Cast into shadows,
A scourge on society
Like lepers banished.
The downtrodden vilified
Are treated as a burden.
Is this not unfair
Of those in authority
Trusted to do right?
By their own self-interest,
Those that need them most are lost,
Left to their vices
Just to dull the endless pain.
Their cries unanswered
Fade quietly in the night,
‘Til no longer seen or heard.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Hands outstretched across Aisle hallowed
Feigning sincerity and honest concern
Smiles and handshakes, there meaning shallow
Political mutiny from stem to stern
~
Spoils for the taking a populace held hostage
Bends to their whim and their will
With head in the sand like proverbial ostrich
They cater to every tyrant and shill
~
Too blind to notice or choosing not to see
Middle panders fringe left and then right
With no sense of reason what will be will be
Too beat down to put up a fight
~
When self-interest takes over who holds the bag
Its the poor, elderly and non-essential
Defined by the very people who brag
That their views are the most consequential
~
Left with a government who has shuttered their doors
We The People have nowhere to turn
Being held at the mercy of liars and whores
May their pinstripes and wingtips catch fire and burn
~
Honestly looking upon the tragedy we face
On whom does the fault truly lie
Yes, on the rodents that inhabit this place
But also on the uninformed, uninvolved, you and I
~
So when next we sit down and complain of our state
Look inside to what you have done
For without participation, this inevitable fate
Will consume and never be undone
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
The second hand ticks
Counting down life in fractions
Like a clock’s movement
A nation oblivious
Never sees its unwinding
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Of this, I am as guilty as the rest.
Topics varied as politics or religion,
Taught at an early age never to discuss,
These are like powerful earth magnets
To man’s simple mind.
I am of the opinion that no two subjects can be
any more divisive than these.
Turning the mildest of men into mortal enemies
with the slip of the tongue.
I am not immune to this foible,
At times a slip, whilst other times
Thrown in venomous rage.
Can any one of us claim to have not done the same?
If yes…then they most certainly are liars.
What astounds is the passion,
Like that ensconced in two young lovers,
that politics and religion invoke.
Taunting red-faced opponents to spar
In a Battle Royale.
I have been both victor and defeated
In these most epic of battles.
Still I have not been deterred,
For my conscience would not allow it.
I have been the red-faced.
I have raised, nay, shouted to drown out my adversary,
Unwilling to consider an alternate view.
Oh yes…I have been guilty of tossing civility aside,
Of mannerisms befitting a child.
Would not a civil conversation have borne greater fruit?
Perhaps…perhaps not.
I have, as yet,, been unable to reign in my passions.
Remaining a convict to my own convictions,
I hope to one day receive parole
To discuss my opinions with ardor and civility.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Image Credit: 123rf.com
The titans will fall
When the populous wakes up
Breaking the deadlock
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
By D. R. DiFrancesco
You say it’s for our own good,
You know better than us,
Claiming to be erudite,
But displaying nothing but contempt..
The mold you had cast,
Lies cracked and crumbling,
Still you try to force us to conform,
Assuming we are incompetent.
Hiding behind evangelical fervor,
You treat us as children,
Too naive and simple to surmise what is right,
Sinful beings needing your protection from ourselves.
When did we become so helpless,
You angry old men,
Surrounded by your white marble walls,
Casting retribution over your fiefdom.
Showing little veneration for the gentler sex,
You rule over them with feign compassion,
While valuing them as nothing more than objects,
What despots you are.
Under whose authority is love within your purview,
You look down upon those who do not believe as you do,
Regarding them as broken and immoral,
You vile creatures.
Do they not bleed as you do,
Are born innocent, live and die,
Crave love and acceptance as you do,
What makes you so self-righteous?
You despise those less fortunate,
Consistently questioning their ethics,
You claim they are lazy and felonious by nature,
Begging for alms at every turn.
Do not pretend to know them,
You have never visited their neighborhoods,
Struggled for your next meal,
You would not survive a day in their shoes.
“Pull yourself up by your bootstraps”, says you,
Your totalitarian battle cry,
Toil and sweat, and you can be like me,
Easily said from the pillowed comfort of your penthouse.
We are not like you,
Neither fate nor inheritance have looked favorably upon us,
Our labors scarcely provide for the bare necessities,
Still we have hope in our childrens futures..
Your greed and cold-heartedness have blinded you,
Morally corrupt,
Like the gluttonous tick you bleed society dry,
To build your delusional visions of utopia.
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.
Dom DiFrancesco 