jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the category “In the City”

09 Oct 2023
4 Comments

it’s hard to close your eyes at night


nobody is safe yet miraculously
so many live in a constant
state of peace

whether or not the same stands true
interiorly speaking
is another matter altogether

what a world they must live in
insulated from the physically reality
of inner city warfare

the moving pictures
of airstrikes & drone attacks
can’t do justice
especially where justice
cannot be served





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

Posted in In the City, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , ,
30 Sep 2023

coming together


it was a friday night
and there was dancing in the streets
four whole city blocks
cordoned off by the police
a live band playing on each one
half the city joining hands
and dancing the night away
showing the world
just how easy it really is





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

Posted in In the City, Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
15 Sep 2023

turning ideas into reality


they threw me in the van
& away we went
next thing I knew we were
partying in mad city

everytime the story’s told
it changes ever so slightly
[usually for the better]
how we all went
underground
like teenagers on a mission
creating a strange
new world
out of absolutely nothing





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

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
10 Sep 2023

dry spell


dormant grass
shades of failing green
& dirty brown

river splitting the city
sluggish & low
rocky bottom exposed

clouds in the sky
like carnival animals
refuse to precipitate

manufactured rain
sprinkler casting prisms
children dash & leap





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

Posted in In the City, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
06 Sep 2023
6 Comments

five in the morning


our politicians have failed us
that’s what’s in my head
as I go jogging one early morning
in a city I’ve never been
[until the night before]

I couldn’t sleep
maybe it was the jet lag
maybe it was all the worries
inside my mind

it shouldn’t be like this I say
as I race along the river lee
a heavy mist blanketing
the surroundings
a heavy heart inside my body
beating 128 times per minute

I tell myself today will be different
I will find a way not to count
all the chickens before they’re hatched

everything seems to be a circle
I’m telling myself
as I walk briskly on the path
the rear of the hotel coming into view
fishermen along the river
undoubtedly living in the moment





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

Posted in Fishing, In the City, Poetry and tagged , , ,
25 Aug 2023

another friday night


splintered & in many parts
broken
this place will never be the same
jokers pretending to be leaders
unconcerned
w/wants & needs
other than their own

market after dark
is alive & well on a friday night
city blocks partitioned off
swarms of ethnicities
circulating
innocently commingling
the far majority like innocent lambs
though a number carrying

it doesn’t have to be like this
social gatherings becoming
bloodbaths
microphones in the city square
politicians
displaying their wares
stoking fear & discontent





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

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
24 Aug 2023

Post dystopia


My people call your people
next thing I know
I’m back on the streets
parading down the boulevard
w/a big dog named Bella
I borrowed from a stranger

The sun shines brightly
positioned at twelve o’clock
strangers casting words my way
shouting out random thoughts
some asking where you going baby?
everywhere I say
everywhere

The streets have never been safer
ever since a miracle wave
swept away all the terrible people
some saying it was the work
of badass angels
either that or a band
of alien collectives





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

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
23 Aug 2023
9 Comments

making love in the afternoon


sirens going off
like background music
fire or police or ambulance
who the hell knows

we’re upstairs making love
in the middle of the afternoon

afterwards she says
maybe somebody was dying
and I say shit baby
everybody is dying

to me it it sounded like
a wounded dragon
crying in agony until finally
fading into nothingness

you’re crazy she says
as the sunshine leaked through
the slatted blinds
it didn’t sound nothing
like that at all





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

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , ,
16 Aug 2023

like a ghost


unplugged & roaming
without a care in the world
the palm of their hands
their very own road map
leading them from point A
to point B

mainly invisible
except by a select few
who somehow identify
w/their predicament
stuck here on this planet
w/o a skeleton key





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

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
16 Jul 2023
2 Comments

the monster is dead


I saw it on the news
a rare glimpse of streaming media
first in my peripheral
and then in full view

I didn’t want to see it
it was a mistake
—now something I’m unable to take back

I’m not sure what I’m doing
living amongst
all these killer monsters
some successfully hunted down & dead
but the far majority eerily humanlike
& free to roam the planet





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

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , ,
14 Jul 2023
2 Comments

jealousy


it was only a kiss
[oh what a kiss will lead to]
something I wish
I’d never saw
something stuck in a dream

I only dream
I only dream
the same dream now
and I’m sure it must be killing me

the kiss & the dress
the drag of the cigarette

as the song goes on
so does the kiss
—slipping off her dress





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


Note: Based on the song “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers

Posted in Dreams, In the City, Poetry and tagged , , ,
11 Jul 2023

mistaken identities


do the birds in cuba
know they’re cuban
do they chirp in spanish
& dance the cha cha cha

what of the doppelgängers
hanging out
in the streets of old havana
do they understand
the language
can they chirp & dance
like their feathered friends





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

Posted in Birds, In the City, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
04 Jul 2023
2 Comments

dead on independence day


independence day
guns ablaze in the streets
alternative forces

busily at work
like wasps in a bonnet
devising a plan

to take over the hive
a coup d’etat
in fort worth’s backyard

and philly & chitown
houston & phoenix & memphis
chattanooga tennessee

plans coexisting
throughout all of the fifty
taking out any soul

regardless of their background
their individual
identities

allegedly not focused on reality
but their own immortality
right here on earth

or wherever they’re destined next





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

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , ,
24 Jun 2023

saturday evening post


it’s evening
and everything is still
as if the earth has stopped spinning

the clouds in the sky don’t move
the water falling
down the rocks
makes not a sound
or if it does
is drowned out
by noisy high flyers

some of them are drones
others real wildlife
the former surveilling and well-
equipped
with all kinds of weaponry
the latter
doing their part
by participating in the
natural selection of order

in the suburbs
ordinary people are cleaning their guns
while in the inner city
a not-so-silent war [of sorts]
rages on





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

Posted in In the City, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
22 Jun 2023
2 Comments

Dead broke & willing to learn


When I awoke
I was back in Dublin
for the second time in nine days

The first time I never got much of a look
other than the canal
and the suspension bridge
resembling a harp

I had planned on meeting Joyce
at the Gravity Bar
instead was swept away by all the tourists
and before I knew it
found myself blocks away
from The Liberties

Having bounced from here to there
I somehow landed in a pub
slash eatery
down the street
from the Google building
where an up & coming young gent
(with a Mediterranean accent & penchant
for rhyme & meter)
bought me a cool chocolately stout from Galway

In turn I handed him one of my chapbooks
which he quickly flipped
from one page to the next
before stopping cold on his own volition





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

Posted in Dreams, In the City, Poetry and tagged , , ,
30 May 2023

the anarchist’s daughter


I’ve lost my place in line
after grapefruit went out of season
walking back to the car
I hear people asking
sir are you alright

nobody’s around
but back in the back alley
boys & young men
cast lots for rocks
march off to their next ruling
& brutal execution

[how I know such things
is nobody’s business]

it’s almost always about who
not when or where
or even how
torture is torture
whether concealed by a shroud
or orchestrated in broad daylight





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

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment

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