Tag Archives: sleep

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 ~~

Things So Real – A Tanka

Things so real I see

Punished by bizarre demons

Under hellish sky

Shudder and shake, eyes flutter

Another sweat drenched nightmare

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Man-On-The-Moon

The sun sets as the moon does rise,

Orange and red sherbet skies.

The man on the moon from slumber awakes,

To bid goodnight no trouble he makes.

~

Fox and hound and little child,

End of day for meek and mild.

Dreams of tomorrow another day,

To hunt and lop and innocents play.

~

The Infant feeds at mother’s warm breast,

Before for the night she lay her down to rest.

Pray and hope she sleeps through night,

And not awake ‘til first morning’s light.

~

Too much to ask though it may be,

Mother and Father and angel three.

Dream of slumber full night refresh,

A full eight hours, “My God we’d be blessed”!

~

Then Fido he barks must be time to go out,

Jarred from our sleep we scream and we shout.

Climb out of bed quiet as a mouse,

Tiptoeing gently across the floor of the house.

~

Open the door and out Fido goes,

Angel stirs, then whimpers then bellows.

“Now look what you’ve done!” at Fido we yell,

How long she’ll be up only the clocks time will tell.

~

Then off to her room, the mobile turned on,

With a “shhhh” and a pat back to sleep she has gone.

Nary a sound back to bed we did slink,

Blanket pulled tight, we dared not to blink.

~

As our heads hit the pillow our hearts they did slow,

We’ll give this thing sleep another college go.

No other sounds nor stirs or cries,

Another few hours of gratefully closed eyes.

~

That Man-On-The-Moon must have been up to no good,

Our night he disturbed way more than he should.

As sunlight streamed in to welcome the new day,

Tonight’s another night, what more need I say.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Good Night – A Tanka

sleep

Last rays of day fade

Ushering in moon and stars

As the nights backdrop

Children long for beds comfort

Warm milk and the sweetest dreams

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

Bleary Eyed

Bleary eyed,

Bloodshot from too little sleep,

I glare with intent into a cup of black coffee.

~~

A shimmering pool of obsidian,

Strong, deep and steaming,

Aroma bitter, bordering on unpleasant.

~~

A look in the mirror bares a distasteful reality,

I look old, I feel old,

Much older than my years.

~~

Bags under the eyes black and purple,

Fifteen rounds of life,

Beating the senses until they are bruised.

~~

Tired beyond belief,

I should not be,

Is not an hour of uninterrupted sleep enough?

~~

Medication seems my only respite,

No dreams, at least none bound to my weary memory,

Just sleep, black, uneventful sleep.

~~

Tomorrow I will wake,

Groggy from the self-induced coma,

A useless splash of cold water to prod arousal.

~~

Another cup of bad coffee,

Strong, black and bitter,

Maybe today I should just stay in bed.

~~ D. R. DiFrancesco ~~

Twilight’s Aftermath

By D. R. DiFrancesco

Awaken me so that I can feel the life-blood course through my veins

Pulsing, gushing, bringing warmth to every limb

In the black of night I begged to be revived

Slapped to consciousness by the maker’s almighty hand

I balk as I look down upon my lifeless vessel

Seemingly floating, weightless and translucent

Hearing every word, but unable to speak

Painless yet terrified of missed goodbyes

I try to scream, still nary a sound can be made

Cold and motionless I try to shake myself from this God forsaken slumber

They never said it would feel like this

Bright lights, almost blinding

I can see them, though my eyes are shut tight

How can this be

No one is calling me home, just bright lights and heat

Voices, huddled, cocktail party conversation

Its hard to swallow, parched and cracking

Hello…I’m here, can’t you see me…I can hear you

No response

Laughter and echoed unintelligible sounds drown me out

This can’t be happening

Black…

Oh God, its gone black

The lights are gone and its black as night

Voices implode into deafening silence

Eyelids flutter revealing fog distorted faces

Softer lights sting my eyes

Sounds come into focus, echo-less and clear

I can feel

I can speak

Fear subsides as the sweat is wiped from my brow

Twilight’s affects begin to wane

I am me…

I am alive

And I am well

Serenity

In daylights passing there is peace,

Swaddled in twilight’s romantic glow.

A scattering of rays as if piercing a prism,

Turning the heavens once blue to mandarin.

Calm and cooler the evening breeze reinvigorates,

Ushering in a welcome sensation of renewal.

Is there anything more glorious?

Serenity floods the soul like a rapids,

Driving out dissent and pessimism,

Replacing it with tranquil blissful sleep.