Best Unwinds Poems
No larger than a grain of rice,
her face is forming; mouth, a slice.
Her heart, a tube, begins to beat;
at one month, things are imprecise.
An inch now from her head to feet.
Eyes, fingers, toes: not yet complete.
Her neural tube, well on its way.
At two months, things look pretty sweet.
Four inches long, an ounce to weigh;
miscarriage risk drops every day.
All parts are present, there to see;
at three months, fingers grasp and splay.
Her nails and hair seen easily;
eyelid, eyebrow, eyelash agree.
Four months now and six inches long,
the ultrasound clear: she’s a she.
Her muscles build; she’s getting strong.
You thought you felt her; you’re not wrong.
She’s covered with lanugo hair.
At late month five, she hears your song.
Her fingerprints? Whorls present there.
The eyelids part; eyes open, stare.
When she hiccups, you may observe.
Month six births: viable with care.
Refinements to sensory nerves,
reacts to light, from pain will swerve.
She rarely is reserved or still;
month seven, and this gal’s got verve!
At five pounds now, she kicks at will.
Lungs immature, but they can fill.
Eight months, all sharpens, gets refined;
You’re on alert, you know the drill.
It’s nine months now; she’s quite confined.
Delivered, breathes in, and unwinds.
Flesh of your flesh, though quite her own;
Distinctly her, you’re intertwined.
Through the brambles of the arbor's vine,
an artist has spinned some silver lace
This net was cradled over leaves
slung low, and wet with dew.
Evidence was left in place,
a hammock swings as if on cue
Crocheted with skill and flair
to glisten in the sun
Breeze trembles every curl and lair
and takes the breath from you
Light fondles strands of pearls it wears
as the spider rests, .. to view.
While the agile trace of light declines,
the fragile morning soon unwinds
and wears a lace of new design
........................................................
2/25/16
As Time unwinds with a cup of tea
Sipping fragrant steam of centuries
No rush to fluff the flattened sea
In the key of wind's piano notes
Strumming with hummingbirds' low float
And the whale's alto undercoat
Piecing a jigsaw silhouette
Of mountain sky, as eons set
Painting a desert river wet
Her comet's glittered ribbons trace
Over Orion's luminous face
Dappled in blue's infinite base
Goblets of stars conjure up
A millennia, as tiny
As a teacup.
Sometimes, it just takes some time
Sometimes,
we are born, with big dreams
Sometimes,
we are born having none
Sometimes,
we have to live, with our troubles
Sometimes,
we do things, that can’t be undone
Sometimes,
our hearts, may be broken
Sometimes,
we find true peace and love
Sometimes,
words are better left unspoken
Sometimes,
you leave when you’ve had enough
Chorus
Sometimes,
it just takes, some time
for all of your dreams to come true
Sometimes,
it just takes, some time
to find the perfect one, meant for you
Sometimes,
it just takes, some time
being apart ‘til the storm subsides
Sometimes,
it just takes, some time
a little patience, while the future unwinds
Sometimes,
the cards, we’ve been dealt with
don’t add up,
and are just not enough
Sometimes,
we’re anxious, and worry too much
Sometimes,
we’re blessed, with a tender touch
Sometimes,
the money comes too easy
Sometimes,
we may not have enough to eat
Sometimes,
life throws us a curve ball
Sometimes,
this life is bittersweet
Chorus
Sometimes,
it just takes, some time
for all of your dreams to come true
Sometimes,
it just takes, some time
to find the perfect one, meant for you
Sometimes,
it just takes, some time
being apart ‘til the storm subsides
Sometimes,
it just takes, some time
a little patience, while the future unwinds
Finale
Sometimes, it just takes, some time
a little patience, while the future unwinds
Sometimes, it just takes, some time
a little patience, while the future unwinds
John Derek Hamilton
June 12,2018
A pregnant lass with eyes of glass had never learned to cope;
once set adrift her fall was swift, she slid a slipp’ry slope.
She fled the curse of worlds perverse by shooting shots of dope,
and stalked discreet’ Asylum Street her daily horoscope.
The stray was struck by passing truck which was her only hope.
Well, Banjo Boy, with little joy, he strums her life entire:
“The wayward waif was never safe; her stars were dark and dire
(born midst the rues and avenues where lack and want aspire)
for no one heeds the childish needs that little ones require;
though faith survives in tempest lives, a swirl within the briar,
infinity grinds as time unwinds, until the winds expire.
Her last caprice? The final peace that no one could deny her -
whipped by the flood, stray beads of blood are spattered on the spire;
though beads of sweat are cool and wet, cold clotted blood is dryer.”
Though broken there, she’s fled the snare with dying thoughts serene.
And now she’s dead, the rumours spread: her age? a sweet 16,
with child, unwed, her soul stained red, her body so unclean.
A place is sought where she can rot, avoiding churchyard scenes,
in limey pits, as well befits, behind forbidding screens;
and all the while a dirge is styled on tattered tambourines
which echo through the human zoo in valleys of the Queens.
Without rejoice, in hissing voice, near soil that’s seldom trod
“In pious role, God bless my soul”, was mouthed with mitred nod,
(the twisted grin seemed dark and thin behind the robed façade).
“She’ll burn in hell with sulphur smell”, spat Priest and man of god.
Well, angels sweet with cloven feet, they sing in girl’s attire,
but Banjo Boy, he’s playing coy while chanting in the choir:
“The clueless search within the church to find what they desire,
but near the nave or gravelled grave, there is no Rectifier.”
And when he’s through, without ado, he stacks some stones nearby her.
Footsteps
Footsteps
On the ground…..
Lightly
Stepping
Without a sound…..
Tears are
Falling
As oceans sigh…..
The sun is
Descending
In her eyes…
The waters stretched their surrounding arms
Caressing her precious prints with their saline charms
Smoothing her past—an exhalation at last
As legacy lavishes the flight of her path
Withering and draining, absorbed in the sand
Are the tears she once shed—no longer does she stand
In kneeled acceptance her deep pulse unwinds
As her melodious voice falters in the plague that binds
In her serenest solitude have I kept her close
As those streams do crash upon my heart-burdened coast
I listened to her sing—as the sickness rose
Like the tide’s sudden descent, oh how life suddenly goes!
Footsteps
Footsteps
Heavy now……….
Carry her
To bury her
In the ground……….
Oceans
In motions
WAVES//COLLIDE
…..Someone beautiful…..
…..…..now has died……….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Crackling leaves
Laughing with delight
As they swirl and twirl
In the crimson light
Around the bond fire
Snapping flames
Glowing in the night
Near the lake
The water breaking
As the birds take flight
Frosty orange pumpkins
Watching from the vine
On the porch
Kegs of apple cider
And cherry wine
Crispy whispers
Blowing through the pines
As the magic spell of autumn
Once again unwinds.
On the wheels of our dreams
The hammer of Thor
Shall crack this fountain sky
What words shall find
The patient clock unwinds
We live on borrowed time
Awaiting Summer's rule to end
Fall sleeps in dream of colored shades.
As sun unwinds its solstice bend,
The hope of autumn soon pervades
While emerald kingdom slowly fades.
When Autumn wakes from her repose,
The cooling wind calls out to trees,
"Come trade your basic olive clothes
For colored raiments as you please
And walk with me upon the breeze."
The kindest queen of all the four,
How graciously does Autumn start.
For all her subjects do adore
Her renaissance of forest art
And come to soothe heat-blistered heart.
9.15.18
Contest: Bring on Fall
Written: July 17, 2025, for contest sponsored by: Kai Michael Neumann
Quote: "Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words," By Poet
*********
It glides—not gently,
but akin to a scrupulous scalpel,
a syllabic salve for rusted throats
and trapped desires.
It drips down the well of grief,
melting into metaphor,
softening jagged memories
into pains that are easier to bear.
This poetry is not serene.
It is slick with secrets
and greasy with grammar's
serpentine filth,
and sentences thrum
through the engine of anguish.
You utter the words,
and the universe starts to shift.
A bearing in the brain,
a balm under the bruises,
and syntax strung, such as silk
between broken cogs of memory.
Each line is dense.
Each verse unwinds—
caught in the hinge of desire and pain.
Essence of the oracle,
gleam of refinement.
Let it spread:
a rhythm that caresses,
a mouthful of taut truths
seeping through the snags of silence.
Written: March 28, 2024 For Constance La France Contest
Quote: (The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.) Marcel Proust
__________________________________
Slumber unwinds within crinkled cellophane,
Enigmatic visions come to life and sustain.
Geometrical shapes skin to pyramids, expand,
Cruising fairies sing through shimmering sand.
Hey, Captain! Ferry sails across any hurdle,
A searing streak splits the sky as a starved squirrel.
A prize is won, dock shuts, and crowds cheer,
At night, memories of you come back so near.
Delicate spiderwebs hang as stars in the sky,
Mozart hands waltz ivory piano keys sigh.
Galaxy emits a lambent, milky-white light,
Tapestry Highways sails by my a quilted sight.
A cosmic queen embarks on a cynosure journey,
Slicing over a glistening ocean during night mercy.
Colorful pathways in the sky are formed by sea swirls,
Mermaids glide fluffy waves of glistening pearls.
Behold a sturdy sail, a tough and bold ship, oh heart!
As bleak as the gnomes at dawn, it's time to depart!
On deck, the skipper is fierce and red-dripping,
Meanwhile, my soul lingers in frigid buds snipping.
Captain! Rise and hear chimes; to you, a flag raised,
You gained fights and flights, and doves amazed.
The ship has sailed safely and fulfilled its voyage,
He gulped distance, sea, time, and buoyage.
It was a time of jubilation and feelings of love,
During spell hour, they shone brightly from above.
Dived in the chaotic bliss of love, this waned,
In a misty past, the spirit soared and stained.
Rivers rush down slopes, and peaks loom tall,
Rafters ride via waterfalls as bridges never fall.
Deer graze in fields, and craftsmen, work away,
Sweets and meals sizzle on burner, made to stay.
Chili, pasta, beans, and maize are all we need,
The Alpine guy eats grits, Angus, and meat, indeed.
Riders hold on tight with flying manes and fish dives,
West Virginia alpine star twinkles and jives.
It's music to my ears
when night falls quietly enveloping twilight
and the sun conceals itself from view
from my body rising in dawn's light
to the fall at days end into darkness
where I rest
My mind unwinds from the clanging of men sweating
with sore feet and aching backs
My ears still ring with the moans of work
I invite the serenity of crickets
between creaks from my rocking chair
I sit on the porch of days ending
to rest from turmoils of life's continuous cycle
of today and tomorrows
as I leave time as a sentry
to guard my peaceful moment... to rest
Perhaps to sleep and dream
2/11/19 contest Music to my ears
DECLARATIONS OF A SOCIAL SCIENTIST
Indeed, I am that Poet and know it.
Just in transition to a more enriched poetry form.
I want to talk about life, politics, and religion.
Maybe not simultaneously, but how I am feeling today.
I tell you life isn't a bowl of cherries.
I am not harvesting berries.
I live a vivacious existence.
I nature walk and take beautiful pictures.
I thrive in my leisure time.
Even more so, I work until my mind unwinds.
I am just a thrill seeker but not an extremist.
I am an illustration of well-being.
In fact, I am striving for better physical dexterity.
In all, my body desires more agility.
To eradicate the clumsiness,
My ability to monitor my own quickness is propensity depleted.
My mind, body, and spirit have superseded.
Oh, I am told that it is all right to be big headed.
Of course, gloating is good for your inner being.
Dwindling is not something I will let occur.
I am the booster of morale.
Be assured that I am there for others who seek a physiological mental form.
Do I appear to be titivated?
I am what I have stated.
Doubtlessly, there will be jealousy.
Without doubt, they will envy me.
Undoubtedly, this will not hinder.
I have overcome obstacles since the being of my existence.
Liberated from birth via a nation of government, I am free.
I can wave my hand and be seen.
I can stand up for what is right.
I can ignite the political fire.
I can educate my mind to genius.
I can defeat enmity.
Negativity may come but I disallow it to be a formula.
I am abreast.
|_____________________________________|
Penned on October 31, 2014!
The passionate...pulsating rhythm,
Of your tasty...temple of doom.
Pounds a pummeling throb,
While hunting for buried treasure.
A lustrous...look like acid rain,
A hopeful...heart, a buried jewel.
My whip...willingly...whips,
A love escapade unwinds.
I raid your beautiful...body
Looking for the lost ark in the dark.
Erotic...exploration begins;
I explore a deeper crevice.
Solely...searching a secret tunnel,
Investigating, probing, and panting,
In the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
With my trusty archeological tool.
Hot wax poured...sizzling burns
The crimson scented wax streams
On this secret quest for love,
A stimulating last crusade.
Drops of salty...sweat
Bead from my fatigued...face
Dripping into the abyss of covers
And on the glistening skin.
Contrast: hitting the shiny...skin
The splash sound...is amplified.
A magnified grimace of pleasure
Protrudes the dark silhouette.
Steamy...lava skin yearns,
For a cool touch to extinguish
The heat of human friction while
Luscious...lips call out Dr. Jones.
____________________________
*Posted for an anonymous request
To write more free verse...
As you and I swim the same ocean
I swim the vastness of it in search of you
There are no boundaries to what we can do
If I love you and you love me
The hidden shores are awaiting us
let us go then to paradise
You bring me in like a love struck dove
sitting on her perch
You have put a light in my heart that I
never thought was possible
Your love unwinds me like a ball of yarn
as we lay together as one soul
The love I have inside is just for you alone
as I feel the softness of your words
Your warmth fills my aching soul
I dream of your lips on mine
I had a dream that we shared a kiss once
It was a kiss that lasted forever