jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

28 Mar 2023

words cannot describe


Best to become invisible
in times like these.
Everybody knows that.
― Jason Reynolds, Long Way Down

my numbness is not
comfortable at all
it is a nondescript void
like a beautiful landscape
hidden by an expanding fog
spreading north & south
and east & west
its deafening denseness
placing a stranglehold
on coherent thought
a lingering listlessness
tearing the world apart





march two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
27 Mar 2023

the following morning


I’d told them to take it away
that I didn’t want to see it anymore

and so they did

after a while I told them to take
the other thing away
and so they did

I was getting good at giving orders
surprised they so easily
obeyed my commands

soon it was one thing after another
and at a certain point
I’d told them I was tired
and they quietly withdrew from my sight

in the morning the birds did not sing
and the sun did not usher in the dawn

I turned on the light
and looked around the room

none of the things
that I had ordered away the night before
were actually gone

I had commanded only to myself





march two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
26 Mar 2023

if I could only see you


I’ve lost sight of the end game
due to reasons beyond my control

if you could see what I see
it would be death & destruction
cast upon the many by the hands of a few

it’s as if a monster tornado
has ripped through sleepy little towns
leaving them leveled & burning
for days on end

forget the nuclear tactical weapons
conveyed from one place to the next
they’ve not the power to take my sight
even though I can see no more
with my very own eyes





march two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
25 Mar 2023

to the rescue


the lost
& the forgotten
blinded by the wind
never to return again
repeating the pilgrimage
in the back of my mind

the night
turns into silence
the scattering clouds
revealing new satellites
blinking like a rising star
signaling the next move





march two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Aliens, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
24 Mar 2023
2 Comments

the road to nowhere


the road to nowhere
is paved in dirt with gravel shoulders
— it is as good as any to get someplace
you’ve never been

there is no vegetation nor water
along the way
and since you don’t know how far
the road to nowhere goes
it’s best to be prepared

do not whistle along the way
it’ll only make you thirstier
and surely do not sing
for it is unclear what dangers
you may attract

walk as fast as you can
but do not run
lest the eyes looking down at you
may sense that you are fearful
and as vulnerable as all the others





march two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
23 Mar 2023

one hundred million deaths


I keep going back in time
destroying what is already gone
fruitless endeavors
involving radioactive matter
nearly always
ending up in the same place

the mind & body
seek their own independence
one of them knowing
of the eventual fail
the other looking forward
to the next dimension

what’s next remains indefinable
but is as certain as the
capital’s destruction
leveled in the year of the rat
only to rise again after
one hundred million deaths





march two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dogma, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
22 Mar 2023
2 Comments

coloring at the dining room table


what shade of red shall we paint the town
barn or cherry or crimson or rally
it matters not
not as long as we’re out of the house

do you remember how we’d paint the sky
the rainbow’s spectrum our palette
— robin egg blue my favorite
purple haze yours

the canary the daffodil the sun itself
none of them cowardly
fresh & bright as a cloudless day
brave & daring like dapper dan

without the moon the night is pitch black
an off-white candle or flashlight
simple replacements
once the power inevitably goes out





march two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
21 Mar 2023

think twice


dusk arrives unannounced
followed by cat calls & bird songs
filtering in thru the cracked window

had I not destroyed myself
just before the dawn
did not the moon inform me
you’re finished once & for all

my vision blurred & my voice raspy
the blood in my veins
still flowing freely
I find myself back to life
back to my somewhat former self

at the window I peer past the shade
— there appears the moon
nothing like I remembered
deaf & dumb & barely visible
painted the dullest gray

talk now I say
tell me about this immortality
you had promised
made possible you said
by the hangman’s noose
the very one inside this room
at the foot of the bed





march two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
20 Mar 2023

I shall never forget


faded memories reappear
a wallpaper kind of past
filled with delicate intricacies
and screaming images

she emerges to the forefront
in unexpected ways
first as a lasting impression
in an otherwise forgetful dream
— next as a hologram
projected from the ceiling
miming I will always love you
before dissolving into nothingness

these are the beginnings
of a day filled with fits & starts
a reminder that I shall never forget
even after my final breath





march two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
19 Mar 2023

in the middle of negotiations


deal me in
it’s simply a matter
of time
before starting
to win again

nearly overnight
all the colorful ties
turned into a quilt

as far as my
recollection is concerned
none of them are mine
I’ve not received
a single dime

out of nowhere
suddenly
rapidly
donations arrive
it’s as if people
stopped caring so much
about themselves





march two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
18 Mar 2023

the ride of your life


the rhythm of the day varies
as does the week
month & year
there is no status quo
only forward motion
often directionless
— the trick is finding
the one ride
guaranteed
to blow your mind





march two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
17 Mar 2023

brown paper bags


having too much knowledge
sometimes you need to
stuff some in a sack

in a sack stuffed inside
a cupboard
a pantry
a closet or a freezer

downtown the panhandlers
say mister mister
can you spare a sack
while the pickpockets
simply take what they may

in hemingway’s novella
the old man took a lifetime of sacks
out to sea
but that didn’t end up well
— or did it

is knowledge ever expanding
like the universe
or is it finite like an odorless gas
contained inside a sack





march two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
16 Mar 2023

out into outer space


I don’t know much about global modernism
it seems to me like most of us are subsisting
day by day in many different worlds
anywhere on the planet you’ll find societies
living before & during & after biblical times
some hidden deep inside rain forests
others digging for safety below the surface
or propelling themselves out into outer space





march two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
15 Mar 2023
2 Comments

as birds lay dreaming


it’s three in the morning
having awakened after maybe
three hours rest

walking slowly down the steps
the blue moon filters
into the house from various angles

I command the corner lamp
to power on to level one
wondering what my dear mother would do

I imagine she went for the cabinet
squatting like a catcher
calling her next pitch

the shelf above the refrigerator
is where the spirits live
I blame them for awakening me

settling in on the bay window chair
I reminisce of the thousands of dreams
of flying & talking & singing like a bird

having faced countless perils
perhaps I’d not survived an horrific dive
or was shot out of the clear blue sky

how many times can you possibly die
in a bed of make-believe roses
how many species of birds can you be





march two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Animals, Birds, Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , ,
14 Mar 2023

Plan B


There is a lull
giving me time to think
what to do with
the furniture
the cars
& the children

If we were to flee
that would either
question our innocence
or solidify our guilt
—it’s what they call
a win win situation

It seems the bail
made just the other day
isn’t worth an order
of McDonald’s fries

Inside the rule of law
tick
tick
ticks away
whereas on the outside
it’s a jungle
poachers with spotlights
picking & choosing
leisurely to their liking

In case of emergency
wield the hammer
against the glass
pick up the answer
in the form of a map
unfolding itself
time after time [after time]





march two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
13 Mar 2023

the ambiguous participant


I’ve been uninspired of late
or so the study people tell me

I keep giving these telephone interviews
a human voice on the other end

I call them by their first names
the ones that they give me [anyway]
but after hanging up I wonder
if it was actually artificial intelligence
I was talking to

maybe I give them too much information
or maybe my answers are hogwash
figments of my own
intelligent imagination
ones that keeps digressing
[or so they tell me]
into potential self-destruction





march two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment

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