Tag Archives: poetry

The Dead of Night (A Poem)

By D. R. DiFrancesco

Nightfall settles in
Overtaking the light
Howling, hooting, cawing sounds
Startled, peering up, down, left, right
Noise from all directions
Fear and angst clutter the mind.

Irrational thoughts of dread
Rustling leaves and brush
Freeze as though flash frozen
“What’s that?” said internally
“Nothing but the wind.” the reply
Nerves pricking the skin like a million needles.

Trembling, feeling breathless
Shadows unfold, something is watching
Moonlight and movement weave their tale
Nonsense as the pace hastens
Trying to outrun torment
Trepidation weighs heavy.

Lightening flashes, knees weaken
Surroundings visible in the flash
Lost, the scene barbaric
Foreboding wrenches at the soul
Uncontrollable, Tears flow in streams
Screaming, the only respite.

Senses amble untamed
Drenched, sweat cold and moist
Disoriented struggling to find the way
Surreal, clutching the sheets
Muscles tighten, eyes open with a jolt
Relieved it was only a nightmare.

The Ocean

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.

Fatherhood

What to do

None of this comes naturally

Watching, waiting, trying to define our place

Feeling silly because we are utterly clueless

The discomfort, yours is ours

It”s impossible for us to  know what it feels like

It isn’t in our make up

Your sickness comes, but passes quickly

Still we can’t fully understand it

In return, sympathy is all we have to offer

This act comes so freely to you

Like a character in a stage show

You were born into it

While we feel like outsiders

But yet we wouldn’t have it any other way

Each step is a new adventure to us

We anticipate your homecoming

Since we were there at the start

Your blood is our blood

You are part of us just as we are part of you

A bond that nothing can ever break

We will grow together

Learning as we go

You are ours

Your mother the master

We, the apprentice

Yet this is how it is meant to be

This is how it has always been

Imperfect

Stressful

Rewarding

Nothing can change our feelings for you

Fatherhood.

The Fox and Rabbit (A Parable)

By D. R. DiFrancesco

To keep the fox at bay

You scurry down the rabbit hole

Hiding behind your harvest of vegetables and fruits

A feeble attempt to prolong your existence

The fox is patient this much is true

Cunning and hunger are his advantage

Scared and indecisive you ponder what to do

“I’ve got it!” – you say

Thinking you can outsmart the fox

The fox waits, patient and quiet

You feign courage

Hopping from behind the store

Nose twitching and wriggling

You try to catch his scent

But the fox is clever and hides

You crawl out of your rabbit hole

Thinking, “If I’m fast he won’t catch me.”

As you hop out, the fox pounces

Your world goes dark.

The fox smiles, satisfied

He has done what nature intended

Hiding in your rabbit hole

With your horde of foodstuffs for protection

And still…

Greed and boastfulness could not save you.

Plight of the Homeless

By D. R. DiFrancesco

Shadow people abound,

Faceless and nameless they inhabit our streets,

Forgotten amongst the urban sound,

Left to stifle in summer’s heat.

 

Shadow people trapped,

Passed by like trash littering the walkway,

Feeble hands outstretched for scraps,

Passersby strain to look away.

 

Shadow people lost,

Beaten down by an iron fist,

Society tries to subdue them at any cost,

Acting as though they don’t exist.

 

Shadow people remain,

Vagrants, homeless, bums, call them what you will,

Put a hand out to ease their strain,

Comfort and humanity and faith instill.

 

Shadow people no more,

Take them in, in body and soul,

End the battle of class; end the poverty of war,

Lift them up, our brothers and sisters, their urgency behold.

Son

By D. R. DiFrancesco

Son,

I still remember the day you were born,

Our first,

Blonde hair,

Blue eyes,

Colic, your tears and cries brought tears to my eyes.

Then you grew,

Grew out of the innocent helpless stage of infancy,

Standing on your own two feet,

Speaking in incoherent tones,

Trying to form words,

You knew what you were saying,

Frustrated that others didn’t.

With age came clarity,

Your words became sentences,

You thought for yourself,

Such the little man you were.

School was so difficult for you,

Younger than the rest of the class,

The agony of seeing you struggle,

Given one more year to catch up with your friends.

Sensitive,

So much abuse,

So much pain,

Kids can be so cruel,

Yet you overcame adversity and became more resilient for it.

The teen years, your talents flourished,

Maturity and confidence raised their heads,

Still a sense of humor persisted,

Highlighting that which makes you who you are,

Sensitive, caring, intelligent and funny.

Now you are a man,

A better man than your father,

Strong, confident, brave…fearless in the face of distress,

Sacrificing unselfishly for the benefit of others.

We swell with pride at the thought of what you have become,

Independent,

Letting us know that we taught you well,

Doing more in your short life than we ever dreamed was possible,

Son.

With Privilege Comes Corruption

Think about this often

How petty we have become

Money, power, the big house; is this really important?

Money distorts,

Power corrupts,

The big house…a symbol of unnecessary opulence.

Those of unlike kind are frowned upon,

Lazy,

Bloodsuckers,

A drain on the system,

Is this what we have become?

Those with means holding us hostage,

Our station in life seals our fate,

Threatening to exterminate ones less fortunate,

All in the name of progressing their adgenda.

Civility and compassion tossed aside like so many feathers to the wind,

Cast out as unimportant,

So unnecessary in this capitalist system,

The needs of the few eclipse those of the many.

Talking heads and bureaucrats tow the line,

Telling us that this is our foundation,

Lies and deceit disguise their motives,

Their pockets lined with fools gold.

Still they profit at societies expense,

And we buy in to the hollow rhetoric,

Smiling and clapping as they spew their bile,

Blind to the parade marching to it’s own demise.

Our representation sold for profit,

With wealth comes power and the rise of aristocracy,

This was not the proclivity of our fathers,

Yet we watch it happen with hardly a noise.

Is this what is desired or desirable?

It can’t be…it mustn’t be our expectation,

Like mice we scurry away from that which is distasteful,

Rise up, speak up, demand your just due,

Tenacity in numbers can rejuvenate our future,

Forcing the tyrants to bow to our intentions.

Disturbed?

White noise

Distorting my senses

Images like flashbacks fill my mind

Thoughts, past, present and future

Blur the lines between fantasy and reality

Sanity or insanity

Who is to say which is which

Its difficult to tell anymore

Dreams materialize in painful rushes of sound and color

Awake…No rest, can’t sleep

Unfolding into vivid nightmares

They seem so real

Glimpses of my innermost fears

Each breath becomes more labored

Struggling to claw back to consciousness

I can feel the blood pulsing through my veins

Rapid, it battles to sustain me

The pounding in my head clouds my vision

Strong burnt coffee the medicine

Nerves steady…Fog recedes

Jarred back to life  by the caffine

Another day of subsistence

Endeavoring to crawl out of the darkness

Alone and lonely.

Piety and Hypocrisy

Father, Savior, Lord, Jehovah

Faith in the unknown

The eternal struggle never ceasing, never compromising

What to believe, that is the question.

Eons pass, bloodshed abounds

Differences mediated through conflict

Crusade or Jihad, neither is virtuous.

Blinded by rightousness, no one can see

Their lives spent and lost in pursuit of utopia

Yet contentment in this moment is never realized.

Is this the end to which the righteous aspire?

They gather in the name of peace

Projecting their false tolerance

A show…insincere in all its pageantry.

Beneath the surface bubbles hatred and hostility

Vowing to disencumber this world of the other

While smiling and greeting with a warm embrace.

Is this what the supreme being wants from us?

Are differing opinions to be snuffed out?

Our traditions say yes with a deafening roar.

Are not love and charity mightier than the sword?

More palettable then pain and suffering

To say yea would be only logical.

Still man endeavors to distort the infalable word

All for his own selfish devices

Leading the unquestioning flock to slaughter

Mindless and oblivious they follow their master.

To petition for truth, is construed as heresy

Faith the only path to eternal salvation

Yet acrimony toward our neighbors persists.

Does prejudice or averice have any authority to prevail?

An emphatic no should be the only a reply

If common decency were the essence of all relations

Peace and harmony would be all that exist.

Loves Transformation

By D. DiFrancesco

 

Fires burn,

They start out white hot

Then cool to a shimmering blue.

It’s not that the flame has diminished

The passion still glows, but its appearance changes with time.

We find comfort in one another, by being in each other’s presence.

A look,

Says more than words ever could.

Nothing can be said that you haven’t already heard.

Love, anger, sadness, all my feelings expressed in a glance

Sometimes I think you know me better than I know myself.

Maybe you do after all these years.

A caress,

Something tender and sweet

Your warmth, skin against skin, your beauty

Isn’t it fascinating how each of life’s seasons seems frozen in time?

My vision of you, still a twenty-something

So precious to me because of the spirit that is you.

Our lives,

The bond we share through adulation

Through friendship, endearment, and adoration

We have become one.

That nothing in heaven or earth can decimate.

My best friend, mate, and truelove for all eternity.