jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

07 May 2025

Impending


I hear thunder in the distance
it is coming my way

Will the accompanying lightning
strike me down at last

Shall I run or hunker down

As I wait for the storm to arrive
I experience flashbacks of good times & bad

For some reason I believe this time it is it for me

I listen to the drums as they approach
ever closer—they are war drums

I tell myself I am nothing—
an innocent bystander
guilty as charged

As I sit & wait I realize I remain
further & further from the truth
like a single lamb in the countryside


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

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
06 May 2025

peace of mind


armed conflict
is for the weak & narrow
a clear indication
a good night’s sleep
requires little more
than peace of mind


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

Posted in Micropoetry, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
05 May 2025
8 Comments

Traveling through time


There’s too much activity
too much energy
and too little space

How many bodies
can you put in a capsule
and expect everyone
to come out alive—
on the other side


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

Posted in Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , ,
04 May 2025

yer out


eyes laser-focused
on the knuckle curve
crossing the outside lower half
home plate umpire more than emphatic
his fists doing the one-two jab
taking the batter out without
ever knowing what hit him


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

Posted in Baseball, Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
03 May 2025
3 Comments

reunited peacefully


in the cemetery
a murder of crows
perched high above
the oak trees
watching the gathering
in silence

nobody realized
they were in attendance
probably curious
about the thermos
a foldable yardstick
and a small wooden box

after the visitors
one by one drove away
so too did the crows
take flight
quietly consumed
by ominous clouds


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

Posted in Birds, Poetry and tagged , , ,
02 May 2025

Beyond this world


The knowledge of the past stays with us.
To let go is simply to release any images and emotions.
― Alan Watts

The art of letting go
Like a mechanical flow
Releasing anxiety’s hold

Physical pleasure’s gleam
Disappointed like an empty dream
Repeating a story untold

Destinations never found
In an evil sense bound
Pleasure’s grasp or a futile plea

Don’t hold on too tight
One day they’ll be much light
Abandonment forever free

The poor in spirit knows
Which burdens one must forgo
No heavy weight to carry
Beyond this world


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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
01 May 2025
2 Comments

beneath the desert floor


she sails the high sands
a spanish galleon
having drifted off course
from the gulf of california
centuries ago

prospectors & geologists
die to find her treasures
buried perhaps
beneath laguna salada
or further north
along the salton sea


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

Posted in History, Poetry and tagged , , ,
30 Apr 2025
6 Comments

radioactive


creeping through the soil
like an earthworm
it has no destination

watch your step
you don’t know where
those rocks have been

alchemists assay
ancient elements
in search of black magic

wolves of chernobyl
teach resistance
to their little ones

walking hospital hallways
cancer patients
pray for miracles


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

Posted in Animals, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , ,
29 Apr 2025
1 Comment

The Penguin


And so I showed up
to the halloween party
just before midnight
wearing nothing but
a black tuxedo


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

Posted in Animals, Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , ,
28 Apr 2025

while waiting to see the doctor


always competitive
the byproduct of older
siblings who went full bore
on & off the field

always driven I strove
to be the smartest
the fastest
the most nimble
and quite possibly
the best embellisher

not only did I excel
in most endeavors
but I had to fabricate
[to anyone who would listen]
how much better I was
than in reality

at some point the lies
catch up with you
and after a lifetime
of having to live with them
you look back at all your losses
and say to yourself
look here
you failed more times
than you’d care to admit
and then wonder exactly when
you became so lonely


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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
27 Apr 2025

those old blue jeans


walking out of the water
we weren’t wearing pants
although there’s not much
recorded history on this

in the garden of eden
it was kind of & sort of
the same story

no shoes or shirts or pants

but alas those places
were more or less tropical
places where you can put
your hair down
and just be yourself

so this pants craze
must have started
centuries later
once we started venturing
closer to either pole


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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
26 Apr 2025

less than ordinary


your imagination is active
fighting your instincts
to remain in the past
creating new distractions
stories you call them
telling people quite possibly
they’re autobiographical

you say you’ve seen lands
I’ve only dreamed of
but how you were able
to travel there
without passport
let alone credit
confounds me to this day

as I look on my own past
and all its duplicities
I find myself appearing less
than ordinary on the surface
and quite probably
nondescript underneath




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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
25 Apr 2025

rearranging the night


rest does not come easy
when a saboteur of dreams
aka enemy of the state
infiltrates the perimeter
at the strike of midnight
a master of arrangement
altering sequence of events
turning reveries into flashbacks
and daybreak into heartache


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

Posted in Dreams, Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
24 Apr 2025

where the dust never settles


we were supposed to be
in california
somewhere due north
of san pablo bay
but somehow wound up
in scottsdale arizona
where it didn’t take long to notice
the dust never settles


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

Posted in In the City, Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
23 Apr 2025
2 Comments

The Oracle


You have imagined
what it would be like
to live in the ocean again
though possess no desire
to make it a reality

The shadows of your past
will soon catch up with you
though have nothing new
to pass on
instead encourage you
to seek alternative paths

You once thought
you were brought here
by accident
that your parents had nothing
to do with your presence

To be abandoned
never seemed to bother you
though deep down inside
you’ve always wanted
to be found


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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , ,
22 Apr 2025
6 Comments

at the end of the day


I tested resolve using
a candescent light
barely shining
within the darkness

breaking past the light
I picked all the colors
along the path
—one by one they fell
by the wayside
like discarded petals

at the end of the day
the sound of gratitude
replayed inside my head
soft like a lullaby
that once put me to sleep


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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , ,

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