Vociferous me
Religion and politics
Destined to divide
Still answers are illusive
Therefore I must question on
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Tag Archives: poetry
Its Hard to Believe
Its hard to believe that it is but a short dozen years
A dozen years since this world changed
Changed a nation and its ideals
The ideals founded on a promise gave way to extremism
An extremism not so unlike that of the terrorist
The terrorist has taken away our freedoms
Our freedom to assemble, our right to privacy
Privacy is a thing of the past taken away by our government
Our government says they must take it to protect us
Protect us from whom, who will protect us from them is the question
Questioning however, is taken as unpatriotic
Unpatriotic! This is our right and our duty as citizens
Citizens who have become nothing but pawns
Pawns to governmental corruption and big business
Business’ who are now treated as citizens by the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court who was supposed to keep the executive and legislative in check have let us down
Down are path I fear is collapsing
Collapsing with each step we take down the road
A road, one way, on which their is no return
Oh…to return our moral compass to true
Truly that would be our greatest strength
Strength of character, morals, of humanity that we so long ago lost
Lost to our greed, selfishness and intolerance
Intolerance for ourselves, other nations, other ideals
Ideals that were long deceased before September 11, 2001
September 11, 2001 was just another nail
A nail in a coffin already occupied
Occupied but not inescapable if we would try
Try to resurrect the intentions of our founding fathers
Fathers far wiser than the lot of thieves currently in office
Offices held by both parties
Parties that no longer represent the people
A people that deserve better
Better than to live without freedom, in oppression and under tyranny
.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Out of Fear
Worshiped out of fear,
Afraid of divine retribution.
One which allowed murderers,
One which allowed adulterers,
With an apology,
To be King.
You toyed with creation,
Becoming angry as a child
Throwing tantrums
When deprived of your will.
Does death and destruction,
To all but the chosen
Sound reasonable and sane?
With Lucifer as a playmate perhaps.
“Here take my servant,
Do what you will with him,
But do not touch.”
Inflicted with relentless torment,
Sores, anxiety, persecution,
Fear of death,
The game is permitted to continue,
All with your blessing,
To see if he can be broken.
Is this how mercy is shown,
Torturing those that love you?
Finding sport in war and death
Both are waged eternally,
Some with your blessing
Some without,
Either way, surely with a smile.
Sending those in your image to their end
As pawns for your amusement,
This seems to be your sadistic way.
As a final act of brutality,
You offered your son up to despots,
Torturing and degrading him until death,
All to uphold your way of life
And save the monsters which you created.
Would a kind and merciful parent do this to his child,
Instilling them with fear,
Instead of promoting goodness and love?
This question must be answered!
Faith alone does not absolve you of responsibility
For the adulterated state of our being.
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~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Each Look – A Tanka
Each look as the first
Bringing us ever closer
We are destiny
You…the reason I was born
I…yours ’til the end of time
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Chill of Night
Chill of night unfolds
Like that of a thread-bare sheet
Holding little warmth
Providing meager comfort
Allowing the mind to roam
Wherever it wills in dead of night
No barriers does it hold
Despite desire
Left to shiver in the cold
Until numbness takes control
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Loved Ones (Sapphic Verse)
Stress and strife, what toll does it take on loved ones?
A marriage of absence does nothing but harm,
Your own progeny know you not in their lives
For selfish advance.
.
Busyness has supplanted all else in life
Causing scars and pain invisible to you.
When its too late, only then will your eyes open,
Loved ones will be gone.
.
Time is not something that is a luxury.
It travels fast and is gone before we know.
What a shame is your misplaced focus in life
Polluted by zeal.
.
May you find happiness on this chosen path,
One you are traveling in solitary,
Blind to the sorrow of those that love you most,
Busyness your mate.
.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
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We Drink Because We’re Poets – Monday Poetry Prompt #20 – Sapphic Verse – Word: Busyness
Flash Flood – A Tanka
Taken by Dom 9/9/2013 – North Phoenix Arizona, taken outside my office window
The storm rages on
Rivers of mud replace road
Sidewalk riverbanks
When the flash flood expires
Where does all the water go
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Authors Note: This is something in the 12 years that I have lived in Arizona I have never seen before. This is a major road which runs in front of the busiest municipal airport in the country, which happens to be right outside the window of my office. This road is a total of six lanes wide, 3 going in each direction and the river of water and mud nearly met to cover the entire road. A pretty rare site in this part of the country where it is normally so dry.
Thirst and Hunger
Thirst is not a disease
Nor hunger a plague waged as a personal attack..
The dirty and downtrodden are not animals with opposing thumbs
Foraging through trash bins for food.
Their children are not parasites to be frowned upon!
They love just as you do with the same wants and needs.
Hands cracked and calloused know hard work.
Many toil hard and long for the barest of necessities
Only to fall short, thankful for assistance.
Yet you despise the poor collectively,
Lazy, blood suckers, bums, leeches,
Used as terms of endearment.
Speaking as though you know them or their circumstance
You display nothing but ignorance.
What do you know of their lives, their pain, their poverty?
Many are victims of economics,
Failing of health or disability,
Casualties of familial history,
Deprived of education,
Forgotten or blamed by the very souls with the power to change.
Greed and loathing blind,
Banishing compassion and humanity to the pits of hell.
.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Call Me Cynical – A Tanka
Call me cynical
For not having faith in you
Lies have tainted me
Asking to trust what you know
Haven’t we done this before
~
~~Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
War (Nested Landays)
Each stanza within this poem is an individual landays which I nested with other individual landays to make a longer poem focusing on a single topic.
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~
I am drawn to your crystal clear eyes
For its there I find truth, peace and love in abundance
,
Were it not for you I would perish
Swallowed up by the worlds lack of humanity
.
Your tender touch is a reminder
That goodness surely does exist in spite of our faults
.
My hope is for better days ahead
Where man finally faces the error of his ways
.
Would not a lasting peace serve us all
Ending our torrential thirst for never ending war
.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
~
Authors Note: A landays is form of folk poetry from Afghanistan. Meant to be recited or sung aloud, and frequently anonymous, the form is a couplet comprised of 22 syllables. The first line has 9 syllables and the second line 13 syllables. Landays end on “ma” or “na” sounds and treat themes such as love, grief, homeland, war, and separation. See Eliza Griswold’s extensive reporting on the form in the June 2013 issue of Poetry, in which she explains how the form was created by and for the more than 20 million Pashtun women who span the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
~
The ending on “ma” or “na” sounds applies to the Pashtun language and was disregarded in English. Each stanza within this poem is an individual landays which I nested with other individual landays to make a longer poem focusing on a single topic.
Dom DiFrancesco 