wordle #14

Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie – Wordle #14

Sullen Is My Heart

Sullen is my heart
For the deaths of our brethren
And our enemies
In the end we gain nothing
But continued violence
Rejoice not in death
Instead mourn every life lost
With deepest regret
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Beauty Fades

Beauty fades;

Stripped of color

Under unrelenting sun.

Once vibrant petals

Brown and crumble,

Scattering dust and seed

To the four winds.

A life run its course

Gives birth to the next generation

Through its death in the dawn of spring.

Never regretting,

Never questioning its fate

It gives itself unapologetically

For the propagation of their future.

As with all living things

We are here for a brief time

To live,

To spawn,

To die,

Returning to the earth

From which we came.

A cycle that has repeated itself

For eternity.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Sun Smiles On Me (Haiku)

Sun smiles on me
Uplifting my darkened soul
~~ I have been reborn
.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~