Shock Of All Shocks

Shock of all shocks!, A conclusion has arrived,

What you may ask drove me to this.

I look at this nation and its leaders that drive,

And sadly I find so much amiss.

 

Squabbling and indecision on the left and the right,

It’s politics at their very worst.

From top to the bottom it’s no easier a fight,

Unable to decide what to do first.

 

Managing from crisis to crisis is no way to proceed,

As the ball is too easily dropped.

We look to our leaders to stand up and take heed,

Of all that must be started and stopped.

 

From debt ceiling to healthcare, ebola, ISIS and more,

They fight each other all of the way.

Afraid am I of what may very soon be in store,

For greater horrors may come into play.

 

We have hearing after hearing and nothing gets done,

They are sound bites for the next campaign.

Fodder for the platform on which they will run,

With lies and aggression to inflame.

 

I look at the response to ebola with a smile,

This comedy of errors that it is.

The protocols, what protocols all to beguile,

What’s the answer is part of the quiz.

 

What do we call them–ISIS or Islamic State,

Would somebody make up their mind.

We got into this one perhaps a little too late,

Over time I am sure we will find.

 

In these two crisis’ congress isn’t without fault,

Ask McCain, he was friend to our foe.

Yelling arm the rebels their advance they will halt,

As always putting on quite a show.

 

Now congress has called a meeting, the CDC to berate,

For its failure to institute adequate tools.

It was fine leaving West Africa to suffer its fate,

Denying funding like cold hearted fools.

 

Messages are mixed on all things from above,

Agreeing on nothing is their way.

Failing to compromise when push comes to shove,

I suppose this is how things will stay.

 

So what is the conclusion from this long winded rant,

More trouble ahead is surely brewing.

Our government is broken and their solutions are scant,

I’m confident they don’t know what they are doing!

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

‘Tis Not The Fragrant Flower I Once Knew

‘Tis not the fragrant flower I once knew,

Pleasing to the senses,

Brightening the world with her effervescent palette.

Her silky petals crumble, fragile to the touch,

Falling like toxic ash in the putrid air.

She pollutes the earth that feeds her,

Poisoning her waters making them non potable.

Oh how her beautiful bouquet has mutated,

Turning ugly and angry in the midst of the garden.

Those not of her kind are suffocated as weeds,

Trampled, then pulled out by their roots.

Intolerant and hateful she has become,

The prick of her thorns has turned fatal.

Her beauty, now masticated by selfishness

Sets her on a path to destruction.

No longer prized, no longer admired,

She will be turned as mulch–

Into the soil from whence she came.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Growing Frustration

Growing frustration!

ISIL laughs in our faces

…America bleeds.

Again we are being used

Because we’re slaves to their oil.

The coalition–

Where are they in this struggle?

This fight should be theirs!

Instead we do their bidding

As hostages to these captors.

We’re fooling ourselves.

This isn’t just about safety,

It’s economics.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Fearmongers Abound

Fearmongers abound

Ebola, ISIS, healthcare

Scaring the masses

Nothing more than politics

Spread by corrupt media

“Fair and Balanced”, ha!

They all have an agenda

Manipulation

Not to report and inform

But to divide and conquer


~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

We Stand In Arrogance

We stand in arrogance,

Our own world–the only world

Feeling not the pain of others.

We are removed, unsympathetic, unconcerned,

It does not touch our lives.

You cannot touch video.

You cannot smell the written word.

You cannot taste their anguish.

Too far separated are we!

It is not real though we know it is,

Allowing oceans to separate safety from reality.

Sit quietly in the warmth and comfort of your homes,

Sip your coffee, piping hot and fresh,

Enjoy the bounty of the food that surrounds you,

Sleep well in the softness of your bed,

Watch your news,

Read your paper,

Pretend that all is right with the world,

But remember distance is merely an illusion.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Cries Come From The Hill (Tanka)

Cries come from the Hill

They’re coming to kill us all

Mystic Lindsey Graham

He doesn’t need any proof

He just reads his crystal ball

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Thoughts Are Provoking

Thoughts are provoking

When voiced in arrogant tones

A putrid venom

Raising the ire of foes

Stinging the hearts allies

A higher standard

We aspire to be held

This has always been

Yet we bully and coerce

We push, shove and we degrade

They aren’t our children

We are not their guardians

Ego says elseways

Sometimes it’s best to step back

Letting cooler heads prevail

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Born Of Arrogance (Tanka)

Born of arrogance

Ego–bullying nations

Cultivating hate

Surprised when once allies turn

Never learning from the past

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

Imperfect System (Tanka)

Imperfect system

Still, it is better than most

Even when it fails

Of little consolation

To the living or the dead

 

~~ Dominic DiFrancesco ~~

Anger–You Can See It On Their Grimaced Faces

Anger–you can see it on their grimaced faces;

Marching, hands raised in civil defiance.

Neither curfew nor militarization will quell them

In the face of injustice.

What passes for authority tries to divert,

Maybe he took the “sweets”, maybe he didn’t,

Maybe he smoked a little weed,

Maybe jaywalking is a capital crime in the south,

Maybe murder is ignored when hidden behind a badge.

So much for civil rights,

So much for equality under the law,

So much for compassion and common decency.

He was eighteen and unarmed,

Of this there is no dispute!

Perhaps he wasn’t an angel…are any of us?

I have bent the law,

Maybe even broken it a time or two,

But I’m still here, breathing, smiling, growing older.

We can deny–

That racism exists,

We can deny–

That blacks are treated differently than whites,

We can deny–

That skin color matters,

But denial doesn’t make it so!

Changing laws do not change hearts,

And time does not necessarily heal…

These are irrefutable facts.

Behind closed doors we disrobe,

Taking off our suit of political correctness,

To reveal naked hate.

We spew the epithets of our fathers,

Who broke the backs of an unwilling immigrant.

It’s as though times have never changed…

And perhaps they haven’t.

The manacles once of iron are now invisible,

The whips of braided leather no longer leave scars,

But the pain, fear and displacement still exists

…In this twenty-first century.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~