jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the category “Animals”

25 May 2025
31 Comments

Into the Earth


This poem was my first blog post on December 7, 2011.
It is now the last one on this site.
A very special thanks to everyone who visited my poetry over the years.


In my mind I draw a square
in the very center of the garden

From there I dig into the earth
using the seasoned spade
usually reserved for plantings

The hole slowly turns into a cube
as three mounds resemble
Egyptian resting places

Further down the soil
becomes hard and cold
the clay malleable enough
to mold eternal companions

Satisfied the opening
is mathematically sound
I hold the spade at my side
sweat falling off my forehead
silently instructing the child
to bring forth her loved one
to the newly built altar




november two thousand eleven
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Animals, Nature, Poetry and tagged , ,
30 Apr 2025
6 Comments

radioactive


creeping through the soil
like an earthworm
it has no destination

watch your step
you don’t know where
those rocks have been

alchemists assay
ancient elements
in search of black magic

wolves of chernobyl
teach resistance
to their little ones

walking hospital hallways
cancer patients
pray for miracles


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

Posted in Animals, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , ,
29 Apr 2025
1 Comment

The Penguin


And so I showed up
to the halloween party
just before midnight
wearing nothing but
a black tuxedo


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

Posted in Animals, Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , ,
14 Mar 2025

dead cat bounce


why he was on the precipice
to begin with
was anyone’s best guess
but given the current state of affairs
chances are nobody
would likely blame him
—but the outcome
now that’s another story
but most of vegas kept finding itself
playing the pass line
believing lady luck
was about to be resurrected






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

Posted in Animals, Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
12 Jan 2025
4 Comments

dark horse


it comes out of nowhere
out of the shadows
from the depths of despair
and into the light
mysterious & majestic
formed from a grain of sand
before becoming larger than life
in less than sixty seconds
leaving an indelible mark
on anyone’s memory
who was fortunate enough
to have witnessed
such an occurrence


january two thousand twenty-five
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Animals, Poetry and tagged , , ,
28 Oct 2024

living rent free in the sunroom


there’s a spider
living in the sunroom

there’s plenty of food
underneath the couch

sometimes

I see it racing to & from
as if it’s either
scared of me
or its own shadow

I don’t see any other
insects
in the house

so it must be doing its job
and as long
as it doesn’t bother me
especially in my sleep

then I’m okay
with it living here rent free

but one false move
I swear
that little dude

is out of here


october two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Animals, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
08 Oct 2024
2 Comments

The Moleman


I got skunks tearing up my backyard
looking for grubs or worms or whatnot

I thought they were moles
but the moleman said you ain’t got moles
you got skunks or maybe coons

Geez skunks no kidding I said
or racoons
damn go figure

The moleman said I’d love to take
your money but you ain’t got moles
adding whatever they are
they’ll probably go away over time
give it a couple weeks and see
what happens

Skunks I said damn go figure

I shook the moleman’s hand
and he drove away
in his beat-up pickup truck

I went back inside the house
and poured me a beer


october two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Animals, Poetry and tagged , , ,
30 Sep 2024

cemetery in the city


there was a lot of digging
through the night

cell phones as flashlights
grunts & snorts
& out-of-breath breathing

—somewhere the dead lay
in fact
they are everywhere

somewhere an extension ladder
was propped against
an oak tree
one where wild animals
awaken from their dreams
by the sounds of predators
a few random ghosts roaming about
studying the markers

fear doesn’t dwell anywhere near
—not of the dark
or full moons
or the mysteries within the trees

by the time dawn arrives
it’s as if nothing had ever happened
except for an occasional cry
or gusts of wind
rustling leaves

come mid-morning a procession
of headlights
roll in as planned
commandeered by the living
praising the dead


september two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Animals, In the City, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
14 Sep 2024
1 Comment

coming to a town near you


the cats and the dogs
were actively taking over
town after town
just like conspiracy theorists
had predicted

it was too incredulous
for even the
fake news
to cover
but boots on the ground
quickly found
no law or no order
in the towns that had fallen

meanwhile back on the trail
politicians took aim
at the issue
some saying there’s nary a problem
others adding fuel to the fire
with their fiery rhetoric

truth is only one person
can stop the madness
that being the one
who stirred the pets into action
in the first place


september two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Animals, In the City, Poetry and tagged , , ,
16 Jun 2024
3 Comments

total migration


the programmers say it’s a glitch
how the grizzly bears appear
to be walking like egyptians

it was supposed to be a child’s game
but turned into a free-for-all
online competition at an all-time high

some say it’s exactly
what the world needed as unhinged
leaders wage war like never before

the end of the story is never near
though at times the collective psyche
sees the crowd-size fading


june two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Animals, Poetry and tagged , ,
04 Jun 2024
2 Comments

maybe tomorrow


the wetlands are right around the corner
but we’re not going there

instead we’re heading north by northwest
to the grand opening of a discotheque slash karaoke bar

it’s true there are pink flamingos
at the wetlands
this time of year
doing their very own version of the break dance
the winds & crickets
cicadas & amphibians
all contributing to the rhythm of the vibe
the neon lights courtesy of their own imagination


june two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Animals, Birds, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , ,
21 May 2024

one with the wind


I wonder what they’re saying
chatty birds in nearby trees
clearly heard amid the calm
before the storm

might they be saying
get underground all you fools
or better yet be prepared
to ride with the wind


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

Posted in Animals, Birds, Micropoetry, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
19 May 2024

goosebumps


they gave the boy permission
and so he did what he did
no questions asked

no consequences for his actions
it’s a wonder he made it
all the way to adulthood

he wasn’t a natural born killer
simply trained in such ways
moving on from animals

to ordinary people
picking & choosing as if
he were some sort of god

as if he didn’t know any better
neither wrong from right
or the photographs that he kept





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

Posted in Animals, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
16 May 2024

lost inside the world wide web


she said if I would stop working
on trying to solve the mystery
of the universe
maybe we’d be living
by the sea by now

I pretended not to hear
magnifying glass in hand
following the spider
making its way across the rug

and you should take that thing down
she went on to say
pointing at the corner ceiling
at the microcosm
of the world wide web


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

Posted in Animals, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
05 May 2024
1 Comment

this is not a drill


an early evening
aircraft flying overhead
one after the other
—even the cat taking notice
letting out
a long sigh of relief
safe behind the sectional


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

Posted in Animals, Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , ,
02 May 2024
4 Comments

Private eyes


I cut back the rose bushes
branches & stems & canes
right down to the green

It is early April & cold
a slight wind bemoaning change
—& just like in a recurring dream
a set of eyes (or maybe two)
watching
my every move

I should be wearing gloves
but I never do
my hands with an occasional puncture
blood beading & oozing here & there—
their eyes focused on the color scarlet
I imagine they are imagining
what it would taste like
to lick my wounds

I try to guess what animal
the eyes belong to
but they are shadowless
& possess no language

how I know they are there
remains a mystery to me
but a movement of light in my peripheral
has me looking inward


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

Posted in Animals, Dreams, Poetry and tagged , ,

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