Lay your head down child
Know that you are our future
Your shoulders hunching
Punishment for excesses
We were too weak to curtail
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Tag Archives: pollution
Progress – A Tanka
Stacks puff their gray smoke
Debris like a beaver’s dam
Fish…belly up float
Stink of capitalism
Passed as unfettered progress
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Meandering Brook
Serene the gentle trickle of meandering brook,
Over pebbles smooth from run of time,
Coolness washes over these tired soles,
Filling lungs with fragrant breath.
How free the feeling of babble-chilled numbness,
Drifting north on travel weary limbs.
Entranced by suns leaf scattered dance,
Diamond shimmers twinkle like neon marquis,
Mesmerizing and comforting and invigorating,
Taking me places far, far away from this time.
So distant the bustle of city street and automobile,
Haze of industry, rubbish strewn waterways,
Man’s inhumanity to man,
The corruption of modernity.
Hearkened back to this simpler place,
Of brooks, pines, the sprawling fern,
Whitetail deer and paddle tailed beaver,
Blue jay and spotted owl,
Amongst these our spirits are freed.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
The Quiet
How eerily quiet it is
As dusk rushes in to part day from night.
The birds song falls silent,
Screaming to a deprived auditory,
A favorite time of day.
Providing respite to the senses,
Relief from the noise and chaos,
The pollution that ravages solace.
So few are these moments of silence;
The bombardment of the modern world sees to that.
Sights, sounds, electronics, social media,
Flooding, desensitizing, minimizing,
Reducing humanity to its possessions.
Instant gratification,
Constant entertainment,
Mindless busyness with little reward
Fill the hours of the every day.
Meditation,
Peacefulness of sleep,
Simple reading,
Communion with thoughts
Are endeavors relegated to antiquity if so ignored.
The natural joys of quiet revitalize,
Bringing balance to the imbalances of life.
With eyes closed, in silence,
The beating of the heart
Will become the song in the mind
Reconnecting spirit to nature and humanity.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Hostile Nature
Image credit – thewaterq.com
The exploit of nature
Indiscriminate as if it has no consequence
Acting as master as if it were all under control
When all is well, you belittle the tree huggers
Crucifying compassion and caution as a gauntlet to progress and profit
Until progress yields to disaster
Igniting the public relations machine
Blame is never placed with self but on others
Minimizing damage to the image is paramount
The environment expendable
Poisoned water, tarballs, dead zones
Headlines today soon to be forgotten by the gluttonous masses
Creatures of habit bribed by unscrupulous liars
Clearly the cleanliness of air and water are of only temporary concern
Instant gratification is worth sacrificing the progeny
These behemoths think nothing of the living world
It is here to be conquered at any cost
To be stripped bare of the resources it has so long protected
Coal, oil, gas
Eighteenth century fossils lobbied to buy the people’s government
Elected officeholders answerable to none
These scoundrels throw our prospects to the wolves
Tearing at the plunder as if a rabid pack
The citizenry kept appeased by hollow promises lays in coma
Promised to reap the rewards of the spoils
But at what loss must the gain aspire
~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~
A Not So American Dream
By D. R. DiFrancesco
Not so very long ago
I dreamed of a utopia
Beautiful and green
Full of promise and hope
Then man got in the way
Swelled with pride,
Consumed with self-importance
Greedy, prejudice and hateful
He ravaged the land
Taking what he wanted and leaving it in ruins
Polluting our water
Poisoning the ground
Making it a malignant wasteland
Seeing fit to keep this to himself
We planted
We built
We raised our families upon this cursed soil
Ignorant to the damage being done
Chronic illness plaguing our children
They say it’s all in the name of progress
Complain and you are Anti-American
Speak out and you are unpatriotic
Protest and you are a Communist
Who will be held accountable
The autocrats claims a divine right,
All in the name of capitalism
But they don’t plant, build or raise their children on this putrid land
They cry fowl from their ivory castles
Waving their jeweled scepters
Hiding behind their detestable walls
Looking down upon those of us less fortunate
They watch us wither under the toil of our labor
Building for them what they could not build for themselves
Drawing every last breath from us
All for the sake of another dollar
When will they have enough
When will we be more than just expendable
If they have their way
Never
Dom DiFrancesco 