jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the category “Dreams”

28 May 2023

our turn


where did the magic go

there must be mystics or chameleons
passing time underground

at times diligently at work
plucking ideas from upside down trees

leaves without color
toadstools without souls
garlic & turnips & parsnip

reinvention is impossible without
extended periods of unconsciousness
like alaskan brown bears do

awake
awake
it’s time for the good news
tell us the magic has returned
and is here to stay

tell us it is finally our turn





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

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
22 May 2023
2 Comments

adrift inside the ether


A world of light
of dreams & strange intimacy
where music floats
and voices eventually follow
where pain & sorrow fade into the past
and joy is ever new





may two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserve

Posted in Dreams, Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , ,
14 May 2023

the future is in color


a tightness of the chest
should be an alarm
unable to be turned off
no matter what you do

how do you ignore the pain
does it visit you in your dreams
taking the lead in reverse
memories crystal clear
—but in black & white





may two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserve

Posted in Dreams, Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
02 May 2023

coming & going as they please


something touched my shoulder
perhaps I had been dozing off
in & out of a dream

my eyes flickered
but it was too dark to see
instead heard metallic wind chimes
as if they had just been rewound

whoever was responsible
[for the touching and/or rewinding]
did not show themselves
in fact I started to believe they had minimized themselves
having fled into the woods behind the garden

it was cold out but plenty bright
and when I opened the blinds
the light was blinding
and for a brief moment I thought I saw them

I should have known not to open the blinds
at least not without an approving birdcall
something that had been missing
since before my self-induced slumber

I’m stuck
where I’ve been stuck
for what seems like a fortnight now
this rectangular room seemingly self-sustaining
three sides made of glass
the other w/a singular door

slightly ajar
floral & fauna
completely silent
looking in from the outside





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

Posted in Animals, Birds, Dreams, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
30 Apr 2023
3 Comments

my first near death experience


I may have been nineteen
maybe twenty
when I nearly died
in my sleep
in my bed
sometime past midnight

below my bunk bed
an old chair smoldered
from a cigarette ash
slowly filling the room
with smoke

who awoke me
I’ll never know
but I was commanded
to wake up
as if from a dream
wake up you fool
lest you should die

when I escaped
the death chamber
the other residents
of the boarding house
quickly came back to life as well
hauling the chair away
meant for my demise





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

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , , ,
13 Apr 2023
2 Comments

a sheltered life


my grandfather aka pop
snuck into my dream
alive on his deathbed
in kewanee illinois

I’d not seen him
for fifty-four years

he looked remarkably well
except for his teeth
which were wooden
& painted white

two siblings followed me
sneaking through a back door
at the hospital
climbing staircases the public
didn’t know existed
racing through hallways
like cartoon characters

finally finding him
he was wide awake
looking as healthy as an ox

seeing him reminded me
of the pile of leaves
I’d fall into from the sturdy bough
the straw hat he gifted me
pepper the parakeet
heat-seeking his shoulder

though he was dead
after all these years
he was evidently happy
I’d brought him back to life
at least temporarily





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

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , ,
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
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
15 Mar 2023
4 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 , , ,
16 Feb 2023

a hired hand


stop looking out the window
what did you expect
it’s still february

the pizza joints were heating up
but you had better ideas

I noticed I aged another year
in about a week
there was nothing that could have
been done about it
having broken
the handheld mirror

you said you could fix me
in one hundred days

naturally I called your bluff

halfway through I was reported
to have been spotted
downtown
uptown
in the mall
at the library
skating on thin ice
reciting poetry at parlor city

all the while you kept flipping cards
a cigarette burning
in the ashtray
the seat across the table
freshly painted blue
& vacant





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

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
14 Feb 2023

building a world by memory


I have crossed the threshold
of the shadow
no longer afraid
of being alone
a stranger is my own house
waking me
by way of a touch
every morning at three fifteen

the walls & ceiling are dark
as I lay there
blinking my eyes quickly
my once uninterrupted dream
continuing in various shades
of black & white
until finally dissolving
by way of a volitional light

outside of the dream
all doors & windows are locked
from the inside
I wander from room to room
occasionally settling
at the bay window facing south
watching the river running
faster than usual





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

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
09 Feb 2023
2 Comments

reconciling improbabilities


there was an explosion
a single sonic boom
and then there was fire

a thousand years
is nothing
a thousand ten-fold
or one hundred times
a thousand times
it’s all the same

it’s impossible to go back
to the beginning
or is that a fallacy
an old wives’ tale

the elixirs & the medicine
celebrations of birth
coinciding with the bad
and the ugly
what could be much worse

the iterations
propelled by the sun
capable of producing
improbable uncertainties

like in the case of jacob’s dream
a ladder lowering itself
—the heavens high above





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

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , ,
04 Feb 2023

chasing down a dream


there is a disconnect
between sublime living
and the reality of the day
so much so
even the planes
and helicopters overhead
produce background music

execution style killings
by thugs & gangs
are just as commonplace
as walks in the park
mother & daughter & child
enjoying the sunshine
unsuspectedly

in the marketplace
a man sells as is avocados
turning pennies into dollars
cross-training his
only surviving child
working & maintaining
chasing down their dream





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

Posted in Dreams, In the City, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
01 Feb 2023
2 Comments

even memories can trick the brain


listen do you remember
the way it filled the room
an aroma you wished
would one day return

in court I’m appearing
as star witness most days
honestly saying I’m a master
at misremembering

go ahead and ask your
silly questions
it’s true I once was in love

judge unequivocally asks
is that your final answer
ordering the stenographer
to repeat the soup du jour

in the end it becomes subject
to alien interpretations
the smoke from the gun in the room
the cigar of the inspector





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

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , ,
26 Jan 2023
2 Comments

the tree children


moon swaying over tidal waves
a dream inside a dream
trees planted in the sand
stretching for the clouds
children of the forest climbing
until they’re no longer seen

man-made machines pounding
on the ocean floor
shaking loose the tree children
sending them falling & tumbling
plunging into the ocean
evolving into something new





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

Posted in Dreams, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , ,
18 Jan 2023

like wild horses


empty pistachio shell
I collect them inside
a glass bowl
its uniqueness
commingling with all the others
like a beautiful horse
inside a stampede

ocean waves inside a shell
how easier could it possibly be
taking in an out-of-body
experience
—come
take a listen
we can drown together

with a little imagination
the shell is but a ship
powered by wayward souls
once racing frightfully
now advancing with purpose
& direction
in perpetuity





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

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

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