he’s not eaten in a while
you can easily tell
legs & arms moving
[as if] involuntarily
shoving into his face
anything he can get
his paws on
hominid or animal
it’s too early to tell
definitely not from
anyone’s locality
having crashed into
the wild wild rainforest
once upon a time
august two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
can you imagine
her breaking in on the scene
attempting to decipher
what exactly the aliens
are doing on this planet
the fossil record
has long been replaced
ever since creedence clearwater
came onto the scene
assassinations will eventually
replace any & all
mass shootings
targeting those actually
or pretending to be
part of the problem
digression is a son of a bitch
but what’s left to do
other than looking back
analyzing why we hadn’t
put away such evil empires
in the first place
august two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
you should be able to see me
clearly now
since becoming an alien in waiting
the tricks I’ve learned
in such a short period of time(lessness)
now preying upon your mind
as you attempt to decide
if you’re going insane
or becoming
someone exactly like me
living further from the truth
than ever before
reworking my appearance
using proverbial smoke & mirrors
and casting rolling stones
into bluesy waters
where I believe
you must be prospering again
july two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
Once the weather radio started freaking out
all things went to hell in a handbasket
There’s one thing I know about the climate
it’s always in a constant state of flux
After the storms passed we counted
the damages on ledger paper
one for physical
two for mental
and three for extraterrestrial
The mess is becoming a bigger mess
mother nature at war with herself
randomly precise & indiscriminate
hitting targets from any & all directions
whether in the air
or on land
or at sea
may two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
they keep changing the rules
from ten thousand steps
to seven
eight hours of sleep
perhaps not the magic number
when I turned thirteen
I had a five speed road bike
& a brand new baseball glove
autographed by Willie Davis
[back then]
every now & again
I’d calculate how old I’d be
come the year two thousand
I’m not going to lie
things never got much better since
too many cars & not enough
bike lanes
where I live
I keep telling myself
things will get better
that my sports teams will once again
rise to the top
& all the evil empires of the world
will magically evaporate
may two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
stay away from him
is all they said
as if to say he is
not well
a vague warning
from a small town
without a purpose
other than to cast
shadows
where there are none
she came from the city
and found him
awkward & intriguing
though at times behind
the boathouse
never felt more alive
there are no
chronological orders
to follow in this
sordid affair
her presence somehow
disturbing time
their disappearance
to this day
unexplained
april two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
I thought I’d seen it all
now how ridiculous is that to say
this day & age
the thing is what you’ve seen
thus far is the tip of the melting iceberg
when it comes to expressions
we seem to take
the easy way out
like taking up arms for real estate
or bullying out of sheer boredom
truth is the fat lady will never
stop singing
and the pot is sure to boil
but what’s up in the air
seems to never want to come down
like an alien in waiting
march two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
the future arrived
a few short days ago
leaving scores scurrying
for new answers
at the pentacrest
arsonists & anarchists
met in the open air
bonfire attracting
the moths & the hungry
visitors circled above
in their hovercrafts
reminding anyone looking up
who was in charge
throughout the lands
cities burned & people fled
the guardians declaring
there was no place
to realistically hide
locals were reminded
by the visitors that the
best place to go
was that place called home
but the anarchists & the
arsonists had other ideas
opposite of the guardians’
february two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
it fell from the sky & settled at the foot
of a ten foot bronze soldier on horseback
the town square first became deafened
by the sound of a supersonic missile
followed by the ground shaking with the force
of a thousand stampeding elephants
whatever it was crashed but did not burn
the alien craft quickly became disassembled
and whisked away by a team of outsiders
fully decked out in orange hazmat suits
speaking in a language foreign to any local
brave enough to witness the near distant future
january two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
it wasn’t skin tight
like it was supposed to be
not sure anymore who it is
that’s been dressing me
I came in on the whiskey-whiskey
a nighttime landing in the bay
not too far off the coast
near the needle in the sky
it’s not like I haven’t been here before
though it seemed like the first time
we lost our captain
halfway through the journey
and kept telling ourselves
she wouldn’t be the first nor the last
it’s a wonder how we walked on water
all the way to pocket beach
leaderless but determined
to make a life there
october two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
the grass was covered in ash
a delicate dirty white
easily blown by the wind
waving through the neighborhood
like a thin blanket slightly floating
dogs without leashes herded
themselves through the narrow street
as if instructed to follow some leader
the sirens never went off
and any kind of free or paid service
simultaneously became inoperable
whatever it was that fell from the sky
shaking the earth for maybe sixty seconds
arrived with an incomparable sound
leaving silence in its wake
or had we all become deaf
september two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
of course I’ve done this before
adjusting the past like some light
that only wants to flicker
the more you adjust the rearview
the less the picture fails to change
sunsets sounding like analog sirens
serious misdemeanors like grave sins
I’ve been seeing red again
random spots in a field of cotton
perhaps cast by a surveillance drone
sent to uncover the mystery of
crop circles & all things unexplained
september two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
there was this piece of land
where all the plastic aliens lived
exiled for no apparent crime
other than the color of their skin
they wore red & white or purple & black
or various shades of pink & brown
standing anywhere from three feet short
to ten feet tall
all of them speaking different dialects
of the same language
every single one of them misunderstood
beneath the surface
below all the various shades of plastic colors
there were no vital organs
no hearts to love
no lungs to breathe
no eyes to lock onto
no lips to kiss
without ever procreating
their numbers increased every time
the tide came in
the mortality rate on their piece of land
an absolute zero
september two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
it’s not explainable
be it fish or fowl
or alien invasion
so many miles
from the shoreline
out on the lake
I saw it unfolding
in slow motion
like a weather event
swiftly moving in
how none of the
witnesses rememberedOUT
a thing is baffling
leaving me on the inside
refusing to look out
from what I hear
I’ve made the short list
but now I’m absent
far removed from the sea
& probably landlocked
september two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
I thought it was a dream
how I woke one morning & hiked
through the thirteen acre wood
the smell of some sort of metal
a slight but persistent taste on my tongue
guiding me closer to the crash site
an alien craft took out a ticket of hackberry trees
a quarter of the stern stuck
inside the earth
the bow pointing skyward at a
forty-five degree angle
its silver coating sparkling from
the nine o’clock sun
I took photo after photo on my iphone
attempting but unable to find
a window or door or escape hatch
leading me to believe
there is only one way to get in or out
august two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
they did not come from royalty
these aliens
from the darkside
& though they thought
what shores they landed upon
they were dead wrong
they fled for reasons
other than their imaginary fears
bringing with them
advanced technologies
certain to change
the existing landscape
in the beginning
they struggled to survive
but more & more arrived
until their numbers
outnumbered all the natives
& immigrants combined
may two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
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