jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the month “June, 2013”

the second flight of the samaras


the industrious child spent
his morning picking up the fallen fruit
of the maple tree
placing them one or two or three at a time
into a plastic orange pail
as his mother sat on the glider
on the front porch
rocking the little one to sleep
comfortably in her arms
both bundled within a shawl

a cool breeze made the boy’s cheeks
as pink as the tulips that bloomed
nearly a month ago
and when the pail became filled
to his satisfaction he disappeared
into the house
only to reappear in a second story window
where he proceeded to pretend
a fleet of military choppers
converged behind enemy lines



june two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

happy hour


I felt like stepping out
but didn’t want to drink alone
so I texted Tommy to give me a call
but my phone lay silent

goddamn son-of-a-bitch

I powered up my new HDTV
but nothing was on
so I turned it off
and checked my phone again

nada – nothing – zip

I paged through my contacts
and speed dialed Randy
then Billy and then Reggie G
but nobody picked up

I walked into the kitchen
and opened the refrigerator
but I had forgotten to replace
the lamp and couldn’t see shit
but I reached in anyway



june two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

unlucky in love


he sits in his lazy boy chair
and yells at the umpire on TV who
keeps getting all the calls wrong
exhaling cheap cigar smoke
while putting down old style beer
in 12 ounce gulps

in the other room his partner
in crime fixes potato salad
to go with his pastrami on rye
saddened at the thought
mister james gandolfini
has left her lonely world



june two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

alive like the butterfly


the moment you start looking back
and analyzing every misstep
chances are you are not where
you want to be
and all the hopeless wishing in the world
will leave you even more wretched

consider the beauty of the butterfly
and ask yourself if your life isn’t worth
just as much
and maybe then you will understand
moving forward is the only option
with or without a migration map


june two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

to catch a soul


I am trapped inside this virtual
world where judgments
are issued without warrant
and disenchanted encoders
sip on encrypted whiskey
while laughing silently

without notice shots of pain
stream down the sciatica river
where boys sit on rocks
and pretend to fish
with artificial bait
waiting to steal my soul


june two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

stepping stones


your garden is all grown up
said the daughter
to the old man as they
sat in front of the fire pit
listening to the wood talk

she remembered way back when
there were stepping stones
throughout the garden
and she would jump from one stone
to the next like you would
playing hopscotch

the stones were still there
camouflaged beneath the jungle
barely noticeable amongst the greenery
blossoming a spectrum of colors
rainbows inspired to imitate

do you remember
when we put in the stepping stones
asked the old man

yes I do
answered the daughter
I was just thinking about that



june two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

down the narrow lane


she smiled and told me
how much she loved me
her palm reaching out
to touch my cheek

I remember her touch
from way back when
and closed my eyes
as if it was yesterday

walking empty-handed
down the narrow lane
I really wasn’t sure
who was leaving who




june two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

architecting a house of cards


I look at pictures of people
from all across the world
and I see the look in their eyes
and say to myself
they are just like me

and then I am reminded
of a good friend
I’ve not seen in ages
who once told me
how much he admired
the individuality of my mind

from there I imagine
collective thoughts make up
the universe as we know it
and without me pinging
this particular poem
the whole thing could implode


june two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

there is nothing holy in hypocrisy


why have all the scholars
and scribes and high priests
why have they sealed up the
words of the prophecy
exposing their selfishness
and secrecy for all to see

I have scaled the city walls
and found a new world
where the seeds of truth
sprout from my cupped hands
and water flows like a fountain
deep within the desert



june two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

some kind of way out of here


in the archives
they let me spend my time
weaving tales of prison breaks
not even the watchtower
can contain

this life inside
the loneliest place on earth
would break the common man
but here I sit and sail away
stealthily

once a month
I wander the yard and chat
with all the pretty young ladies
who stopped writing me
years ago

in my mind
I lived out my days in paradise
where the flowering perennials
rooted before the breach
still flourish



june two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

bleeding hearts


I grow bleeding hearts
in my garden
where there is no sun

they thrive in the shadows
where tears
are not seen but heard


june two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

fishing with jesus


sometimes I just cry myself to sleep
when I think about all the things
I’m gonna miss about this place
I told jesus
as we sat on the rocks
casting our lines out into the sea
neither of us worrying
whether or not there was fish to catch



june two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

genome projects


this old blue jewel continuously
reinvents herself
through orderly chaos
using beautifully destructive forces
to tear herself down and rise again
in unimaginable creativity

she is her own god forever conjoined
with the serene sky
the strands of creation
emitting sparks from her fingertips
fashioning transcendental elements
into a supernatural world


june two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Long Road to Lake Erie


I imagine running in my native land
known only as Windward Coast
existing in the spoken word
handed down from a language
forced upon my people

Awakening to my nightmarish reality
I prepare to run yet another night
my instructions given and repeated
inside a barn outside Portsmouth
known to me as station number nine

We pursue the waning gibbous
across the Ohio and into the arms
of extraordinary people who
provide encouragement and provisions
and a promise our new life is near

I imagine I’ll run even beyond my death
but for our children they will live
unrestrained and without images
of bounty hunters or bloodhounds
chasing them in their dreams





june two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

saturday in the park


sitting on a bench in green square park
one saturday morning
I detected so many ghosts
walking about

the first day of summer
was just a stone’s throw away
and the nine o’clock sun
tried to burn the foggy images
out of my mind’s eye

some wandered alone aimlessly
some marching in groups of two
or three or more
some pretending they really had no business
being here
while yet others carried bags
or pushed empty strollers
hoping to find ways to fill them

at the nearby city gardens
I spotted little ones sniffing
red roses
that always came back to life this time of year

I leaned back and marveled
at how all of the ghosts
managed to travel through time and space
just to revisit opening day
at this year’s farmers’ market




june two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

sixth trumpet

from the book of revelation


the sixth angel stood by
knowing well in advance
once the trumpet had sounded
three plagues would break out
throughout the lands

not a soul seemed to fear
the voice from the four horns
of the golden altar instructing
the release of the four angels
bound at the river euphrates

once cut loose they amassed
two hundred million mounted troops
the horses with heads like lions
spewing fire and smoke and sulfur
directly from their mouths

the riders wore breastplates
of fiery red and dark blue
and yellow like sulfur
their horses transmitting disease
wiping out a third of mankind

despite the carnage the world
refused to repent of murder
and thievery and idol worshiping
neither abandoning magical art
nor the work of their hands



june two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

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