jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the category “History”

supersonic evolution


when you tear
at the flesh
do both ears ring
in a canine kind of
frequency

after the feast
your heart rate slows
breathing shallowly
giving way to other senses

this earth talks
probably way too much
probably because
so few listen

the river did not always
meet the road
—natural bridges
evolving over time





december two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

chasing the ideal can be destructive


jesse james was a virgo
a creative in his own right
inputting & processing
like nobody’s business
until shot from behind

they say at the end
he had a black cat named
mercury
(it’s a virgo thing)
but that little nugget
never made it
to the mainstream media





november two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

but what do the prophets say


this united we stand business
has long gone by the wayside
factions splitting & dividing
by way of simple arithmetic or
asexual science [depending
how you see things]

hypochondriacs are either
mentally and/or physically unwell
incapable of fending themselves
against any creature great or small

extremists resorting to threats
on any given day
more than willing to follow through with them

capitalists & politicians & criminals
work in concert in the background
spawning one conspiracy theory
after the next
worshiping fanatics & lunatics
shoving them into the limelight

all this
as the artists expressively create
interpreting what they care to see
while the historians
sit & wait
for the next piece to fall





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

meteor shower


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

repeating history


the problem with the world today
we’re living in the past
like a smoker who can’t kick the habit
we’re unable to quit killing
whether sanctioned by allegedly legitimate
power brokers
or straight up civilian violence

when I was a kid we played
cowboys & indians
cops & robbers
doctor & nurse
role playing because we were left
to our devices
and our parents bought us weaponry
and any kind of idol we would ask for

on sundays we were reminded how evil
we truly were
and twice or maybe three times a year
we were forgiven all our sins

come monday however
we were right back at it
perpetuating the only thing that made sense





july two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

[in these united states]


I don’t feel it today
far from patriotic as I’ve
ever been
driven away by an extremism
I’d no idea existed
in such deep-rootedness

[but of course in retrospect
how could I have not known]

democratic seems to be
more & more like a word anymore
one I came across
when I was naive
& eager to learn
one that I took for granted
like freedom & liberty
whatever the hell those two mean

the killings & the kidnappings
drug dealings & human trafficking
they don’t take a day off
not on sundays when so many
enjoy the democratic sun or rain
and especially not on the
fourth of july

in these united states





july two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

a ledger of lies


the world has always been a lie
and if you don’t know that as a fact
you’re living an imaginary life

if you follow the money you’ll find the lies
whether in ukraine or tehran
cairo or athens or amsterdam
the korean peninsula or washington dc

gold is still the real deal
but printed money is another lie
fake proceeds pumped into the stock market
simply because it gets high on bloatedness
and loves to implode

the lies are in the grocery stores
in parking lots
pizza places & ballparks
car dealerships & gas stations

the lies are in the air like electricity
almost always for sale
sometimes on the open market
other times in the dark web





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

come on & kick me


it’s none of my business
about your hash pipe
I wasn’t the one to bring it up
in the first place

back in the day
we’d buy paraphernalia
when shopping for vinyls
mainly at the brady street shop
a block away from central high

[I seem to keep missing all the re-
unions even though I still live here]

next time you’re inside
two hundred miles
shoot me a telepathic note
& I’ll respond pronto
with yet another clue





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

give me your tired


appearances
how deceiving they may be
like the statue of liberty
standing in the harbor
holding back tears
all these turbulent years
shouldering injustices
handed down
from generation
to generation
ad nauseum

standing at the crossroads
where does she go
from here





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

Chief Nuclear Commander


Forging a new path is rarely easy
as any historian knows
societies flipping on their sides
defying the odds
by way of switching associations

Paying a price is never an option
no matter which side loses
ask any responsible citizen
pledging allegiance
to the latest & the greatest





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

carbon copying blackbirds


burning down the forest
doesn’t seem like the right thing to do
whether in times of peace or war

it’s not like you can make carbon copies
of hundreds of thousands of trees
replacing them within a generation or two
after having the enemy succumbed to flames

it’s not like you can stitch & sew time
making it nineteen ninety-nine all over again
before the world became more complicated
than la niña or an impossible crossword

ever since the first shots were fired
blackbirds continue to gather at the border
in numbers innumerable
patiently waiting for all hell to break loose





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

Fait accompli


You run into it so many times a day
random thoughts inherited from the dead
uninterested in certain ponderings
the v-shaped flight of geese
rarely symmetrical
those big badass birds
capable of inflicting harm on
unsuspecting gods

Some stories are meant to change
needing a fresh voice
or begging for embellishment
but those incapable of change
man-made conventions
designed to pass the test of time
containing many great truths
& irreversible lies





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

nobody could go my bail


I’ve been lost before
so this time I’m taking it
all in stride
having recently arrived
in montgomery

this is not the first time
I’ve been down south
and once when I was there
I thought I’d never
make it back alive

history is not on our side
old friend
it seems this time
it’s damn near impossible
for anyone to save us





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

Repossessing the Kingdom of Edom


We invited the prophet for supper
because we were not afraid


The Father told us about Obadiah
about his warnings of destruction
as a consequence of action

Having become students of the living
and of the dead (and especially of those
capable or rising again) naturally we
were anxious in making a connection

Although we possessed many questions
the most obvious rallied around
his postmodern interpretation
to the Day of the Lord





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

living in this necessary evil


there is this reality
that we don’t know about
other than through dreams
and from there
we are left in the dark

inside the matrix
is another form of reality
one we rarely get a glimpse of
maybe by way of a dream
inside of a nightmare

it’s like that window
or that mirror
replicating itself ad infinitum
possessing you without question
taking to all the places
you’ve known throughout
the course of human history

in the meantime
(and for some unknown reason)
this present day reality
remains a necessary evil





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

Fast forward to Bethany


I won’t be able to return
not without a password reset
the chances of success
appearing to dwindle by the day

The cranes brought forth the wind
by way of their transitory wings
with it the seeds of the wildflower
and the stench of the skunk

The enemy of humanity
persists well beyond Lazarus
giving new names to old towns
and rewriting the course of events





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

Post Navigation

%d bloggers like this: