“What what the hell do you want from me”; John screamed at his crying wife! No matter how much overtime he worked there was never enough money to cover the bills.
The only thing he could think of was that maybe it was time to cash in the life insurance.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Anger erupting like Nisyros
Unemployment and suicide on the rise
Still the Troika attacks
Testing the fortitude of the masses
Edging them ever closer to destruction
Reeling from each blow
Individuals and businesses collapse
Til the vultures come in for the scraps
Your country could be next on their hit list
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Many years we laughed
Now with heavy hearts we cry
Saddened by your pain
Hidden by smiles on screen
You were tortured behind doors
Left to your own mind
You couldn’t escape the hurt
Of your wounds unseen
Then in despair you broke
Taking our laughter with you
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
A cold kiss lay frozen on crimson lips
His tears could not thaw her icy chill
Thy soul to sea as fare so many ships
Whose lose pain could never fill
O’ slab, coarse for so delicate a flower
How I wish that I could soften thee
Yet I have it not in my mortal power
Into the hands of God must it be
Fairest maiden how I long to offer thou comfort
Though separated many worlds apart
Couldst I have quenched thy terminable hurt
Nay–sorrow be still my beating heart
.
O’ my dearest Juliet, I am dead to this world without thee
With this bitter nectar reunited soon we shall be
.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Blackness and dread have come over me,
I know not for how much longer I can resist.
Something unnatural here has staked claim to my soul;
Amongst these damp, dark, mossy castle walls
Light of day does little to diminish my fear.
I can feel it’s presence whilst awake and in slumber,
It speaks to me, taunting me to do unspeakable evil.
I am not the monster this darkness wishes me to be
Tho’ I fear I must be going mad!
I have called on God for strength, but to no avail
He has left me to my own voice.
My wife of O’ these many years fears me,
I am not the man I was,
I have paled, the purple beneath my eyes ages me.
Venturing into the night with nary a word nor explanation
I remember this not, tho’ my clothing doth bear evidence.
I wake to incessant scoffing yet am utterly alone outside of my bed,
Is my mind playing tricks on me,
What have I done, where have I gone?
My shirt dotted in crimson, bloody knife sheathed at my waist,
My hands painted scarlet speak of some unconscious evil.
I have never…could never hurt a living soul,
Yet this throbbing in my skull,
These incessant nightmares claim otherwise.
What I see in my minds eye disgusts me, tho’ I am horrifyingly intrigued.
Screams, shrill and bloodcurdling haunt me.
I can see the faces of females I have never known
Yet they lay at my feet, faces contorted in terror.
I am looking down upon myself and my bloodied hands
These women have been disemboweled,
Steam rising from their flayed vessels in the cold night air,
I laugh heartily at their horrific demise.
These are just dreams!
Nay! They are but nightmares, figments of an active imagination!
They must be!
But my hands bear witness to my dreams.
They are but one and the same, though I know not how.
What have I done, why must I be tormented?
Clearly God has forsaken me!
I dare not show my face beyond these castle walls,
I dare not reveal what I have truly become to my wife and children;
I have become a pariah to my family and this world,
I am ashamed!
Voices chortle saying, “You know what you must do!”,
“Join us! Join us!”.
This pain hath become unbearable,
Pounding, pounding, unceasing, these voices.
Hand drawn to the knife handle I contemplate my end.
The hammer continues to beat upon my temple
As the beat of a drum, constant and rhythmic.
Drawing blade from sheath I tremble, I know what I must do,
Whilst the voices drone on in their monotone “Join us!”.
Lips quivering, eyes tearing, I long for my prior life,
My family, my mind void of this Satan, but it is not to be.
To the hilt, I drive the blood caked knife through my throbbing temple.
Black…Nothing but blackness,
Still there is pain,
The pounding,
The hammering,
Forever tormented even in death,
Surely I must be cursed to hell.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
By D. R. DiFrancesco
~~~~~~
Secrets clutched tightly to our breast
Scared to show vulnerability
Hiding those things which make us cry, make us bleed
From a world we don’t think could understand.
~~
Are we untrue to ourselves
The lies we hide deep within our hearts
Beat rhythmically to escape the fleshy prison
Only to be pushed back into the darkest recesses of our souls.
~~
No one is immune
Deceitful is he who denies his susceptibility
Who has breathed that has not hidden his weakness
Protection from our humanity.
~~
Our society prides strength
Scoffing at compassion and emotion as if a sign of frailty
This is absurd, yet it resonates loudly among us
So we shelter that which makes us mortal.
~~
Maleness dictates the subjugation of feelings
One cannot be strong and show emotion
So we masquerade them in anger and violence
Unleashing rage through pestilence and war.
~~
Our progeny suffers
Families torn asunder in fits of acrimony
Childhoods left in tatters by pent up defiance
Fallen to the tragedy of shame.
~~
Depression festers, virulent and deadly
A secret best left unmentioned in polite circles
An illness of the mind cannot be real
You are a man, you must act like one.
~~
The imposition of this philosophy is for fools
Harmful and destructive to the mind, body and soul
Anxiety, depression, suicide the unwelcome victor
Do these secrets make you proud.
credit – carroll.edu
By D. R. DiFrancesco
*******************************
In sadness I fade
Left a hollow carapace
Of the man I was.
*******************************
In the black of night,
Sorrow rears it’s ugly head,
Leaving me tortured.
*******************************
Alone with my thoughts,
Silence as my only friend,
Plotting my demise.
*******************************
With head in my hands,
I pondered ending it all,
But what is the point.
Dom DiFrancesco 