alone I wander the sea
of dreams
just me and my alibi
and yellow submarine
beneath the depths of
deserted space
shooting stars sail on
outside the alibi
old borders collapse
new realities emerge
compressed and
submerged
and living a new lie
copyright j matthew waters
april two thousand fourteen
all rights reserved
no matter where I go there are holes
holes in the city streets
a hole in my metal bucket
holes through hula hoops and hangman nooses
small holes on wooden boards boys and girls
try to hit with miniature bean bag squares
at the deli I order a ham and cheese on rye
I hope swiss is okay says the hair-netted lady
not really I say got anything without holes
afraid not she says
perplexed and nearly disgusted
I walk out with a bag of chips
but no sandwich
and proceed to step in a hole
full of sand and rocks
displaced from last night’s rain
an old man sitting on a bench with a hole
in his head chuckles at my misfortune
keep laughing old man I say
don’t worry says the old man
there’ll be plenty more days like these
april two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
I rescued you from the scoundrels
washed you and restitched you
and let you lie in my bed
I took out your eyes while
you were asleep
and pinned them inside your heart
whispered softly everything
would be fine in the morning
I promised myself you would no longer
be used for the benefit of others
went on to explain how any pain
you experience from this day forth
would be yours and yours only
april two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
I opened up the text app
and swiftly texted with two thumbs
I just killed someone
while waiting for a reply
I checked the scores on my sports app
you didn’t
said the incoming text
I did
I texted back
I paused and lifted my eyes
first I thought and then I texted
you haven’t lived until you killed
smiling
I opened up the music app
and decided to listen to lennon sing
happiness is a warm gun
when the song ended I looked
around and noticed
I was no longer alone
soon to be judged by so many
I waited in silence for the
incoming wave of endless pings
april two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
I wandered down to the river
where the rolling rock
segues into a row of willows
settled inside the shadows
and wished my blues away
dark clouds gathered ‘round
blanketing the sunshine
casting sheets of rain upon the river
purposefully rhythmical
yet without any reason
eyes surrendering to gravity
I spread my body across the ground
like an angel with torn wings
dreaming within the willows
in every single color except blue
april two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
out of the fields and onto my bike
glove and spikes
strapped on the rack
I race through the cemetery shortcut
straight to the diamond
to get away was to get away
from the house of rules
where the master
made sure it was okay to disappear
as long as the work was done
transformed into a collective whole
I become one of many parts
dreaming to be the hero
while trying not to make an error
examining the stitches
hand-sewn on my pants
as well as the fastball
playing music beneath my chin
april two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
I cut you out of my life without
a tear or tantrum
freeing my mind from noise
that once crowded my thoughts
and dulled my senses
nearly leaving me motionless with
barely an original thought
over time a healing of sorts
reversed decades of
destructive habits
old impulses slowly replaced
by a voice discovering
its own truth
void of any outside influence
april two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
show me something pretty
she said
something that will make me smile
and say oh my
the world is so wonderful
I drew a daffodil
emerging from an inch of snow
her golden inflorescence in
stark contrast to the dilapidated
barn in the background
she’s perfect she said
but I’m saddened
nobody in the world
except herself
will behold her beauty
march two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
she thought she knew
the difference between
art and trash
but when her life
became such a mess
everything around her
became just plain wrong
I’ll be damned she thought
ripping up the dear john letter
if that racist poet hasn’t resorted
to exploiting sex slaves again
desperate for fresh air
she walks the yard
and spits on the ceramic pig
pissed at the world
and swearing to herself one day
someone will rescue her from
this godforsaken farm
march two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
camera at top of the world
forces my foot down
left facing the red light
idling first in line
outside the city’s edge
I wait with my own thoughts
neither angry nor sad
indifferent to my circumstance
my petty arguments
list of things unsaid
vague images fly by like
recollections on wheels
transporting me near and far
as if past and present
resided inside the red light
one blink of the eye
I’m rushing forward
to the next intangible destination
chased from behind by
lights of another color
march two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
the mystery unfolds like an
expanding universe
unraveling countless motives
to mayhem and madness
traveling back in time permits
peering further ahead
until standing face-to-face
to a renewed self without shame
despite our asymmetrical lives
thou shalt not kill me
nor put me to the test
lest you endure an appropriate
and undying consequence
march two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
I’ve always kept the magic wand
under my bed
the one I lifted from the magician
at the TV station when I was
five years old
it was my first trick
I snatched it when all the kids
shuffled their feet forward
in single-file fashion
awaiting like ants on fire
to shake hands with the
man of the hour
I slipped it inside my pant leg
and never looked back
never told one soul
selfishly I kept the magic
of the magic wand to myself
once upon a time on a cloudy day
I wandered into an open field
pointing the wand high into the air
soon I guided the birds of the sky
as best I could
orchestrating their climbs and falls
their motionless glides
over the years I came to understand
the potential of its powers
and it frightened me
for decades I kept her
in darkness
imagining how she must be thriving
storing up energy
put out by endless dark matter
amassing a lethal arsenal of old
but new tricks dying to be shown
march two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
it doesn’t matter what you think
just like it matters not which way I turn
just as long as the confluence of influence
doesn’t intersect anywhere near
this dusty highway bridge
this way leads to my island
shared by a selective group of misfits
who understand on a higher level
what it’s like to thrive off the beaten path
and stay happily and simply hidden
march two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
golden skeleton key
wrapped around your neck
designed to unleash spontaneity
while keeping the monsters at bay
magically vanishes in the feckless wind
inside the madhouse demons slash
and poke with razors and needles
fingerpainting false memories on
invisible doors and lasering
new keyholes with a blazing white light
march two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
I make it a point to say my mother
Is full-blooded Irish; gives me a right,
I conclude, to drink all I want and curse
With God’s okay. As a half-Irishman,
I have a tendency to admire women
With full breasts and the wherewithal
To say whatever is on their minds—
All the while knowing I can read
Their minds like a leprechaun.
Of course my magic is limited within
My own linen, an all too familiar feeling
That is seeded by love and mistaken
For thoughts that are all too common.
nineteen ninety-six
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
court jester hoists me up
far enough
my hands grasping the bow
feet skimming along the bark
stepping vertically until
finding myself in seated position
like a fisherman
from there I cast my line
past the edge
hook motioning like a pendulum
butterfly bait caught in
capillary branches
fluttering and struggling
to belabor a million breaths
crawling out on bloodline branch
the fate of coin weighs
heavily upon a commoner’s quest
either flipping and falling
straight to the ground
or forever hailed as the
queen’s guardian angel
<span style="font-size:small;line-height:12px;"
march two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
jdubqca 