Do You See the Sloth in Slumber

Do you see the sloth in slumber

Ever exhausted in his laziness?

The world passes by;

His life and circumstances change

Right before his eyes, but he cares not.

His food becomes tainted by poison and profit,

His means of survival gets cut down from under him,

Yet these do not prod him to action.

Those charged with his care seek to destroy him.

They smile and whisper in their deceitful hushed tones

Then with a fury they beat him down from his limb.

O’ poor lowly sloth, if only you were the mighty tiger;

Perhaps then you would sink your fangs into these vultures,

Perhaps then you would arise and assume your role in this jungle,

But nay, you prefer to wile the hours away in blindness and lethargy.

Be not surprised upon awakening one day soon that your blissful paradise…

Has become a barren wasteland.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Times They Are A Changin

Times they are a changin,

An older guard struggles for relevance.

They long for the days of Reagan,

June Cleaver and Leave it to Beaver,

White picket fences and segregated neighborhoods,

Gays in the closet and women in the kitchen,

Marriage between one man one woman,

But O’ the times they are a changin.

Their anger turns extreme

Because their “perfect” little world is slipping away.

Reagan is gone,

But his policies live on that helped destroy this country,

Picket fences are in shambles after the housing collapse,

Racism is on your front page and you don’t like it,

The Cleavers and Leave it to Beaver

Are relegated to late night reruns…

Nobody buys this crap anymore,

Gays are our neighbors, they’re on TV, the radio, in politics…

The closet has been cleaned out,

Couches and fast food have left our kitchens cold and empty,

While John and Tom and Sue and Jane can say “I do” without shame.

So fight if you will, fight if you must, but…

O’ these times are a changin!

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Another Season Approaches Fast

Another season approaches fast,

Not spring nor summer nor winter nor fall.

Storming in even quicker than the last,

Loud and obnoxious like the clarion call.

 

Choices are growing, with more each day,

Though one seems no better than the other.

Either red or blue what more can I say,

Neither would surely be my druther.

 

They care not the least for the common man,

It’s all about the silver and gold.

While we struggle on the best that we can,

They tell us what we want to be told.

 

This same cast of characters appears every four years,

Dressed in their Brooks Brothers suits.

Except we’ve added Hillary, a bold new frontier,

Taking her share of the loot.

 

Politics is messy and boring at times,

But there’s so much at stake for us all.

I know that it’s early to sound warning chimes,

Though it’s better too soon than to stall.

 

It’s not just the President, but local too,

It starts from the ground to the top.

Throwing up your hands saying what can I do,

That’s just how they hope you will stop.

 

There’s power in numbers if we all stand as one,

Big money can be beaten by the masses.

Let’s put them in their places before they’ve begun,

Stepping out from behind rose colored glasses.

 

This is our country no matter what they believe,

These thieves and liars and cheats.

Let us not have one more election to grieve,

By taking our demands to the streets.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Pondering Things

Pondering things more now than ever

I’m finding out how little I know.

I don’t understand human nature;

Its incessant need for power,

Its unquenchable greed,

Its innate ability to hate,

Its thirst to subjugate others.

Look no farther than the news;

War is spreading at a rapid pace,

Our young men and women are sent to fight,

For what…our freedom?

Only true if freedom flows from a pump.

Their blood is being exchanged for oil,

Sounds criminal unless you are a capitalist.

Poverty is running rampant,

The rich are getting richer

While the middle-class drowns

And the poor are being mowed under.

Our children are sunk into debt

For the privilege of an education.

Education is not a privilege but a right,

Only a fool would think otherwise…

You laugh…

Well then, a fool I must be!

With no where else to turn

We look toward the government,

Corrupt, divisive, they are of no help.

No! Don’t dare pull the party card,

Your blind faith in either cesspool is deplorable.

Don’t think for a second that they care about us,

Most of us don’t have the money to buy that kind of loyalty.

These behemoths only tolerate us because they have to.

Lobbyists and corporations are their real audience

Purchasing the destruction of our environment,

Sending our jobs overseas,

Corralling wealth for the pleasure of the minority

All for the destruction of the majority.

We…are…expendable!

In the end, what do I know?

I know what this country…this world could be,

It wouldn’t take much,

Just a little love,

A little compassion,

A little humanity,

But then…I am a dreamer

Who just realized…

How little I really know.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Labels Separate

Labels separate

Segregation of masses

For the unknowing

Republican, democrat,

Gay, straight, rich, poor, black or white

This life and body

Are but temporary things

Gone in an instant

What is left behind

Spirit and spirit alone

Each one is the same

Void of race, creed and color

Void of all man’s influence

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

A Cheeky Letter (Tanka)

A cheeky letter

Congressmen sent to Iran

Not very funny

Preferring war over peace

They commit acts of treason

.

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Vultures Every One

Vultures every one, they pluck at the carcass.

Oh yes, it is dead and has been for some time,

But they choose to masquerade it in lively rhetoric.

Speaking not of how they will resuscitate the corpse

They prefer to spew bile at those they accuse of murdering it.

Solving nothing, they offer up a civics lesson as hope,

A promise of a return to days long gone by.

They know this can never be,

That we should never return to the cesspool of the past that got us here,

Still they desire with a selfish heart, to thrust this upon us.

No longer a land, by the people, of the people, for the people,

We have devolved into a country of the corporation,

By the corporation, for the corporation.

Our politicians, beholden to these behemoths disregard the people,

Believing their constituents too inept to notice.

Sadly, our elections show they are too often right.

Seats of government are filled with crazies, radicals and thieves

Looking to promote their own self-interests,

Their own delusional ideals,

The interests of those that bought their loyalty.

Their records show nothing but opposition to the other side,

No compromise, no debate, just blatant obstruction,

This they do, all the while claiming to be patriots and waving their tattered flags.

Perhaps we are as much to blame for this violent death as they.

Each vote cast inflicts another gangrenous wound on this once vibrant body.

I fear it too late for meaningful change.

Our young prefer social media and video games to interest in things political.

What the future holds is anyones guess,

But with crystal ball in hand I foretell a funeral, the body in shrouds,

No taps being played, no mourners present to pay their last respects,

They can’t because they are too busy texting and watching youtube to notice.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Humanity Lost

Humanity lost
Our dignity up for sale
What little is left
Elected to destroy us
By the uninformed
More sad than ever
I fear our future
You will see what you have done
By supporting these devils
Schools will be sold for profit
Security privatized
Healthcare back in greedy hands
This is what you chose
You gullible Red Foxes
Believing the spin
Selling your best interests
For six long years full of lies
I hope you’re happy
For now our children suffer
At your bloody hands
Left to live worse than you did
Goodbye American Dream

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

We Believe The Lies

We believe the lies
Drinking in hollow kool-aid
The magic potion
Then morning comes–hangover
Surprised that you have been fooled.
The ads–deceitful
Never had any substance
Yet you watched and cheered
Now, live with your ignorance
May it be all that you hoped

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Serve At Our Pleasure

Serve at our pleasure

This, the politicians role

Most have forgotten

Hypnotized by gold’s allure

They bow before oligarchs

Doing their bidding

As if we do not matter

We can prove them wrong

Because voting is power

And their lives are in our hands

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~