jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

21 Jan 2022

unfollowing the leader


it’s taken hundreds of years
for eyes to open
and hearts to swell
still the correction
has not been fulfilled

strong forces push & pull
changing men
back into animals
reverting to basic needs
orchestrated by the alpha

the crucifixion was only
the beginning
thousands of years since
human trafficking
and genocides prevailing

to the child we say
yours is the generation
destined to start the process
(of not undoing but)
repairing broken mindsets





january two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , | Leave a comment
20 Jan 2022

the gate & the raptor


there is a bird at the gate
a juvenile raptor
stopping me in my tracks

do you speak english I say

he appears to be in some sort of a trance

I ask him the same question yet again
but only silence

past the gate is where I’d like to be
where I imagine
eternal happiness resides
the kind of place that keeps you coming back

there is a stone bench
low to the grassy ground
so many yards from the gate & the raptor
where I sit down
and wait my fate
from someone or something
I know nothing about





january two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Poetry and tagged , | Leave a comment
19 Jan 2022
3 Comments

summer of twenty twenty-nine


if it was a sunflare
it couldn’t have possibly
reached the ground

but that is what they
would have you believe

anything requiring energy
simply isn’t working
not even battery
powered flashlights

cash is king
and there’s been a run
on candles & matches
and brown paper bags

the girls on the corner
are making a killing
selling shots of lemonade





january two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
18 Jan 2022

anecdote of a glass globe


hand and eye and mind
crafting old world ideas
spherical globe made of glass
evolving into shape

inside rivers flow
between green rolling hills
different shades of white
circulating up above

you shake it gently
and the seasons change
spherical globe made of glass
sitting pretty on a shelf





january two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
17 Jan 2022

on becoming reborn


yes it’s true I was lost
for the better part of my life
chasing the impossible
self-harming
neglecting & dismissing
deep inside the mosh pit
the dark cavern
the constant turmoil
with thousands of other
lost souls

the bell is ringing
its origin dating back
a half century
but I’m unable to locate
the source
its home
a place that once was
and ceases to be

all this time I thought I was
advancing forward
but truth be told
I’ve been regressing
in search of discovering
that who I truly am





january two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
16 Jan 2022

hanging out at the motorpool


you tell me people you don’t know but love
keep dying

I tell you I’m sorry
but there’s not much we can do about it
now that the cat’s out of the bag

I keep thinking about the crisis unfolding
on the border between Ukraine & Russia
wondering what the hell Snowden
has to do with it

you know I’m dying don’t you
you say
but since I can’t see you I say yes
in all probability you acquired the virus

I don’t ask if you’re vaccinated because
I could give a rat’s ass
now beginning to wonder why you bothered
to call

a decade ago I wouldn’t have answered
having been stationed in Afghanistan
keeping all the Humvees running

I can hear you breathing from the speaker
as if you’re upstairs in the bedroom
and I’m sitting at the kitchen table
pouring myself a shot of Jack





january two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , | Leave a comment
15 Jan 2022

radio signal


hash brownies or under glass
one getting you focused
sooner than later

it was an unusual night
radio waves not quite
behaving like they should

an interstellar oddity
traveling nearly a lifetime
breaks through your exosphere

there it is there it is
you shout in excitement
handing over the telescope

outside it’s a beautiful dawn
hands upraised & open
welcoming the next chapter





january two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
14 Jan 2022

By art itself


I’m not too concerned
if I don’t hear from you again
you see I have you locked
in this utopia
complete with a flower garden
apple tree & snake
white sands nearby & heavenly
clouds up above

You’re not the only one
to have it made there alive
the rest of us recirculating the works
filling stadiums with zealots
and unlocking
more & more mysteries
some by way of science
but more often than not by art





january two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dogma, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
13 Jan 2022

café au lait


birthmark upon my face
for what reason do I deserve
your benign designation

is she a flower or a weed
a ship sailing across the sea
destination unknown

what past truth lives inside
commandeering my dreams
seeking to be found

oh how mere strangers
stare & point in my direction
at my poetic imperfection





january two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
12 Jan 2022

One day I am the wind & another the lightning


I’ve been reading Camus & Sartre of late
thinking of the things that
should have been
the people I should not have lost for no
good reason
the sights I swore I would see

I tell myself I’ve seen the Acropolis
in another lifetime
long before it’s great deterioration
and my own tragic death

I’ve been listening to the likes
of Beethoven & McCartney
knowing full well it wasn’t the first time
they were performing at their peak

It’s true I once had a pretty face
but that was before the accident
before the jagged edges
and the separation
detached from another past
circling headlong into the next





january two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
11 Jan 2022

emergency landing


it fell from the sky & settled at the foot
of a ten foot bronze soldier on horseback

the town square first became deafened
by the sound of a supersonic missile
followed by the ground shaking with the force
of a thousand stampeding elephants

whatever it was crashed but did not burn

the alien craft quickly became disassembled
and whisked away by a team of outsiders
fully decked out in orange hazmat suits
speaking in a language foreign to any local
brave enough to witness the near distant future





january two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Aliens, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
10 Jan 2022
4 Comments

succession planning


forget not
the southern gale
bringing back hope
from an otherwise
weary planet

how long it’s been
since the sun
shone on the surface
your thoughts
having grown dark
in recent years

artificial illuminations
light up the night sky
and for a moment
you wonder
how much longer
you plan to stay





january two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged ,
09 Jan 2022
2 Comments

cheap sunglasses


everything went dark
we searched on hands & knees
calling out to a god
who could not hear us

it was as if the sun
had imploded
opening up a portal
of mass starlight
reigning both day & night

none was close enough
to illuminate the moon
and all the earthworms
emerged & glowed
blue & orange





january two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
09 Jan 2022

tomorrow


it’s broken
you can’t fix it
my vision cannot
correct itself on a dime

I’ve been hitchhiking
for what seems
like a century
every morning
finding myself in line

they say there is a god
that can fix your
temporary ailments
even though I say
tomorrow is already here





january two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , | Leave a comment
07 Jan 2022

Born on the Outskirts of Hazlehurst


There is mystery in the moment
in the here and in the now
much like the time when Robert Johnson
fell down on his knees

The greenery is incredulous
outside the city limits
cotton fields needing picking
workers singing the black man’s blues

Deals are made with the devil
on an ongoing basis
some better known than others
all with a common denominator

It’s not so much what you wish for
than what you think you need
guitar strapped on your back
heading up north on highway one





january two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
06 Jan 2022
7 Comments

evolution one oh one


what’s happening today is peanuts
climate change
the steal & corrupt machines
pandemics & pointing fingers
insert your own examples here

most everyone believes
they live in interesting times
that is until they’re dead
opening up to the idea that what’s
going on here is supposed to be
working toward the common good

evolution will surely take the
human race to interplanetary travel
becoming more godlike
with each passing generation
unless of course
they kill each other first





january two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,

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