jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

22 Jul 2023
4 Comments

lighthouse


I am misplaced like a key
or a glove or a memory
right within plain sight

I’ve always said
I don’t belong here
no matter where I stood

I live near a river
but was promised the sea
and now my mind wanders
adrift in a vessel without a name

there’s always this calling
[call it what you will]
working in the background
occasionally handing out
a hint or a proposition
but mainly observing
like a lighthouse





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , ,
21 Jul 2023

project liberty


where did it go
that little son-of-a-bitch
I had in my hand yesterday

you misplaced it again
says the reptilian part
of my brain
and I reply right out loud
—yeah I know

this lapse is most likely
directly related to modern day
religion & politics
both failing institutions
trying to keep holding hostage
yesterday

looking at my left wrist
things are starting to come back to me
how the kitchen knives
need sharpening
that occam’s razor is probably
the sure-fire way to go





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
20 Jul 2023

Portcullis


Open the door &
open the mind
do you remember
once upon a time
old grey ghosts
still knowing how
to play guitar
but only when they want

Sometimes sounding
like a homesick bluebird
or a cicada
building its coffin on
a crabapple branch
the former & latter shell
always in the same place
for how many
years now

The angle may change
but the story
remains the same
an empire made of sand
by nature designed
to reside in the aether
the grated gate
ominous but ever open





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
19 Jul 2023

the last resort


stuck inside this shell of mine
I look inward at it’s design
craftily built like a canoe for one
carving the river like a knife

the inner workings invisible
to the naked eye
heartbeat & conscious thought
maintaining its own world order

what once stayed afloat in water
will eventually take to flight
if not as a last resort
then by the will of its very self





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
18 Jul 2023

in & out of focus


they arrive out of nowhere
the unannounced
the romantics or the beat poets
not knowing they’re dead
reciting old verses
as you sit in near silence

the bird songs
filter in through the screens
providing background noise
irregular yet repetitive
like the marcher’s drum
ever closer to peace





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

Posted in Birds, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
17 Jul 2023
2 Comments

feckless & freckled


the spots on my skin
will not go away
no matter how much I try
rubbing them into nothingness

they are the byproduct
of sea & salt & yellow sun
having multiplied over the years

born without a blemish
they represent the accumulation
of my flaws
a growing reminder
of what I chose
not to be





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
16 Jul 2023
2 Comments

the monster is dead


I saw it on the news
a rare glimpse of streaming media
first in my peripheral
and then in full view

I didn’t want to see it
it was a mistake
—now something I’m unable to take back

I’m not sure what I’m doing
living amongst
all these killer monsters
some successfully hunted down & dead
but the far majority eerily humanlike
& free to roam the planet





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

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , ,
15 Jul 2023

sunday’s takeaway


there is strength in numbers
and now I find myself alone
the mighty empire having fallen
giving rise to newborn stars

cast away by a foreign power
I’ve become a messenger
returning to the very beginning
bringing with me the good news





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

Posted in Micropoetry, Nature, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , | Leave a comment
14 Jul 2023
2 Comments

jealousy


it was only a kiss
[oh what a kiss will lead to]
something I wish
I’d never saw
something stuck in a dream

I only dream
I only dream
the same dream now
and I’m sure it must be killing me

the kiss & the dress
the drag of the cigarette

as the song goes on
so does the kiss
—slipping off her dress





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


Note: Based on the song “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers

Posted in Dreams, In the City, Poetry and tagged , , ,
13 Jul 2023

here to stay


a fire burns within
pseudoscience consuming me
from the inside out
my body threatening to detonate
into a walking inferno
raging like a wildfire without any
extinguishment in sight

am I a victim
or a beautiful phoenix
a mystery
an enigma
a force to be reckoned with on any
given dimension
spontaneously existing
as a living breathing human
showcasing an eternal flame





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
12 Jul 2023
2 Comments

driftwood


I left the house for the ocean
a hammer holstered to my belt
my pockets full of nails

up and down the shoreline
I collected & stacked
driftwood into various columns

the sun would bake them dry
while the moon marveled
how my dream became reality





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

Posted in Dreams, Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , ,
11 Jul 2023

mistaken identities


do the birds in cuba
know they’re cuban
do they chirp in spanish
& dance the cha cha cha

what of the doppelgängers
hanging out
in the streets of old havana
do they understand
the language
can they chirp & dance
like their feathered friends





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

Posted in Birds, In the City, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
10 Jul 2023
3 Comments

we are the creators


within your water
within your very air
the god gene embedded
deep in your DNA

there is good reason
why you feel so comfortable
inside your own skin
—on occasion
an even greater feeling
experiencing
separation





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

Posted in Micropoetry, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , ,
09 Jul 2023
3 Comments

around the world in thirty seconds


evolution speeding
well beyond the information age
ghosting guns & intelligence
physically & artificially
unleashing imaginations
from century-old masters
ideas created from the cradle
coming back full circle





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

Posted in Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , ,
08 Jul 2023
1 Comment

ennui


there is spilt milk
somewhere it shouldn’t be
eventually the cat
will lick it up

this place is such a mess
especially since
the two lovers
moved out
taking with them the
lavender divan & purple lamp

it’s sunday
and not even the birds
have checked in yet
an irish coffee in the works
(or so is the word)
daydreaming on the glider
on the back deck
waiting to be buzzed





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , ,
07 Jul 2023

back inside the cradle


research says we’ve always
been part of the action
where or when
less important than the how

different channels
bring about varied accounts
most interwoven
like a patchwork quilt

galaxies & lost worlds
trapped inside blackholes
variable light
trickling through
wherever stretched or worn

in a corner
draped across an old wooden easel
its appearance everchanging
—duration & shadow
playing tricks of the mind
recalling a certain satellite
still larger than life





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

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

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