Unleashed: Poems and Drawings

by Betty Nadine Thomas

With a hearty dose of humility and humor, Unleashed is a book of diversified poems and drawings primarily taken from a variety of life experiences, traumas, and events that have happened over a lifetime.
Betty Nadine Thomas writes about love, acceptance of all people, and of course laughter. From dryer lint bunnies to the 1960s Haight-Ashbury scene to spirit guides, her poems are unique, funny, truthful, and pointed. Some are serious, while others are lighthearted. Occasionally controversial and always multidimensional, Unleashed is what happens when "just an old Crone" finds her voice, creativity, and power.
This chapbook is for fans of Chen Chen and anyone in the poetry, art, and LGTBQ+ communities.

Genres: Poetry

52 pages, Paperback

Published November 14, 2023

About the author

First and foremost, I am a poet and Artist who has been writing for over 50 years. My work reflects messages of compassion, understanding, and acceptance, encouraging readers to embrace people regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation.

My book Walking Two Worlds was honored by the International Impact Book Awards, where I received Author of the Year 2025 in the Philosophy category. My first published book, Purple Hats and Pink Tutus, was released in 2007.

After years working in disaster response across the United States, I retired as a Director of Emergency Management. Now living in Portugal at age 75, I continue writing, illustrating, swimming regularly, and enjoying boogieboarding.

Reviews

[Hannah Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thomas' poetry is so real with itself. To me, it felt like this collection grew from childhood to accepted queerness in adult hood. I really enjoyed the poems "I Must" and "The Gift Around You". I loved the art included as well, I wish there was more of it.

Thank you to LibraryThing and Rootstock Publishing for the Advanced Reader Copy!

[Griffin Wold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unleashed is a beautiful collection of poems talking about identity and connecting to the world around you. There were several poems that I connected to, with "Puppet on a String" and "Passage" being my favorites. I could tell that each of the poems had a lot of meaning and thought behind them, and even if I couldn't connect personally with a poem, knew that it could be very meaningful to someone else. The illustrations were also really cute.

[Timothy Arliss OBrien · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wonderful collection of poetry with brilliant little self illustrations is a necessary read for anyone wanting to free themselves and follow their intuition through deep thoughts from the profound to the mundane.
Betty Nadine Thomas draws from her experience in this world as a lesbian and adds this book to the growing list of queer reads that soothe the soul.

[Mateo Dk · Rating 4 out of 5]

just got an early copy and read this outside my library and enjoyed it pretty thoroughly!! only one or two poems blew me away but all of them had a warmth and genuine heart to them that made me happy to read and i loved the art

[Donna172 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unleashed is a short book of poems illustrated by the author. The illustrations were a nice addition to the poems, but I found the poems to be a little simplistic. I kept trying to find a deeper meaning behind them, but they all seemed to be simply written memoirs from the author's life and the message was right there in your face. Many of the poems included profanity that at times led to a humorous tone. This book is definitely not intended for children!