Tag Archives: poem

O’ One of Pure Heart

O’ one of pure heart,

Surely it must be enveloped in resin

Otherwise how can it not break.

Thine voice sings the beauty of angels,

Thine face art most ravishing,

Still how many times hast thou fallen prey to artiface,

How many times hast thou succumbed to frisson in the face of night?

Drawn, art thou to that which promises thee harm

Excluding nothing from thy circuitous journey.

To castigate thee would serve no purpose;

Nay, it would serve only to drive thee to be taciturn.

In this I fear that thou wouldst be lost to me forever.

Therefore I am destined to love thee just as thou art;

Embracing thy peculiarities and thy uniqueness

As endearing and part of thy mesmerizing charm.

O’ one of purest heart,

I shall love thee forever and ever.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Prompt: Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie – Wordle #16

 

Mindlovemisery's Menagerie - Wordle #16

Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie – Wordle #16

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 ~~

 

Tis This Hell On Earth (Tanka)

Tis this hell on earth

The scorching sun, desert sand

Bleaching toughest bone

Helios hath no equal

This alone is his domain

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

With Irony I Look Back On July The Fourth

With irony I look back on July the fourth,

Commemorating separation from the British Crown.

Decrying aristocrats and their gorging worth

And the treatment of their subjects trampling down.

 

Open your eyes and look at us now,

Governed and judged by aristocrats galore.

Expected to beg, grovel and bow

Just as we did to King George before.

 

Over two hundred years we’ve learned nothing it’s clear

As again we submit to the court and its king.

Giving away what we should have held dear

For the promise of a golden ring.

 

This golden ring offered in hopes to divide

The right from the left I am sure

Confusing the masses with promises to provide

Answers to our problems through their cure.

 

But the cure is poisoned by their quest for greater wealth,

On the backs of those who can least afford.

Tricking them to believe by their dishonest stealth,

That there’s nothing but truth in their word.

 

Illusion and trickery is the game of the day,

Substance something long ago past.

Diverting ones blame is the partisan way,

Spewing venom as long as it lasts.

 

If truth does not sell then they coat it in lies,

Said long enough they’re bound to believe.

People are gullible say their political spies,

They’ll swallow whatever we conceive.

 

Free press is now gone in lieu of partisan hacks,

Towing their hate-filled party lines.

Convincing the audience that they’re watching their backs,

While raking in millions all the time.

 

With sadness I watch our republic disappear

Under the weight of corruption and greed.

Leaving the powerless amongst us I fear

To scratch and claw for all that they need.

 

Convinced they’re a burden and a waste of our time

Pretending that they don’t exist.

From their pit of despair alone they’re left to climb,

Should they fail it’s unlikely they’ll be missed.

 

America has lost the humanity it once had,

Trading it for profit and conceit.

Where helping one another was more than a fad,

It was a facet of what made us complete.

 

Deception is all part of the elites master plan

Pitting each man against his brother.

Feeding the masses as much fear as they can,

Blaming the cause on another.

 

Unless we take a stand, the ninety-nine percent,

Against the one percent we’ve allowed to rule us.

Expect nothing more than this we consent,

But to allow the bourgeois to fool us.

 

This my dear friends is my greatest fret,

With each and every fourth of July.

That under their thumbs, ever more we do get,

Until America shrivels up and dies.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Greed and Humanity

Capitalist,

Socialist,

I am neither,

And both.

I am not proud that either need exist,

Each is distasteful alone.

Capitalism breeds greed,

The rich get richer,

The poor get poorer

Dividing their people.

Socialism strives to temper greed,

Reigning in its excesses

In hopes of leaving something for the masses.

Those with means rail against this,

Crying infringement!

“I don’t need the government regulating me,

I will give to others as I see fit.”,

This is not reality, but greedy folly.

Human nature believes what’s mine is mine.

Socialism is no less flawed!

Unfettered it breeds sloth,

Equally deadly and devastating.

Where is the incentive to contribute?

Both commit their own deadly sins by existing.

Perhaps a blending would suffice,

Capitalism for self-sustenance,

Socialism for a dose of humanity and conscience.

If arrogance were put aside

Maybe then there would be hope,

Hope that what is broken could be mended

For the betterment of all

–Not just the select few.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Darkness Approaches

Darkness approaches

Yet we don’t see it coming.

We have been lied to,

Betrayed by our government.

Still…many among us cheer.

Maybe I’m confused

When those affected revel.

Blindly happy;

Ignoring their own demise

…One day soon the sky will fall.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

From Ramparts I Gaze Upon Grassy Plain

From ramparts I gaze upon grassy plain,

Imagination in overdrive with visions of the past.

These walls for protection are all that remains,

A wonder of man that for centuries has last.

 

O’ but the sights they surely must have seen,

Siege and catapult and bone-crushing blows.

Walls bathed in red corrupting lush green,

So many years have passed, it no longer shows.

 

Though beautiful now, what horrors must have been,

As conquerors pined for the treasures of this place.

Frightened citizens scurried as each attack did begin,

Praying to God for the safety of His grace.

 

As blood of man flowed in the name of power and God,

How many precious souls were sacrificed for naught.

Singing of Psalms while carrying thy staff and thy rod,

Marching into battle on the indulgences Rome taught.

 

Promises of Heaven under trumpets thundering call,

Warriors stood their sacred ground.

As each watched their brother with screams of pain fall,

Until not a man made a solitary sound.

 

Much sadness did spread losing husbands and fathers

For life ever after that no man can give.

Not one little bit did their deception bother

Sacrificing lives to horrors no man should live.

 

This warring way of life the Crusades did foster,

Succumbing to the desires of religions holy men.

All for the lands of others their coffers did prosper,

Uncaring towards those they’re charged to defend.

 

These ruins though amazing of time long gone by,

Raise up a sorrow for those who went before.

Reminding us of the men who sacrificed and died,

Hoping these atrocities will rear their heads no more.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Broken Promises (Haiku)

Broken promises

As cold as a winters day

~~ Destroying ones trust

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Lick Your Open Wounds (Tanka)

Lick your open wounds

But expect no sympathy

For self-infliction

Brought on by your stone silence

You’ll suffer at your own hands

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Corporate Muscles Flexed Once Again

Corporate muscles flexed once again,

Trampling the rights of the common man.

What fools believe that corporations are people?

Why does one person’s belief trump that of another?

Where is the judicial in all of this?

Are they not charged with protecting the people’s rights?

They have become political tyrants,

Partisan and putrid as the legislative and executive.

“We The People” has become a joke;

Something relegated to the past,

Something we look back fondly on that once existed,

But sadly exist no more.

Individuals have no power to enact change

Where money and business rule.

Silenced by the dollar, we are ignored.

Was this erected in our framework,

Was this what the founders intended,

That man should be subjugated by greed and profit?

We cry foul at those who infringe on human and civil rights,

Yet we are nothing but hypocrites,

Infringing on the rights of our own.

There is no fairness under the law,

There is no justice under the law,

Unless you can afford to buy it.

Raise the gavel…

We’ve sold out to the highest bidder!

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~