before the television
there was radio
before FM AM
cool call letters like KSTT
doctor DJs spinning forty-fives
warriors & wolfmen too
the airwaves always were
& will be the place to be
whether laid out on the floor
with no place to go
or taking the magic carpet
for one final ride
january two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
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
I’m in the kitchen
making stone soup
stirring the pot with a wooden ladle
that used to be a paddle
The doorbell rings
and I yell let yourself in
next thing I know there’s a white rabbit
handing me a couple of carrots
—I cut them into coins
& toss them into the pot
One by one my furry friends
drop by to donate to the soup
make themselves at home in the TV room
Nick at Nite replaying old Looney Tunes
white rabbit
yellow duck
brown bear
one wild & one domesticated dog
three kittens and two pussy cats
a mouse & marsupial & weasel
& all sorts of striped animals
salivating at the mouth
laughing at Tom & Jerry
When the supper bell rings
the TV turns dark
& the lights brighten
slurping sounds soon abounding
empty tummies quickly filling
january two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
days before the blizzard arrived
I noticed a small family of crows
visiting the neighborhood
leaving me pondering what on earth
they were doing here
having strayed from the larger gathering
that couldn’t have been that far away
—or perhaps they were scouts
in search of a protective copse
capable of holding hundreds
or up to one thousand of their kind
january two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
she sat on the loveseat
eating a kit kat bar
four fingers of chocolaty deliciousness
each one with her name on it
there was no room for sharing
not tonight
not with abandonment
hovering in the air above her
becoming thicker as each finger
evaporated into her mouth
call it a pout or call it a frown
but it wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon
even after all four fantastical fingers
were replaced by yet another
unwrapped panacea
january two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
I told him not to touch my stuff
but he did anyway
—a commotion soon ensued
when the women came ‘round
& took him away
I told ‘em that he can’t be trusted
that he’s a thief
yeah, he’s a thief
the little girl echoed
that’s what I’ve been telling you
january two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
I’ve been told people
are really starting to listen
but I don’t buy it
not in a new york minute
in fact las vegas odds have it
those who actually practice the art
are ten times more likely
to be listening
to irrefutable gibberish
january two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
it’s magic
how the camel passes through
the eye of the needle
though there is not a single
witness
they said they remember
reading about it
going further to say
there isn’t any truth in it
that it was merely
hearsay
but I thought
we were talking about magic
the smallest one said
and if that is the case
I wholeheartedly
believe
january two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
so the furnace runs all day long
oh my it must be winter again
earlier I found a gummy in a tupperware
pill box right there on the top shelf
of the refrigerator —and so I popped it
into my mouth unsure what it was
or how it had gotten there
the house is empty like an abandoned
bird’s nest —that is except for Walter & me
at one point I had forgotten he’d been out
so gave him some treats two hours later
after letting him back in to a chorus of boos
upstairs three of the four bedrooms
are stone cold —I lock myself inside
one of them for a couple of hours
just to teach myself a lesson
january two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
the creativity of the hand
and of the eye
one-of-a-kind productions
generational
acclaimed worldwide
worthy to be stolen
violated
imprisoned
& in some cases
transported to the moon
january two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
they say the eyes never lie
or so says the minor poet
himself lost in his ways
subject to his own deception
fear not the casual whisper
capable of filtering
into a softly-felt crescendo
or so says the minor poet
birds throughout the ages
are subject to the winds
or so says the minor poet
teaching a child to fly
january two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
as if a little color could lift me up
off of this velcro-lined davenport
strategically placed in the southern-facing
windows of the dining room
nobody dares enter this the shrine
I’ve built over nearly a fortnight
especially the rays of the sun
hidden there behind naked trees
and the suffocating sky
january two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
at the bottom of the résumé
included the applicant’s hobbies
one of which was aspiring mystic
I cocked my head
and went back to the beginning
questioning my own judgment
—all of the mistakes made
my secret sins
the killing of so many possibilities
past & present
& future
how wrong could I have been
passing by on this piece of paper
as if it was as dead as those sea scrolls
(only to be revived)
as if once passing onto my desk
was most certainly destined for the fire
like a witch exposed
like a bird made out of clay
january two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
inspired by her absence
I keep the drawing room
well lit by candlelight
perusing the pages backwards
occasionally pausing
when finding something clever
or humorous or jaded
having left nary a note
nor encrypted message
I can only imagine
what destination awaits her
—lately having developed
a quasi-fixation
with anything martian
january two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
it’s a new year
and half the world
is starting over
their collective wholes
waiting to rise above the ashes
once lines old & new
have been redrawn
january two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
the man in the street
consumed by moral injury
has come to memorize
the many moods
of a complicated moon
the night air freezes over
making nature’s carpets crunchy
—naked trees giving little comfort
as the heart rate slows
to an all-time low
handouts are hard to find
especially when freedoms
continue to sail away
like helium balloons
let loose on new year’s eve
december two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
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