jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the category “Aliens”

31 May 2022

The Art of War


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

Posted in Aliens, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
19 May 2022

thoughts between alien invasions


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

Posted in Aliens, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
26 Apr 2022
4 Comments

her dark secret


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

Posted in Aliens, Poetry and tagged , ,
10 Mar 2022

the lull after the storm


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

Posted in Aliens, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
03 Feb 2022

three-fold invasion


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

Posted in Aliens, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , | Leave a comment
11 Jan 2022

emergency landing


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

Posted in Aliens, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
27 Oct 2021

the alpha & the omega


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

Posted in Aliens, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
30 Sep 2021

lights out in the heartland


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

Posted in Aliens, In the City, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
27 Sep 2021

looking out the third floor window


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

Posted in Aliens, Poetry and tagged , | Leave a comment
16 Sep 2021
2 Comments

in the land of plastic immortals


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

Posted in Aliens, Poetry and tagged , ,
06 Sep 2021

outside afghanistan


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

Posted in Aliens, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , | Leave a comment
02 Aug 2021

alien craft in the woods


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

Posted in Aliens, Poetry and tagged , | Leave a comment
25 May 2021

they did not come from royalty


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

Posted in Aliens, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
14 May 2021
2 Comments

the resident alien next door


it’s been twenty-three years now
imagining the mice
stirring out back
once the fireball is nearly extinguished

everything changes once the cat
is let out of the bag
the great horned owl looking on
stealthily
contemplating who may stay
& who must go

it’s scarier in late october
than early may
but only by a fraction

there are many things buried
in & around this place
some of them stone cold dead
& others still quite alive




may two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Aliens, Poetry and tagged , ,
01 Apr 2021
5 Comments

alien volunteer


I was collecting rocks
outside the outer perimeter
humming along ‘californication’
and randomly selecting
which ones go in the satchel
and which ones get booted

I was on a solitary mission
assigned by a power
I imagined existed
and when I returned to base
with only the best samples
I was rewarded handsomely




april two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Aliens, Poetry and tagged , , ,
04 Mar 2021

long after the crime


there’s much happening in the background
but it’s always been that way
this time though it’s closer to home
and with it comes a fear factor

the neighborhood’s not been the same
well before things were shut down
clamped down
locked down
new voices in a new language
broadcasting over the airwaves

it’s not difficult to learn something new
as long as there is proper motivation
like not wanting to die anytime soon




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

Posted in Aliens, Poetry and tagged , | Leave a comment

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