Unrolled Poems | Examples

A Life Unrolled Upon an Empty Screen

I have played the coward and the brave,
both the strong and the weak.
A man must be a man, and forget nothing,
keeping close to him
those times of disgrace and honor,
drink both the gall and the nectar
of a far too tell-tale life.

I review, and examine myself
without any escape-hatch excuses.
Clap my hands together loudly
praising this searchlight mind,
that is a ray of infinite power
directed from
the very heart of love.

Are we not all things,
the bold and gentle,
we the lamb and lions
interpreting the patois
of all our incoming angels.
strange they are,
yet we know them,
are them.

I have lived for the wild calls,
and the gentling murmurs,
shared my bread,
gorged from the manger.

This helter-skelter life
will be upheld
in that wordless court
where a life is scrolled out
to retell
its make-believe tales,
and the Light will not judge me,
nor I regret.

Sequential Star Light Dance

Sequential Star Light Dance
Form: Ottava Rima

The stars align in steps we cannot see,
A waltz of thought, of time, of soul unrolled.
Each shimmer sings a silent symphony—
A coded tale in light and spiral told.
They move as one in timeless unity,
Though split by myths the ancients dared unfold.
Each star a pulse, each orbit knows the trance—
The sky becomes the dance before the dance.



Beneath their arc, our shadows stretch and bloom,
Reflecting what our bodies can’t contain.
The starlight stirs the seed inside the womb,
And breathes its will through memory and flame.
No prophet speaks what they cannot presume,
For fate and rhythm rarely wear a name.
And yet, we rise and echo with their trance—
A soul, remembered, joins the sky to dance.

February Flex

Between the iron's echo, seven moons have shaped  
this flesh to tempered steel—each rep a whispered vow,  
a calculus of sweat where discipline escapes  
the ghost of who I was. The mirror shows me now:  

a shadow split in two—one clawing from the past,  
one carving forward, raw, through protein, rest, and grind.  
The weights don’t judge the why, just measure what will last:  
this body, not a shrine, but proof of mind aligned  

with mornings yet to come. I lift what time can’t hold—  
not abs or arms, but will, the ache beneath the bone  
that asks, "What’s worth the pain?" The answer’s still unrolled:  
to outlift doubt, to build a self I’ve never known.

-

Here

Ohio is right here, and the rattling gold of
earth-born corn is here.
All over creation the sky is wide open
and the green and yellow stalks are swaying
right here.

Here the wind-songs are rough and ready,
yet they are as holy as any prayer.
Over there a stand of trees
where the olive frocks of summer
sway and shimmy.

The mud and dirt here is as good as any,
all just as rich as anywhere else
and the grubbing creatures in and upon it
are our wealth

These fetched-up farm fields
are sure-enough an atlas,
the roots of heaven rise below us,
time delves and sprouts here,
the sky descends to till the soil.

This is the land beyond the great river,
the sun nests here, and the stars appear
reflected in up-turned eyes.

We are the unrolled map, we are rural Ohio,
come walk over the world here,
rest on a wayside bench, linger long
or stay - right here.

The Queen of Spells

(Sonnet / Lipogram) No letter "A"


Blooming buds dispersing sundry perfumes
Mellifluous tunes of ebullient birds
Butterflies come out of their cosy rooms
Soft verdure on verges nibbled by herds


Burbling brooks run under the bulbous dome
Modest cloud-cover with blowing soft wind
Gentle showers dripping down on the brome
The spring's resurgence delights every mind


Pristine life sprouts from the womb of the turf
Your comforting presence nurtures new life
Soft shoots burgeons out of the tough scurf
The joy of Zion unrolled without strife


Spring, the queen of spells on the wheel of time,
Poets cherished their thoughts in its prime clime.

An Andalusian Song

Below the wrought iron veranda,
a guitar translated the dark.
Orchids unrolled their purple tongues
to arbor the moon.

We had quarreled earlier,
now I lowered my head in your lap.

Someone was singing about the sea;
the way the sea cries for the kiss of the shore,
how the sand runs to be drowned.

A romantic idea of love, a sweet melody,
but we both understood
that make-up sex
was a much more compelling force
than poetry.
You went to lay upon on the bed.

Later, sangria washed salt from our lips.

The Red Dirt Road

Follow the red dirt road.
Take it slow, walk it,
this is not an exploration
nor a pilgrimage,
it is a short tour around
the beginning of an idea
and its end.

Move along
past the few rural homesteads,
pass beyond the shacks
and the weather-beaten
tumbledown cabins,
the double and single wide
not so mobile homes
with their rusting trucks.

Hurry past the gypsy encampments.
with their gangs of wild dogs
until that dirt road ends
in a dry long uncultivated field.

This is where the dust
covers the old road maker
and beside his sunbaked bones
see how his maps and plans
are rolled up tight
never to be unrolled again.

An Andalusian Song

It was cooler on the veranda,
below us, a Spanish guitar
translated twilight words.
Orchids unrolled their purple tongues
for the moon to drink upon.

We had quarreled earlier,
now I lowered my head in your lap.

Somewhere, a girl
was singing an old Andalusian song
about the sea;
the way the sea cries
for the kiss of the shore,
how the sand runs to be drowned -
an overly romantic melody
yet it brought us closer.

You stood and
lifted your red dress,
your raven-haired triangle
held the scent of mercy.

Later, sangria
washed salt from our lips.

Melancholy and History

Wistful yearning for an air of trustfulness
Zeus' libido was famed for its lustfulness.

Who saved thugs till all wits were withdrawn?
No farmer ever wiped dew off the lawn.

Nor is tyranny feared or known as grim.
It was a depressing one overall, and dim.

To his love-stricken spirit and melancholy.
He repents of the acts and admits his folly.

Spread the aroma of a worm-eaten shroud.
Unrolled, it breaks or oils shreds in a cloud.

Depression is feared across the nation.
I crave your love; this is my correlation.

Tell me I love you if my mood is gloomy.
I'll be distraught, yet carry that light to me.

With vile lying, you preyed on our feelings.
I'm not retaining them back—it's stealing.

Written: May 22, 2023

( Not For Any Contest)

Lost and Damned

I watched as the darkness bred in your eyes
You held every word I said with contempt
As your tongue unrolled a gold bill of lies
Pacification was your last attempt

You beheld the world with such lost despair
Destitute, life was just desolation
And every word you spoke told me beware
Romance with you was an aberration

Lost and damned in this lonely multiverse
This is the only universe I see
Where we could truly not be, what a curse
Drowning in a pool of your tears, a sea

Sometimes it's not meant to be for soul mates
When life is cruel and the wicked rule fates

Dandelions Aglow

Here's a field that glows as gold
upwards to a sky of cloud,
like a tablecloth unrolled
for feasting bees buzzing loud.

Weal

When the humid breath of spring crowned this place
Two darlings buds blossomed in one.
Lines of years unrolled with eagle mighty wings apace
Through toothed seasons, many delightful adventures won.

Once his hands landed on heaped treasure
With king like mien, he dropped with empty care
Who flooded his bosom with amorous pleasure.
With king like rue he wails, "bulk treasure brims no heart anywhere."

Art

The selfsame page echoes wordlessly like barren lord
To write in characters of light, Oh! bucket headed bard
Understand, art-like slumber must set-the soul free
Beyond time's fabric walls, in boundless circles waterski 
Across the black besmeared realms of dreary night
Where passion cleaves darkness with fanged light.

Tread forth into the beauteous lustre of things
And hark, how sweet the drunken nightingale sings 
Cheering languid Cynthia and the slow bursting bud
Oh! come empty bosomed lad
Let the primeval tongue of deft nature teach
You how to fold forms into voluptuous speech.

The sun through verdure fields has unrolled
His sweet placid beam of burning gold
And how gaily whispers the roaming scented wind
Blowing voluptuous strains pleasant than sevenfold lutes combined
Revealing to the dancing emerald leaves galore
Divine secrets hoarded in mediaeval days devoid of law.

When the throbbing heart of nature tunes the soul
Grand refined wisdom is your to attain
Which nor cognitive lore nor pedantic clouds of scroll
Can ever shower upon the mortal train.

The Executive's Tie

A tie may symbolize
A man's privilege
Solemness
Formality
Keep your body and head straight
Or the tie will bend
And look akwardly ugly
Keep your body and head straight
And let the tie unrolled straight and flat
Symbolizing a sense of self-confidence
And an outstanding authority

Rainbow

dark
                                           heavy
                                           clouds
                                          unrolled
                                     and dampened
                                          the dry
                                           earth.
                                          Slowly, 
                                       from behind
                                   the cloud curtains,
                                        with jetting
                                          rays the
                                             sun
                                         came out
                                     and brushed a
                                            jazzy
                                             arc
                                           in the
                                             sky.


Waltz Wave Contest Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Kim Merryman 
Syllable count: 1,2,1,2,3,2,1,2,3,4,3,2,1,2,3,2,1,2,1. 
Date: 10-06-2021
Placed : 1st

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