Tag Archives: suffering

Out of Fear

Worshiped out of fear,

Afraid of divine retribution.

One which allowed murderers,

One which allowed adulterers,

With an apology,

To be King.

You toyed with creation,

Becoming angry as a child

Throwing tantrums

When deprived of your will.

Does death and destruction,

To all but the chosen

Sound reasonable and sane?

With Lucifer as a playmate perhaps.

“Here take my servant,

Do what you will with him,

But do not touch.”

Inflicted with relentless torment,

Sores, anxiety, persecution,

Fear of death,

The game is permitted to continue,

All with your blessing,

To see if he can be broken.

Is this how mercy is shown,

Torturing those that love you?

Finding sport in war and death

Both are waged eternally,

Some with your blessing

Some without,

Either way, surely with a smile.

Sending those in your image to their end

As pawns for your amusement,

This seems to be your sadistic way.

As a final act of brutality,

You offered your son up to despots,

Torturing and degrading him until death,

All to uphold your way of life

And save the monsters which you created.

Would a kind and merciful parent do this to his child,

Instilling them with fear,

Instead of promoting goodness and love?

This question must be answered!

Faith alone does not absolve you of responsibility

For the adulterated state of our being.

.

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

I Beg

I beg–do not look too deeply into my eyes,

What you see may both be surprising and terrifying.

Blackness…deep…dark…all consuming,

May swallow you up like the undertow.

You swim, kick, scream and still you drown,

Falling into the depths.

Seeing the sun above and nothingness below,

Praying to your God to be saved

As your tears dilute into the salty sea, unrecognizable.

Surely you will be disappointed,

My weakness splayed like modern art on my soul.

This is not what you committed too,

Vows could not have prepared you for this hell,

The hell that is my secret,

One held close to the heart,

For as long as I can remember.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Emotions Cast Out – A Tanka

Emotions cast out

Like a net upon the sea

Unexpectedly

Take on a life of their own

Spiraling out of control

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Drinking Dulls The Pain

Drinking dulls the pain,

Feeding the same worn excuse,

Permitting abuse,

Damaging family and friends,

Leaving no external scars.

Yet wounds just as real

Bleed, becoming infected,

Contagious with time,

Perpetuating sickness

For generations to come.

.

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

A Foolish Jealousy

Revel not in the happiness of others,

Nor share in their joy.

With false face and pasted smile, pretend,

Knowing this is wrong, stupid jealousy;

Unable to permit true glee,

Threatened by accomplishments beyond control.

This has always been and fear shall always be

A selfish flaw so ingrained it is painful.

What harm befalls, in the successes of others?

Not one in truth,

Yet the urge is far too strong to overcome;

Weakness takes hold,

Diminishing, making  pronounced the small and shallow,

Subject to the frailty of the flesh.

A lifelong endeavor to subjugate,

Success measured in meager steps forward then back,

To slowly free the mind,

Grasp at joy in all that surrounds,

Pleasure in nature,

Serenity in communion with fellow man,

This struggle runs deep torturing heart and soul.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Every Thought Of You – A Tanka

Every thought of you

Conjures up the memories

I’ve tried to suppress

Spilling out my weaknesses

Leaving me spent and hollow

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Steel Bars – A Tanka

Steel bars of prison

No match for my jailer’s wrath

Sentence self-imposed

Cruelty and deprivation

Are the penalties for sin

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Peeling Back The Layers

Peeling back the layers

Like an onion of marble, brick, wood,

Concrete, steel and plaster.

What lies beneath this man-made skeleton?

Flesh, blood, bone,

Hopes, dreams, promise,

Failure, disappointment, longing,

Pain, suffering and sorrow,

Wrapped in the package human.

Wealth nor status makes one immune.

Life infects rich and poor alike,

Birth and death spare no one,

Entering into their pact with nothing

And fulfilling the contract with no reward.

These truths are guaranteed

Despite a desire to bury them in denial, religion or alcohol.

Make what you will of your life

Ignore those that cry to you with outstretched hands,

Divert your eyes from malnourishment,

Turn your back on humanities fallen,

Do this and more without conscience

As a soulless miscreant is bound to do.

This is your choice.

Or join this race we all run…offering,

Time, money, love,

Compassion, sympathy, understanding,

A helping hand, encouragement,

As much or as little as you have,

This is what it means to be human,

To be in communion,

Asking nothing in return.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

Random Events

Torrential storm of random events

Beyond control your mood doth set

Thrusting outward in time repents

A heart in sorrow, forgiveness gets

~

I know not why I shelter inside

Negativity of others inside my mind

Or what I create I cannot hide

Instead of release ‘til death do bind

~

Should not happiness instill us all

Casting out that beyond control

Living in joy postpone bearer’s pall

Before its too late to corpse console

~

Random events are as they say

No path nor end hath fate defined

Life as we make and live this day

Should not be treated as a grind

~

Up to us all, our inner smile

Nourish and nurture to heart’s desire

Striving to best our every trial

Patiently dousing our temper’s fire

~

Easier said, more difficult to do

In this life we live on lease

Being as one with nature wrings true

Thriving and resting in peace

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

The Question

I was once asked,

“When death stares you in the face what will you say?”

I pondered and sighed and smiled a smile I could not erase.

Thank you…

That was my answer,

Thank you for my life,

It has been full.

Thank you for my wife,

My lover,

My partner,

My children,

Thank you for every sunrise,

Every sunset,

Every shooting star in the heavens,

Thank you for all the love,

The sadness,

The joys,

The pain,

I couldn’t have gotten on without you.

These are but a simple few of all for which I’d give thanks.

Of all that I am thankful for, I am most thankful for time,

Not for how much or how little,

But thank you for the time that I had in this beautiful tortured world,

Amongst those I love,

And those that loved me.

For these I am most thankful.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~