Storms rage with fury
Devastating destruction
Tearing limb-from-limb
Pain not invoked by nature
But by a tormented soul
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Tag Archives: pain
Hardened Heart – A Tanka
A heart once hardened
Ferments in caustic hatred
Shutting out true love
Tragic is this festering
Leaving nothing but ashes
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
A Decade Of War
A decade of war
Life draining on this nation
When will it all end
Our citizens sacrificed
Precious resources squandered
To what victory
How do we define success
Against painful loss
Our wars produce no winners
Without a clear enemy
All gains will revert
When finally we depart
Chaos ensuing
As is always the result
In the absence of brute force
When ideals are forced
Democracy imposed
Only breeds contempt
When masses are unprepared
For freedoms sacrifices
~~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Sorry
I stammer to speak,
Unable to make things right,
After all I’ve done.
Cursed to suffer shortcomings
Bestowed upon me justly.
Is this destiny?
Sorry is incapable
Of healing your wounds
Inflicted by arrogance,
Bred out of my selfishness.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Love Can Be Painful – A Tanka
Love can be painful
Like a barbed wire wrapped heart
Bleeding and broken
Challenging love’s commitment
To withstand human weakness
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
The Vultures (A Dark Poem)
The Vulture
Those birds, those horrid blood sucking birds
Circling overhead, their red collared necks deep crimson in the setting sun.
Sensing the departure of spirit and will,
Waiting for the living to become lifeless,
Relishing the coming of death.
What morbid creatures are these, heartless and soulless.
Lying here, is this to be my last vision,
This hideous species of fowl
Bent of emptying my sockets, disemboweling me,
A meal for the taking.
Impaled by the prey I so stealthily sought,
Victim of my own arrogance.
Alone and lonely, shielded in blood soaked clothes
Most certainly this is not the end I envisioned.
What of my loving wife,
What will become of my children,
What of?
They circle…
Lower now, they smell the end is near,
Smell of death is in the air, death is inevitable.
Cold is setting in, the end is close.
Swooping low, these maggots, they torture me,
Flapping of their wings, stench of rotting flesh.
Daylight is fading,
I am so tired, so cold, so at peace.
Do what you will my relentless tormentors;
My family will remember me as I was not as I am,
A poor wretch soon to be torn and scattered,
Nothing but a whisper on the four winds.
Take me O’ winged beasts, take me now!
My time has come,
…Farewell.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
We Must Never Forget – A Tanka
Image Credit: theimagearsenal.com
These flag draped coffins
Returning from distant wars
We must not forget
Whether cause be right or wrong
They’re our brothers and sisters
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
White Noise
Waking to the rhythmic white noise
Television’s twinkling salt and pepper blur
Foil covered rabbit ears like periscopes
Reflect his fractured image…almost blinding
It hurts to sit up straight
Back hunched from decades of labor
Crumbs drop like snow from his cardigan
“What did I eat?”, he mumbles on deaf ears
As gnarled and twisted hands
Brush his remnants to the floor
Feed for roaches and rats that call this home
Day and time are of little concern
What does it matter.
Tormented knees crack
Perched unsteadily beneath him
All he can do is shuffle holding on for balance
The refrigerator fights back as he opens it
The dim light only blackens the mouldy fresco
Decorating the walls and shelves.
Spoiled milk curls the nose
“Been around awhile.” he whispered
Paying it no more mind
Warm beer will have to do
The crack of the tab and the “pusssssh”
Join the metronomic shuffle of his stocking feet
Moaning, he sits
Joints aching from medicine he can’t afford
Alcohol will have to do
Each sip provides little relief
Tired of living his eyes grow heavy
Sleep returns…to the rhythmic white noise
And the televisions salt and pepper blur
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Free At Last
Can you feel the beat of my heart
As you once did?
Flesh…
Blood coursing through my veins.
Though strong, not superhuman.
~
I bleed the souls of my fathers when cut,
Shed rivers of tears when broken,
Succumb to infirmities with hastening age,
Scar, ugly and jagged in healing,
Die a mortal death when called by the Creator.
~
You and I, conjoined in our humanness,
Why do you treat me otherwise?
The lash of your venom has left permanent tears.
Can you not refrain?
These are not badges of honor I wear, but disgrace,
On display to this cynical, forsaken world.
~
Treated as a carnival sideshow…no longer!
I am not a marionette bequeathed for amusement,
And you are not my puppet-master.
With sickle these ties shall be no more;
Dignity awaits me just beyond this stage.
~
As I reach for the exit door,
Claws dig into my flesh in one final bid,
But I am resolute in my determination;
Pulling free of your hideous grasp,
Free of control, free of your loathing,
Liberated from bondage.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Devils In The Cocktails
Image Credit: dexknows.com
A blinding rage sparked
When intemperance takes hold
Leaving families scarred
Physical and mental pain
The ones you love made victims
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Dom DiFrancesco 