Best Hope Poems
“Peace I leave with you
my peace I give you
I do not give to you as the world gives
Do not let your hearts be troubled
do not be afraid” (John 14:27)
But I am scared
Blood runs down streets
Hatred, rage, violence dance
In a chaotic frenzy performance
of evil malice . . .
What do your words mean?
Are they void – empty promises?
Where is the peace in deafening explosions?
In the cacophony of rapid gun fire?
Screams of horror?
Tears of death???
“I am the resurrection and the life
The one who believes in me will live
even though they die
and whoever lives by believing in me will never die
Do you believe this?” John 25:26
Yes, I want too . . .
But fear creeps around my heart
Its cancerous fibers sinking deep – choking me
Doubts greet me in the morning
Panic sleeps in my bed
I am weak
Hear my cries of desperation
“Be strong and courageous
Do not be afraid
do not be discouraged
for the Lord your God will be with you
wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9)
Stay close – fill me
I cannot see –
Darkness surrounds me
Death, destruction, desecration, depression
Blood, bitterness, bile, blight
“I have come into the world as a light
so that no one who believes in me
should stay in darkness
If anyone hears my words but does not keep them
I do not judge that person
For I did not come to judge the world
but to save the world” (John 12:46-47)
I cannot begin to fathom this
How great is this love
Forgiveness over revenge
Peace over violence
Life over death
Love over hate
Help me I pray
“A new command I give you
Love one another
As I have loved you
so you must love one another” (John 13:34)
Love one another . . .
David Meade
11/18/2015
Love Generously
Welcome to a brand new world
Verse 1
How are you feeling right now?
Is there still a yearning in your heart?
You're probably like, ten million or more,
praying for a brand new start
Verse 2
What happened to the world you imagined?
Where justice and peace ruled the day...
Is it merely a dream or wishful thinking,
a fantasy that leads you astray
Chorus
Welcome to a brand new world...
where evil men cannot be found
No reason to fear the nighttime,
a place where you feel safe and sound
Welcome to a brand new world!
This is not just a dream...it's reality,
joy in the heart of each boy and girl,
Welcome to a brand new world!
Verse 3
God has shown us how to love
So why is true peace elusive?
Monsters and imposters hide who they are,
they send out doves with a Judas kiss
Verse 4
It's been about two thousand years now
Praying for God's kingdom to come
Now's not the time to lose patience or faith,
it's time for God's will to be done
Chorus
Welcome to a brand new world...
where evil men cannot be found
No reason to fear the nighttime,
a place where you feel safe and sound
Welcome to a brand new world!
This is not just a dream...it's reality,
joy in the heart of each boy and girl,
Welcome to a brand new world!
Welcome to a brand new world!
Welcome to a brand new world!
Welcome to a brand new world!
repeat and fade
John Derek Hamilton
December 13,2019
Re-posted with music and vocals
September 2,2020
Updated lyrics May 19,2020 to flow better.
THAT’S WHEN I FALL DOWN UPON MY KNEES
There’s no way-
I’ll see another sunrise
My hope is gone-
as I'm contemplating my life
Prospects are bleak-
that’s just the way I’m feeling
My strength is gone-
and my will to live is fading
Here in the dark-
Even my shadow has left me
I spiral down-
into a pit of misery
That’s when I-
remember that you still love me
I kneel to pray-
and throw all my cares upon you
Chorus
That’s when I fall down upon my knees
And then I beg you Lord...
Don’t turn your face away from me
I know I’ve made a mess out of my life
Could you help me please?
When I feel like it’s the end
That’s when I fall down upon my knees
I cannot lie-
I know I’m running out of time
And I know-
that your patience is wearing thin
I must change-
if I’m ever going to save my life
Oh please dear Lord-
help me fight all my sins and win!
Chorus
That’s when I fall down upon my knees
And then I beg you Lord...
Don’t turn your face away from me
I know I’ve made a mess out of my life
Could you help me please?
When I feel like it’s the end
That’s when I fall down upon my knees
Chorus repeat
Finale
That’s when I fall down upon my knees
That’s when I fall down upon my knees
repeat and fade
Re-posted with music and vocals July02,2020
John Derek Hamilton June 14,2018
Copyright © John Hamilton | Year Posted 2018
Friends, do not forget: there is still beauty
When the darkness comes and shadows fall,
Music, Art, and nature, gentle comforts
When despair is deep and hope is small.
Friends, do not forget: there is still laughter
When we’ve finished choking down our tears,
When the world seems full of desolation
And we grit our teeth and face our fears.
Friends, do not forget: they have not taken
Kindness, love and friendship from our hearts.
If we can resist the hate and anger,
Maybe we can be where healing starts.
We will rise again tomorrow morning,
Sunshine follows even darkest night.
Think of this when you feel close to breaking
As we walk the long road to the light.
November 2016
In A Sad Blindness, One May Yet Find Hope
(The Solemn Prayer)
Raining splashing, fierce winds blowing and huge trees sway
I pray not for all this, on some other black day
With dark blue shadows plotting my early demise
I seek deep wisdom from sages worldly and wise
Not just some clever words to soothe this shattered heart
Instead sweet hope, light in words, to this life restart
With power to waken these world-blinded closed eyes
Stop salty tear drops falling from splintered skies.
On this day, life should see past these looming black-storms
Find solace in love, hope and my loving wife's arms
Yet that stone wall, yields to nothing but great power
Far more than this broken soul can muster this hour
When thus lost, can one ever find again that Light
Healer of dagger stabbed wounds, found on a dark night
I pray, gift wisdom to walk that one true-lit path
Release this sad soul from, this evil, wicked wrath.
Raining splashing, fierce winds blowing and huge trees sway
I pray not for all this, on some other black day
With dark blue shadows plotting my early demise
I seek deep wisdom from sages worldly and wise
Not just some clever words to soothe this shattered heart
Instead sweet hope, light in words, to this life restart
With power to waken these world-blinded closed eyes
Stop salty tear drops falling from splintered skies.
Robert J. Lindley, 2-07-2017
Syllables Per Line:
12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 0 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 0 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12
Total # Syllables: 288
Total # Words: 225
Note- I decided to write this poem, this morn. About half had already been composed in my head yesterday afternoon and I finally sat down now to put pen to paper.
Believe me, in that it was not an easy task to finish this and be satisfied with the results.
Maybe I am just tired and stopped because of that.
I don't know. Maybe on another day, I could have and would have thought this lacking and rewritten it..
But today, I have only enough to say, this is as it is(and thus it may stay), hope you may find it agreeable and not fault me too much .......
Far away in a
land torn with war,
she looked for a home.
She was not as pretty as
doves adorning lush gardens,
as exuberant as ducks to play
with,neither as useful as pigeons
in war. The lonely little cuckoo
flew from burnt trees to desolate
orchards. A black bird with yellow
spots on her feathers that other birds
found ugly. She looked for a home where
she'd be accepted for who she was. The
world hurled poisonous arrows at her.
Wounded, she fell in a garden waiting
to die until two little human hands
cocooned her. A girl nursed her agony
and made her feel loved. All her sorrow
began to melt and pour as rain on the fiery
land. She cried with her heart, her honeyed
voice, never heard before. The little girl danced
in joy and kissed her wings to let her fly but
little cuckoo sang to a world lost in pain, her
music blooming pink buds, rushing through
blue rivulets, swaying branches with
soothing wind, caressing parched souls,
raising spirits of warriors with hope.
She stayed for love, ecstatic
at her newfound lilac tune.
She'd found home
in a land
torn with
w ar to dr en ch
it wi th h e r
di vi ne s o ng.
July 11, 2020
Bird Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Constance La France
~Winner: 1st Place
~Poem of the Day: July 13, 2020
~Ranked #3 in Best New Poems for July 2020
Hope is a song of bird
Reassuring forlorn dawn,
The nightmare is banished
And the dream is still alive
Hope is a Lotus flower
Drowning in the night
Yet, rising through mud
With ebullient sunrise
Hope is an autumn leaf
Gamboge on brown
That curls up and dies,
Only to bud again with
Spring’s verdant vibes
Hope is a glint of smile
On the face of despair
When helping hand arrives
Trekking by its side
Hope is a concert
Of euphoric hatchlings
Yearning first flight
Flexing freedom wings
It’s the elixir of living
Priceless for everyone
And everything for some~
Hope’s their only means
Hope is a prayer
Tolling of benevolence
In places of worship
Seeking in earnest
Triumphs over tragedies
Written: February 3, 2022
Submitted on November 2, 2022 to:
2022 Poetry Marathon Mile 19 Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Mark Toney
Placed 1st: A Strand 1074 contest
Placed 1st: Hope Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Mohan Chutani
This is not a time for us
Facing these weeks of hospital walls
My knight now jousts an invisible foe
Shorn of hair, yet still he wears
Tubes of pain as proud as armor
With blood too pale, future too frail
No anniversary in candlelight
This year is measured in pills and applesauce
Doctor visits replacing road trips
To the salty sea beach, where he proposed
With a ring of delicate gold
All those years melting in florescent folds
Of bleached sheets and disposable gowns
Yet, every tide of fever, every ocean of nausea
Is one more wobbly step towards a tomorrow
Of recovered roses and kaleidoscope kisses
Where I believe, past this horizon's thin eve
In lush trees, green with anniversaries.
8/24/20
*BUTTERFLY KISS*
I'm still alive and I don't know why?
My heart survived falling from the butterfly sky
Caught by the hands of destiny
With visions only I can see!
My love I heard your call
Wings of a butterfly broke my fall
Love motion is in the air, a love no one can compare
Indulging a look-a-stare- that we both share
Reminiscing our love made out of stolen hope
Awe~:*! To them butterfly kisses that felt so real
Flowing like Amazing Grace,
A shining light upon my face.
I traveled fast and far, longing to be in your arms
I desire, the warm sensation of your charms
Your safe love will help me carry on,
With the strength and bond~the love you set upon
Nothing is better than a sensual butterfly kiss
Beyond the sensation of heaven's pure bliss
Fluttering in the clouds aiming for the moon
A dream of reality, out of my cocoon I bloom!
Valued by the art of true beauty and its rarity
True love flapping in the midst of clarity
I entwine that I am yours and you are mine
Bonded together till the end of time
With the vision, my heart is no longer blind
Two broken hearts at last combined
I glide below to touch your lip.
Our lashes touch from tip to tip.
Caressing each other as our wings expand
Two hearts- kisses collide and land
Holding your hand reaching to the rainbow sky.
Kisses:*kisses:* like the butterfly!
Dedicated to *My Babe*
~Sand Castle De Mal~
Beauty sails along the shores of life
Out there broken dreams form above sand dunes
Silent, God listens to the triumph of his creation
3-14-2015
3 line verse
O April
how I’ve longed for your return
to breathe new life
into this gnarled body..
for these roots to be unfettered
from the grasping earthen frost -
the past season of fanged nor’easters gnashed
me bare - leaving me mauled and dulled
alone with stiffened limbs
lifted to face
the hard glower of old man winter
with not a morsel of mercy to be gained
but April
now that you're here to share
the innocence of the daisy
and the honeyed scent of the sweet pea
I feel inspirited like a sapling young and tender again;
mild is the fog’s embrace in early morn
as I taste your sweetened rainwater
and gentle is the rhythm of baptizing
showers bathing dark days away..
and ever grateful is my grayed heart
as it begins to beat
with the fresh pulse of verdant rebirth
oh April
how easily you inspire
my shy imagination to fly
with the zephyr's muse
to expand my artistry
in an afternoon’s brushstroke of forsythia light
dreams once frozen now thawed and golden
eager to flourish in bloom
awakening the poetry
in a new leaf’s unfurling whisper -
a whisper that grows a praising wind-psalm
as choirs of bursting buds
celebrate revival
with a rustling alleluia!
star-shaped sails rouse in swishing sounds
their leafy lyrical breath one with the breeze
my green-laden boughs now a wellspring
of exuberant born-again voices
a thronging rejoice lifted
to the heavens on the whisk of the westerlies;
supple is my sweep and sway ‘neath
the soft-bellied skies of Spring
dear lady, April
how I revel in the glorious abundance of your Nature;
your nurture enlivens my humble woody being
and though gray may shade my weather-beaten heart..
evergreen is my soul
Susan Ashley
April 12, 2021
~ First Place ~
Premiere Contest: April
Sponsor: Regina McIntosh
O, weeping willow shed your sorrow
on whispering breeze to soothe your grief
within whose breath's a healing yarrow
to whisk away tears upon your leaf.
Sweet rustling zephyr embraced in sway
as misty-eyes sigh mournful wind-song,
a wistful heart in bosom ballet
with shadows dancing as currents throng.
Weep not, soulful shimmer 'neath sun’s gold
for chartreuse vines fly the west wind's bend,
enlightenment seeps in roots to hold
as yarrow's pink kisses blown to mend.
Susan Ashley
August 13, 2018
~ Second Place ~
Premiere Contest: 2019 Poetry Marathon Mile 1
Sponsor: Mark Toney
last thing I remember is the look upon his face
shot him dead right where he stood then left without a trace
killed a man while robbing his white castle for some change
if I could I'd take it back my life I'd rearrange
(chorus)
as I lie here on this prison bed I look up toward the sky
His Word says He still loves me though I can't help wonder why
the man I am today is one He pulled up from the mud
I've put my trust in these three things
the spirit, the water, and the blood
growing up I never knew the man who caused my birth
the only dad I ever knew destroyed my own self-worth
the day he beat my mother was the day I thought I'd die
I swore it'd be the last time this young man would ever cry
as I lie here on this prison bed I look up toward the sky
His Word says He still loves me though I can't help wonder why
the man I am today is one He pulled up from the mud
I've put my hope in these three things
the spirit, the water, and the blood
(bridge)
looking in this broken mirror I see a man redeemed
my newborn faith in God above uplifts my self-esteem
the One who sent his Son to die forever set me free
these bars that keep me locked up now will soon no longer be
(I'll pay the penalty)
the time has come the needle waits I find myself at peace
today's the day to pay my dues before I find release
forgiveness I have begged from Him for causing so much pain
my hope is He remembers me and that I'll live again
as I lie upon this bed of death I slowly close my eyes
his family's all gathered 'round no need to wonder why
the man I killed's dear widow helped to pull me from the mud
(because like me)
she's put her faith in these three things
the spirit, the water, and the blood
Lets flatten the curve with our words and soften our quill.
We are world siblings, showing solidarity through will.
Words that heal are like a prayer in times of sorrow.
They can pronounce our stories, comfort and burrow.
No time for silent pens, it's a time to rise and write.
In adversity, poetry stands tall like a gallant knight.
Poetic fingers express emotions through flowing ink,
forming rhymes and verses which influence minds to think.
Disunity is a plague, which feasts upon heinous hearts.
Unity paints a peaceful masterpiece of fine arts.
Collaboration with Pixie Dust
Silent One
31 March 2020
I'll be strong
Vs 1
You're getting tired of losing...
there's not enough joy and peace to be found
Sometimes it's better choosing...
to set your goals high, never looking down
(refrain)
Let's be strong together!
Make changes together!
Let's be strong together!
Have the courage to say:
Chorus
I'll be strong...
I'll forget all the pain,
I'll be strong...
I'll learn from my mistakes,
I'll be strong...
I'll be who I am and not be ashamed
Vs 2
Your will to live is fading...
don't give up on the chance to live your dreams...
maybe time to do some praying...
for courage to be strong and to believe
(refrain)
Let's be strong together!
Make changes together!
Let's be strong together!
Have the courage to say:
Chorus
I'll be strong...
I'll forget all the pain,
I'll be strong...
I'll learn from my mistakes,
I'll be strong...
I'll be who I am and not be ashamed
repeat chorus and fade
Revised with music and vocals
July 26,2025
John Derek Hamilton