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poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the category “Nature”

04 May 2024

Aftermath


Heaven is comfort, but it’s still not living.
― Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones

I was working on a lullaby
right around midnight
searching for words that rhyme with
worms & undercover

They say the funnel cloud
sounds like a fast approaching locomotive
but it’s nothing more than a mere dream
when a child is fast asleep

If you ever tore anything to pieces
with your own bare hands
you might have an appreciation for
the reality of true brute force


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

Posted in Dreams, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
23 Apr 2024
2 Comments

its own evolution


there is information
in the grapevine
palpitations in the bleeding hearts
tiny mirrors in the garden
playing tricks with the sun
attracting wings of all sizes
protecting the evolution
of a fragile ground game


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

Posted in Micropoetry, Nature, Poetry and tagged , ,
22 Apr 2024
3 Comments

reborn into the confluence


one day I won’t be a burden
spoken about on rare occasions
about hummingbird feeders
the old convertible in the garage

some stories will be harsh
others fatally funny
near death experiences retold
—the runaway character
the recluse looking down upon the sea

I never expressed final wishes
but once imagined being a tree
planted along the cedar
just as she succumbs to the iowa


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

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , ,
14 Apr 2024
2 Comments

bringing back the sun


night is falling
suspended light dancing
in the sultry air

atop the tall white oaks
blackbirds gather noisily
chattering like subdued maniacs
devising something spectacular
in their mind

there is no disk that is the sun
having been stolen by sorcerers
a wildfire left in its wake
spreading horizontally

like firefighters
the blackbirds take flight
extinguishing all thought as their
collective call fades like a waning siren
consumed by an inevitable destruction
that is illusory at best


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

Posted in Birds, Nature, Poetry and tagged , ,
13 Apr 2024
5 Comments

on fixing a fallen star


a five-pointed star fell from the sky
landing in a field behind a row of houses

upon closer examination
it was made out of wood

it smelled like cedar
a wood that never dies

after crashing to the ground
it had busted in three places

one said we can piece it together
using glue & screws

another said and then we can hoist it
back into the sky using chains & pulleys

and a third agreed and ran with purpose
to fetch the necessary supplies
to repair the wounded star


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

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged ,
04 Apr 2024
2 Comments

blind horizon


and when the sun becomes
barely visible in the west
and as the winds die down
and cirrus clouds turn deep blue
a cacophony of bird calls
usher in the indefinable dusk


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

Posted in Birds, Micropoetry, Nature, Poetry and tagged , ,
27 Mar 2024
2 Comments

force majeure


the trees were laughing
at the incredulous wind
slender fingerlike branches
bending down to the water’s edge

the trees were pleading
to the impossible waters
drowning vulnerable roots
slowly rising from trunk to canopy

the trees were dying
all for the sake of change
self-fulfilling to some extent
but certainly never self-imposed


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

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged ,
09 Feb 2024
4 Comments

shadow of the sun


unseasonably cool
on a sunsetting saturday
european starlings accumulate
atop rows & tiers of downtown parking ramp walls
inviting the attention of passersby
more or less curious
of their rhythmic chatterings
like an orchestra fine tuning
leading up to their eventual shadowing
of the sun





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

Posted in Birds, In the City, Micropoetry, Nature, Poetry and tagged , ,
01 Feb 2024

from stardust to conscious thought


you ventured quietly into the night
drifting along cemetery trees
planted three lifetimes ago
long before you belonged to a satellite
orbiting an icy world without a name
only to be blown away by a fiery rock
sending you careening on a trajectory
back toward the sun





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

Posted in Micropoetry, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
17 Jan 2024

spring training


I planted some seeds
between the car house
and the neighbor next door
a place with little traffic
where the sun is hard pressed
to zero in on
on a partly cloudy day

I imagine a year from now
traffic will pick up
between the car house
and the neighbor next door
mainly due to how the sun
is attracted to her own
newly colorful creations





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

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
14 Jan 2024

when the levee breaks


once the snow melted
the waterways swelled
one tributary feeding the next
from stream to creek to river to street

it would be a mess
how spring had sprung a major leak
flowers sprouting
despite nearly drowning

fish displaced inside businesses
situated within flood zones
shelterless children using spears
to bring home the bacon
for mama to fry

the way things were going
the season of regeneration
was on the verge of perpetuity
all those affected beginning to ask
if the normalcy of summer
would ever arrive





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

Posted in Fishing, In the City, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
29 Dec 2023

in need of repair


I am not me today
once checking out of rehab
I walk down the sidewalk
a man without a horse

the city’s no place for me
it’s high time I check into the future
where ocean waves
always change but never cease

off in the distance
there is a white horse pacing
up & down the shoreline
protecting the damaged dinghy
[that will one day become ours]
the very one that brought her there





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

Posted in In the City, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
07 Dec 2023
5 Comments

ambient waves


there on the beach
all the colors of the world
can be found
—all you have to do
is close your eyes
and listen

it matters not
the time of day or year
sounds echoing
colors coming & going
forever staying
in the present





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

Posted in Micropoetry, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , ,
28 Nov 2023

rumors


everything was calm
before the winds arrived
having traveled
from faraway places
bringing with it
hearsay & innuendo
and a little bit of destruction

whatever it was it didn’t
last long
and days later it seemed
as if nothing had happened
seemed as if
what was left behind
had been here all along





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

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
27 Nov 2023
2 Comments

Revival


O! god of sea & air
how you lure me to the coast
breathing in your aura
permeating throughout
the here & now

O! it’s not too late
it’s never too late
slowly repairing the damage
inflicted by the excesses
of the city

O! god of sea & air
how your calling teaches me
wave after wave (after wave)
full moon arising
the night forever young





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

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , ,
26 Nov 2023

catching the crescent moon


mahogany skull made for two
handbuilt over a lunar cycle
docked at the river’s edge

crescent moon rises mid-morning
the boat made for two
crossing still waters to intersect
with the satellite
reeling her into the boat
—bringing my love back home





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

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

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