Best Feet First Poems
"Full Circle"
...all roads lead home
Blue Sky reaches
like a river inside
the pull magnetised
feet first new life
full circle
opening
light arrives
(LadyLabyrinth / 2023)
Lux Vitae
She comes to bat with the score tied three to three.
Staring out at the pitcher,
she goes into her stance,
just hoping the ball will come over the sweet part of the plate.
Into her motion, the pitcher winds and fires.
Gathering all of her strength,
her eyes lock on the fast approaching yellow softball.
Like a gladiator ready to charge, she coils her body ready to strike.
Swinging with all her might, she connects
and the crowd goes wild as the ball sails
over the center fielder's head and to the fence.
With the crowd cheering,
she takes off like a young cheetah toward first.
A smile on her face and a gleam in her eye,
she looks up and catches the coaches signal to go to second.
Seeing the ball is still in the outfield
and the third base coach waving her on,
she rounds second and heads for third.
Fans fired up cheering,
mom and dad hold their breath and pray
as she rounds third for home.
Looking up and seeing a good relay throw to the catcher,
she throws on her brakes and reverses to third.
A bullet throw from catcher to third base
has her in a rundown.
Like a ping pong ball, they have her running back and forth,
but she’s not worried with her speed.
Then it happens,
the third baseman overthrows the catcher
and she is off for home.
Heart pounding and breathing hard,
knowing it will be close,
she dives feet first and slides into home base
under the tag to make a home run.
The crowd is roaring in the stands,
jumping up and down, hollering and clapping their hands.
Her team mates run out of the dugout and mob her with joy.
She’s made the winning run to break the tie.
By:5/23/2015
A true story of my nine year old granddaughter making the winning run.
Very silently step by step
In the dark it slowly crept
Until one day, to my surprise
The world I knew, I could not recognize
Little bits first then big ole pieces
Before you are aware, the world you know ceases
Never did I gave it a single thought
A glimpse of the end was all I caught
I took it for granted; am I to blame
Thought it would always stay the same
Eventually I decided to join in
With feet first, I jumped in the din
Kill the cops; behead the innocent
Persecute the holy, pay up for the indolent
None of these things sounded right to me
I found, I tried, I could not be
What can be done; I do not know
But where it is heading, I cannot go
I know a girl more broken than the aftermath of a bull in a china shop. She knows that her pain wont stop, so instead of trying to fix that, she only ever tries to make others happy. She puts everyone above herself and if life was a shelf shed be the ground. The most common sound escaping her lips is sorry. She cries herself to sleep every night, she has cuts on her arms as if too tally up all the hate she receives daily and if she could pay the bills in blood she would be able to afford a living. Lately all she's been doing is forgiving.
I want you to know that it's always darkest before the dawn, so if you have to wait another hour for the sun to rise, I will sit beside you with a watch and a red bull the size that two people need to keep them up just long enough to fall asleep together. If the weather is on our side or not, I will stay just to make sure you know you stay up long enough for that sun to rise. It's not a surprise when it does, and if it means you've gone a day without painting in blood, I will do what it takes to keep you from it another day. I suppose what I mean to say is;
Put it down. Just pretend its not there; let it disappear into thin air without a hair of a trace, because all it ever does is hurt you. those cuts mark the scars of your pain that will never fade. Cut into your skin, you don't remember the beginning, but you can find the end. Send a message to all the people that made you start, you're a work of art that just has a splatter; it doesn't matter, you can paint over it. Just sit down and look around you. You've built so many walls. You're trapped in a labyrinth made to keep people out but in turn you've locked yourself in. You can't climb the walls, all you hear is the echoed calls of your pain.
If you search for a while, maybe you'll find another face trapped in their own maze and you'll both smile; because it's comforting to know that you're not alone. Maybe that person you meet can give you a boost over your wall so you land feet first in grass. You don't need to ask, they're still there; trapped in the maze. Its sad how the price of happiness is almost always someone else's pain.
PART ONE
Every stroke takes you farther away,
panic sets in,
your body, starts to tremble,
with fear,
every stroke takes you farther away,
to the deep end, away from safety,
the shallow end kind of safety,
the feet on ground,
kind of safety,
the, my family is all here,
kind of safety,
the I won't drown here,
kind of safety.
But, you know how to swim, right?
It's just that it's been a long time, right?
Since you dove in, feet first, then head first.
Why not try heart first, since,
it's not the brain that needs washing,
it's the heart, first. That's where love grows.
The waters of truth are cold, true,
but, they wake you up, they refresh,
the mind, body, and spirit.
They set you free from fear and panic.
So, don't hesitate, jump in, the waters fine,
stroke away with me in the deep end.
You'll be ok, really, I promise.
John Derek Hamilton November 4,2015
Tired body aches. Long walk on starry night -
ears attuned for bear at creek, or cougar.
Nothing, not a doe.
But that afternoon
came upon a healthy young buck in a meadow.
High up. And a hawk left a feather for me.
Old, old stands of lodgepole pine, grey bark
like wrinkled hides of elephants. Thick carpet
of dead needles.
Thirst. Sit at snowbank
for an hour eating snow. Burn tongue.
To soon after stumble upon a pond and the place
that a creek springs from the mountain. Water
indescribable. Eat ravenously and drink deep
gulps.
Climb highest rocky peak at dusk. Razor-back
ridge. Mother hawk scream nearby. Must
backtrack and then go straight down near dark
feet fall through layers of scrub pine, hands
grab for the live stalks only support against
broken bone.
Choose steep narrow bed of loose rocks,
surely waterfall in some other season and descend
on ass and all fours, feet first always fearful
it will end in an uncontrollable hundred foot drop.
Trickles of water nearing bottom.
Cracked hands,
raw behind, cross final snowbank and attain road
along Snake Creek.
I'm warning you:
don't come weak
I'm telling you:
don't come lame
I play on the hard diamond,
so don't come with no softball game
I'm a hard-nosed ballplayer,
I don't mind some dirt being kicked in my face
'Cause I'm gonna come back hard charging,
and with fear that smug look is gonna be replaced
Natural born gritty truth-teller,
that's what I am, that's who I be
Step aside if you're in my base path;
if you don't wanna be in a world of pain,
then you better start doing the math
How much time do you have
before we collide when I get there
How much impact can you take
when I send you flying feet first up in the air
I play on the hard diamond,
so don't come with no softball game
I play to win every time always,
so take a number and state your name
Should I ever be down,
and it looks like for sure I'm gonna lose
There's no quit in me, no sir,
got a tough-as-nails ego that don't easily bruise
So take your best shot,
take your very best swing
Show me what you got
on this hard-to-hit offering
So take your best shot,
'cause you're down to your last swing
You've been losing a lot
to this flame throwing hard diamond king
Feel um' sum mo',
get um in and out of the door's-
'cuz good company rages on...
When I am with um' I am on!
Wheel um to go...
Wind it back and drop the note,
'cause the krumpin' will dump out the mote!
Get um to flow-
careen on the boat,
get um feet first into the waters that you know,
...'cuz Jesus was dope,
he'd leave you gold,
he'd eat the whole stone.
Get um to know,
ask um' why you think you chose?
Click on his show
with a grisly remote,
see um' by the vote-
because...
He's seasonal boast,
he's Jesus doin' coke,
he's reasons to float,
he's beatin' me out of my boat,
makin' babies out of my jokes,
and baking a cake in my stove in my home.
I often wonder
as I wander through wonder
receptive to the signs
projected from minds mines
exploding in invincible
imagination invisible
like cloak and dagger
I search for the truth
whether it be within me
portrayed without my boundaries
leaping bounds
offering sounds
collected in the skies daisy dairies
harvested in the sea
fermented in vermouth
causing the tides to stagger
I lay naked in the clouds
relaxing in the dilly dallying sun
basking in the knowledge of the universe
soaking in the wisdom
of the watery breeze
fluently speaking
telepathiconversations
uttering raindrop runes
reading the realms
for telling of forecasts
faceted in fascination
I ask a simple question
where do I begin to find
where I began
sifting through the soil of my soul
scraping the soil off my soles
at the threshold of the Sun
I jump in feet first
and become purified in the pools
of swirling
spiraling
solace
chapter 1 in salvation
rewriting my past lives contribution
stepping into eternities elevation
becoming submersed in loves great basin
the reality of what everyone considers an illusion
illuminated on the paths of another dimension
reincarnated in my own waves of retribution
smiling as I'm cut by the shards of every solution
leaving it up to me to draw up the conclusion
and speak it to the masses in mass confusion
I am NOT just a speaker
I am NOT just a teacher
I am NOT just a leader
I am a seeker
lighting the way
for those who wish to catch up
The megapixels join together,
humming, buzzing as they collide,
Forming a haze in negative space.
bloop, bloop, bloop,
I come to life - brought feet first into this world.
Shins cast in light metal,
Socked feet on soft shoes.
A short dress like armor,
and flawless skin.
They've come again, my feathered friends
to bob and weave amid the seed.
Kamikaze bombers they
who swoop down feet first to land,
munch some seed, swoop again
and fly away.
Silly squabbling squawkers peck and toss
sunflower seeds to those who wait
outside the fray.
Wonder how they feel today ...
do they know what delight they bring
to old eyes that need to dance?
Do they have a sense of their own majesty
or is that left for humans to know
and watch how quickly it does go
away on a spring current.
Forty years ago,
I stood looking from the brink,
Trying to decide.
I jumped in feet first.
Holding the air in tightly,
I started to cough.
I looked to the sun.
It warmed my resolve to act.
I told my story
With out a whisper.
I was understood this time,
And fear went away.
I still hold my breath.
Every stage of life is hard,
Every act a risk.
Peace and injustice,
Dancing around each other,
Shadowing the past.
Such a cloudy pair,
Strife and conflict still abound.
Too many wars now.
The revolution,
Exhausting futility,
What can be done now?
Outrageous acts slow.
They are few and far between,
Now that we are old.
Our hearts, are beating
For our sisters and brothers
Can we still rise up?
Fool me once, shame on you;
fool me twice, shame on me.
Proverb
Let me tell you a story:
subjected to twenty-four
hours of snooze
the same old news
played on repeat
passed as if
mouth to ear
better yet the strange
the criminal caught
in the act
incomplete acrobat
trapezing through the ceiling
to stare squarely
into the eyes of the law
his gun in his pants
he can’t reach
he swings around like a caged bird
hoping to freefall
so he can make a run for it
the fake cop
says, “Get a load of this, boys!”
then he throws the youngster to the ground,
“Off with you! We were here first!”
and then, the fake cop
turns around and stares
into a real badge -
his eyes chest high
the cop’s eyes hanging over
his head, trapezing
until they wink,
“Take him away, boys!”
the rubies, sapphires and diamonds sparkle.
necklaces and bracelets, safe…
well, two bracelets clasp the wrists
of the outwitted twit
painfully so
alas his girlfriend will find another dupe
a younger one
who just might get the job done
this time he’ll land on two feet
with his gun in hand
smarter than his former self
he’ll send a note
incognito
from a private island
to a cocky jailbird
as him and his eye candy
clink together
their passionfruit mojitos
heads thrown back
in the throes
of laughter and lovemaking
4/23/2022
Form N - Narrative
Sponsor: Constance La France
Theme: Funny
When my soles were first created
Mom and Dad did consummated
Tossed and turned out a head
Lost my bearings feet instead
After spank to make a cry
Inked and printed black feet dye
One small step for little baby
One giant leap for parent's maybe
After one two or three needle
All of a sudden I was bipedal
On my soles could not lose
Roll the dice need some shoes
Give me some that have three strips
To young now no worry the types
Later on when I spike
I'll be running with the Nike
School is done say hoot hoot
Off to work construction boot
Fancy ones for all those dates
And the ones that they call skates
Walked around in those slippers
Even walked in things called flippers
The only shoes I could not handle
Had to be the dreaded sandal
As a man with covered soles
Went through life achieving goals
Feet first baby I begun
Lucky me I could have none
Arriving for my first visit, not knowing what to expect
Instantly awestruck at the plethora of trampolines
Ready to jump feet first into a new adventure.
Bouncing up, down, in, out, to and fro
Over and over again. I spot the soft foam pit,
Racing towards it, I take a leap of faith
Naturally full of enthusiasm and a youthful
Energy that knows no bounds at the moment.
Eagerly looking around the massive building wanting
X-tras like dodgeball, slam dunk, and the high-flying
Trapeze—where I swing through the air and land safely
Right in the middle of the blue and red squares of foam. I
Enter the battle beams where I was defeated by an older
Male. Nearly two hours later, and all good things must come to an
End. My first experience at a trampoline park was a success.
August 1, 2019
(An Acrostic Poem)
**Side note: I wrote this poem from the point of view of my 12 year old son. This was his first experience at a trampoline park called Airborne Extreme. He had a great time and has enjoyed the amusement center a few times since.