jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the category “War Poems”

11 Sep 2016
4 Comments

hell freezes over


we can’t seem to get past
talking about the weather
how it lifts us up only
to tear us down
one day sipping apple-spiced tea
at café eden
the next trapped inside a
bomb shelter in aleppo

I say the weather is earth’s
spirit restless in its own creativity
slowly evolving and forever changing

you nod and look skyward
pointing at the clouds
roiling and attracting countless starlings

seeds affected by cosmic precipitation
you never know what may come next
perhaps a prophet or a prince
or a torrid dictator

ruthless storms continuously stir
inside boiling pots
reappearing as easy as they please
perpetuating change by destroying
everything in its path


september two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , ,
22 Aug 2016
5 Comments

early out on a Friday afternoon


it’s past lunchtime on a Friday
and images from Aleppo are being
broadcasted everywhere

from Berlin to Warsaw
Nagasaki to Kabul
Sarajevo to Beirut
Baghdad to Hanoi
from Paris to New York City

I’m sitting with a friend outside
a trendy cafe
watching the world go round
and round and round

inside the cafe televisions
hang in the balance
patrons shouting for the wars
to be turned off
exhaling a collective sigh of relief
once their demands are met

we switch from caffeine to craft beer
and talk sports and politics
of the latest intellectual documentaries
challenging today’s minds

and so I say I’ve been told how freedoms
throughout the world
have spread exponentially over the past century
despite public servants in certains places
attempting to reform the world’s inequalities
raising standards of living everywhere
creating economic prosperity
to anyone seeking a better way of life

but what of those dying to be seen
behind the television screens
what has happened to their freedoms
and their endless possibilities


august two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , ,
18 Aug 2016
5 Comments

champagne jam


all this noise and sometimes
you can’t strip it away
it just keeps coming back
like yellow jackets
hijacking the queen’s cargo

paranoid herod orders
assassinations on prophets and
airstrikes on newborns
his teflon crown deflecting
insults from church and state

men of steel fly sky high
and dig deep into the ground
executing commands from
man on high
tasting new jams and
sipping champagne


august two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged ,
08 Aug 2016
11 Comments

until we conquer death we will never be able to broker peace


you kill for your god
you rape and maim and murder
all for your god

you carry objects in your pockets
a license to kill the guilty
along with the innocent

your god has made you judge
grand jury and executioner
and deservedly so
for he is a righteous dude
and his prejudices are warranted
even though he oftentimes transmits
disturbing orders
you have no choice but to carry out

all the real estate in the world
belongs to your god
and so you go out and capture
as many flags as you can

no questions asked


august two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dogma, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , , ,
21 Jul 2016

teenage decimation


these untold stories keep piling up
more than a few good men
wasting their lives on promises
that can’t possibly add up

big brother has never been scarier
whether on penny lane or haifa street

hey joseph
what are you doing
with that AK-47 in your hand

it’s friday night shouldn’t you be down
where the pretty ladies want
to see your smiling face

wouldn’t you rather be learning
how to make the world a brighter place
in a figurative sort of way

I once walked the streets of Athens
because I wanted to know what it was like
to walk in history’s shoes
but I’ll be damned
and dead by now
if I ever walked in yours


july two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
17 Jul 2016
6 Comments

there is love in the clouds


nobody’s tending the fire
it’s just burning on its own
neither controlled nor uncontrolled
emitting a stench of indifference

massacres and coup attempts
repeat like the rising of the sun
highlighting headlines on
doorsteps as death tolls escalate
and accumulate

meanwhile the fire burns
fueled by arms deals between
friends and foes
stoked by power struggles and
brokered by corrupt politicians
enabling strategic corporations

social consciousness bombards
wireless outlets with outrage
pumping up clouds until they burst
pamphlets of love falling
like rain across a world on fire


july two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , ,
14 Jul 2016
3 Comments

The War of the Worlds


Lines were crossed by renegade birds
twisting and shouting above the treetops
discovering yet another metropolis

Zeroing in from ground-level positions
superheroes rise between glass skyscrapers
bullets ricocheting like laser beams

There’s little room for science fiction
not when attempting to rescue a planet
speeding headlong toward self-destruction

The invasion has always come from within
often mistaken as unidentified aliens
navigating the most sophisticated machinery


july two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Aliens, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , ,
10 Jul 2016
4 Comments

in the land of free-for-alls and firearms


summer’s promise has been smashed into
irreparable pieces
swept into the gutter along with man’s mortal sins
unable to be washed away
even by torrential rains

the pursuit of happiness is just a dying thought
riddled with contradictions

kings clench their fists and promise
real change will come
but the people in the streets shake their heads
weeping for the dead with brooms in hand

that all men are created equal they know
to be untrue
as are the history books justifying
the massacre of native peoples
and the legality of human slavery

oh America why have thou failed so many
foolishly feeding
the machine of mass destruction
your people afraid to leave their homes
a people starving for peace and love
and understanding
unconcerned with hollow words
on an idle document


july two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in In the City, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , , ,
28 Jun 2016
7 Comments

ninety-nine years of war


it was child’s play that started it all
ninety-nine air balloons
set sail over the forbidden wall

though times have changed
war machines remain relatively the same
well maintained by treasury chests
and greased by generals trained
to always shoot first

those balloons sailing high
appearing innocently in the sky
disappear systematically one by one
or two by two
or four by four
or so on and so forth




inspired by the song 99 Luftballons by the German band Nena from their 1983 self-titled album


june two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged ,
11 Jun 2016
8 Comments

drifting toward the omega


there is silence in the streets
a serene silence
an incomprehensible silence

there are children drifting
in the streets
war-torn children
holding hands and drifting
toward an unknown destination

the fear in their eyes
no longer exists
has been replaced
by a kind of nothingness
this world has ever seen

there are no communications
of any kind
no devices capable of
broadcasting
the deafening silence

and as far as the children
are concerned
they have collectively discerned
peace should never
be made in such ways


june two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , ,
27 May 2016
4 Comments

dreaming between the lull and the storm


there is deception in those eyes
seemingly innocent
but exposed
to a lifetime of atrocities

captured by the camera’s lens
they are frozen in time
and streamed live
to a world hopelessly paralyzed

relocated time and again
she hides her eyes and dreams
of the day
living with angels in paradise


may two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dogma, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , ,
09 May 2016
10 Comments

first day back home


he sat at the table
quietly
the salt and pepper
barely out of reach
but he would not speak
chewing the butterfly pork chop
precisely

she asked him if it needed
any salt
and he simply stuck
another chunk into his mouth
slowly but briefly shaking
his head

he buttered an ear of corn
using a slice of bread
and picked it up
clumsily
worked away at it
fearlessly

she knew it needed salt
but he wouldn’t say a word
and she wouldn’t dare
interrupt
a second time

she wanted to let him know
there was a good movie
airing on the pay-per-view
but thought twice
telling herself she was sure
he wanted to figure things out
all on his own


may two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , ,
31 Mar 2016
6 Comments

an army of one


I sat documenting a million lives
stretched across the globe
not kings or queens
but mere men and women and children
lost in pages of history
     only to be reborn
           centuries later
void of memory but striving
to improve their worth to a god
seldom offering second chances

time and again they returned
to earth much like wayward souls
unable to let go
cast down by a god convinced
they will one day lay down their arms
and see for themselves
there is love for all the ages


march two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , ,
22 Mar 2016
3 Comments

deathly viral


a sickness hangs around
undisturbed
sublime like the slender moon
infrequently bright
but destined to burst

silent cells work below
the surface
tunneling effectively
like eager termites
building a kingdom

monitors intersect
the chatter
faint but riding the airwaves
like a vampire bat
preparing to strike

emerging past the shadows
bulging lights
expose the contagion
airborne and fatal
blighting whole cities


march two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in In the City, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , , ,
08 Mar 2016
5 Comments

winds of change


it’s not a job
but a livelihood
digging holes in the ground
and filling them back in
marching behind foot soldiers
a shovel for a rifle

the long grass past that hill
the one taken back
over a year and fortnight ago
grows wildly bright
naturally fertilized by both
allies and enemies

I wonder what I’ll become
when the world
embraces reconciliation
wonder what vocation
I could possibly embrace
to honor those still alive


march two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , ,
01 Mar 2016

preparing for the unknown


he died in Vatican City on vacation
courtesy of a one-way ticket
purchased by an unknown agent

everyone seemed to know him
whether in Hollywood or
Mumbai or Ho Chi Minh City

born to the slums of Lebanon
it was a miracle he ever set sail
beyond the Mediterranean

his most youthful days gave way
to urban sand lots on Saturdays
playing host to cricket or fútbol
or american baseball

without a home there is no heart
especially before going to war
or so he wrote
about being reborn
about taking Waterloo by storm
about stepping out of the theatre
and coming back to earth
for that
once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage


march two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dogma, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , | Leave a comment

Post Navigation

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →