Swells do roll and crest
Ever higher and deeper
In violent rage
Poseidon shows no mercy
In the face of man’s folly
He takes what is his
Via trident and tempest
As done for eons
Seafarers have felt his wrath
With their last breath and their souls
Neither steel nor wood
Doth offer them asylum
This is not his way
As he strangles his victims
To fill his watery grave
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Discarded as trash
Its rough edges worn away
Beauty of sea glass
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Cold salt spray rains down
Winds like daggers frost the soul
Of hearty sailors
Death may lie on the next swell
On their way to calm waters
Such is their lover
Both cruel and kind on a whim
With no emotion
She is as she’s always been
Nature’s passionate abyss
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Sand and sea refreash
Soothing our body and soul
Nature at it’s best
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
I’d forgotten the serenity of the vicious sea;
Her frothy mane as it spreads itself upon the shore
Gracefully stroking me, drawing me into her loving embrace.
To touch her, to feel her supple skin beneath my hands;
Soft yet strong as it glides effortlessly away from the shore,
I am captivated by her beauty.
The shimmer of her eyes blinds both sun and moon,
They are no match for her diamond soul,
Nor am I as she swallows the sun as it sets.
In dark of night I can hear her calling across her sandy expanse
The path of the moon dancing from wave to wave
Revealing how miniscule I am under heaven
Just as the grain of sand swept from shore.
I smile as if one with the earth and sea
Flowing effortlessly from here to there.
O’ how I had forgotten how beautiful the sea,
How beautiful the soul,
How beautiful and how temporary this life;
Until she reminded me of what I am.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Sunlight gleams through shards of fractured glass
Worn smooth by the tides move in and out
Peace with suns rise comes to pass
Gentle sounds as waves toss and turn about.
In mother waters, fury and beauty reside
Carving portraits out of sand and stone
Leaving scar and grotto for nature’s tears to hide
While in fathoms deep they lie alone.
Sun sets…royal blue turns to black
Ceaseless the currents move ever forward
Never deliberating or surrendering to look back
Fulfilling its expectation to move onward.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Author’s Note: This poem was originally published on June 25, 2012. I like the feel of it so I thought I would repost it. Hopefully you will like it as much as I do.
We see the light ahead through splintered shores,
At once familiar and comforting is now gone.
Man labors with back and hand in attempt to restore
All that growing up we cherished most fond.
This eternal fight we fight against nature’s mother
Seldom permits us a chance to win.
An emboldened adversary unlike any other,
One we’ve struggled against since time began.
Still we battle her in the most reckless of ways
Settling on shores in storm fronts path.
Destruction and death like the end-of-days;
Consequences suffered by the masters wrath.
As time passes–in weakness we forget
Under crystal skies and the calming blue sea.
Rebuilding what was lost without worry or regret,
Ignoring natures warnings by choosing not to flee.
As history has proven this will happen again,
Crushing what we make like a house of cards.
Then just like before we will struggle and mend,
Sweeping away the timber and shards.
What do we expect when we challenge the Almighty
By rebuking the call to heed his demands.
Instead doing what we please–never contritely,
Choosing to suffer rather than follow his commands.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
A buffeting wind lashes at my person;
Crashing waves spit salty spray, soaking me to the skin,
I’m cold…much colder than this July day
This is freedom…sugar sand liberating my calloused soles.
~
A dream of floating out to sea,
Bare chested–bronzing in the noonday sun.
Drifting past jetty and buoy on my way to shores unknown.
Modern distractions left unguarded shoreside
To be gathered by the random wayfarer.
I have no need for these where I go.
How peaceful without ring or correspondence.
~
Hello jailbird gull, my only companion,
Keeping watch whilst the coast fades to a distant memory.
Farewell my feathered friend as I drift on gulf stream current,
Nothing but the gentle slosh of waves
To subdue the rejuvenating silence.
~
I never noticed the elegance of the virginal cumulus above me,
The pearl blue backdrop sky,
So much is lost to the rigors of our daily commune.
~
As day retreats from the night,
I am consumed by the star lit blanket.
So vast is the sky, so numerous the stars
All but lost amongst civilization.
In a moment of clarity I could almost see the man-on-the-moon,
Smiling at me in his mad-dash from crater to crater.
~
The chatter of the gentle humpback wakes me from my slumber,
Gracefully arching above the surface
For a life-giving breath.
Taking his waiting fin, we converse telepathic;
No fear, no anxiety do we impart.
~
Could there be anything more tranquil on this ravaged earth?
Awakening from this waking dream, so many times envisioned,
I long for it’s solitude,
It’s raw beauty,
Where I’m free.
~
~Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
~
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I wrote this one over the summer while I was reading Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass…he inspired me, I just love Whitman’s style.
She blew in raging and tearing at the soul;
A wake of rubble, blood, sweat and tears,
The nation gave to again make it whole,
To still their brothers and sisters fears
Crane and hoe and muscle revived
What Sandy smashed and to the sea let go,
But yet through the horror, hope survived,
Resilience and courage of spirit showed.
Seaside Heights and Park unknown
For an instant became a boardwalk show;
Notoriety and fame unwanted have grown,
Little seashore hamlets we’ve come to know.
The Devil’s flame of hell has retorn,
Again from tragedy it shall be reborn.
.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Stories told by men of old,
Of secrets held in waters deep.
Giant squid that swallow ships,
And Moby Dick his raith did reap.
~
What visions lie in minds of men,
Of evil born in godless Hell.
To take their lives to Neptune’s grave,
From mast and plank to death they fell.
~
Darkness tricks doth surely play,
As do voyages far from home.
Not much does it take for insanity to set,
Cause to pray for a watery tomb.
~
A seaman’s life is a life of great pride,
Tough are the souls that partake.
Many a man has gone down with his ship,
Never once was it thought a mistake.
~
Honor and duty were the marks of these men,
Hearty and rugged and strong.
Not so very smart in the schoolmaster’s ways,
Baked by the sun to a swarthy bunch they belong.
~
Though the days of mast and sail have long gone,
No less are the dangers at sea.
What horrors await in its watery depths,
Forever shrouded in mystery.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Dom DiFrancesco 