jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “birds”

05 Aug 2023

styling like a songbird


I’ve been down this road before
but never alone
always before someone by my side
oh how times have changed

there is nothing bitter sweet
to endings & beginnings
—necessary cycles
in the grand scheme of things

you see that bird following me
has been there all along
lo these many years
only now have I taken notice

there is a certain style to her song
mainly repetitive but
occasionally improvising
as if to say see
you are just like me





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

Posted in Birds, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
26 Oct 2020
2 Comments

theory of the birds


all the birds took a break for a day
boycotting the streams & the baths
downtown sidewalks & window ledges
unmistakably absent from the airwaves
instead quietly tucked away for some
twenty-four hours
collectively testing the theory that these
so-called humans
have ceased paying attention




october two thousand twenty
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Animals, Birds, Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , ,
12 Jul 2020

the task at hand


listen carefully
the birds in the air are many
and you’re missing so many of them

in another life you were
a cardinal or a crow or a sparrow
going about your fabulous business
as if there’s no tomorrow

but of course you don’t
remember those days other
than a song or two or three
that for some reason keep
challenging your long term memory

tomorrow it will be monday
which means you’ll be fishing again
casting your line at lock & dam thirteen
and forgetting about the past
only focused on the task at hand




july two thousand twenty
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Fishing, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
31 Mar 2020
6 Comments

handful of wishes


shadows like birds or
birds like shadows
flying behind white linen curtain
coming and going
back & forth and over & under
undoubtedly feeding their young
or chasing their very own
displaced souls

since I couldn’t see
what I couldn’t see
I changed my train of thought
pretending they were giant moths
turned into beautiful butterflies
made possible by a warrior princess
carrying a magic sword
and a handful of wishes




march two thousand twenty
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Poetry and tagged , , ,
13 Feb 2020
4 Comments

it filters through


some birds are back but the temps
are well below zero
either they never got the memo
or they’ve come back early
for some unknown reason

I slowed down for a murder of crows
while taking the long way home
a hundred or so
cleaning up a spill of sorts near
the corn sweetener plant
once in my rearview
anxiously getting back at it

shifting gears past the hill
the music meets the sun
and the speeding locomotive
sounding off along the river
eagles circling high above
sparrows racing in my peripheral
nearly anything with wings
busily chasing dreams




february two thousand twenty
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Poetry and tagged , , ,
04 Dec 2019

the bird and her fiddle


listen carefully there is a bird
 warbling from the moon
  how she got there is anyone’s guess

is she yellow or is she red or blue
 plump or thin or somewhere in between
  can you tell by listening carefully
   to the tenor of her fiddle

there is a feel to her presence
 sublime and pleasantly inviting
  when will the world stop spinning
   and listen carefully to her message




december two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
09 Sep 2019
5 Comments

lesser gods and weaker minds


looking for something new
I gaze out the 10th floor window
catching a glimpse of October
waiting in the wings
closely held by unsuspecting vultures
cleverly disguised as angels
coaxing me to open my heart and soul
[and inch closer to the edge]
in exchange promising riper fruit
and even brighter sunrises




september two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Poetry and tagged , , ,
07 Jul 2019
2 Comments

the dawn chorus


first there was the final dream
approaching morning light
bedroom curtains breathing in and out
mimicking my own circadian rhythm
and welcoming the dawn chorus

birds beginning to think it’s spring
how they invade my subconscious
pretending to be children
reincarnated from fallen leaves
singing from the tallest trees

one morning that will be me
having not awakened from the dream
free falling like a leaf among many
reaching out and believing
finally participating in the dawn chorus




july two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Dreams and tagged , , ,
26 May 2019
4 Comments

aerial conversations


I forgive and forget
it’s easy to do
or so the birds of the sky
tell me so

they speak to me often
believing I’m not listening
but I fool them
and take everything in

there’s nothing to forgive
ergo nothing to forget
I keep telling myself
like a man in a trance

when I’m alone
the birds of the sky
keep me company
they think I don’t notice
but I most certainly do

as time passes
they learn to trust and believe
feeding from my hand
as I stand like a statue in the wind
my eyes fixed
above the setting sun

they speak about life
and speak about death
but when I ask what will come next
their chatting becomes silence
and I am left to imagine
all on my own





may two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Nature, Poetry and tagged , ,
09 Mar 2019
2 Comments

unlikely guardians


who will speak to me next
as if in tomorrow
standing here on the ground
looking up
bird’s nest in the open air
curious cat in my peripheral

I realize I’m not alone anymore
it only feels that way
stepping out of my skin
for the very first time
and looking back
through a bottomless mirror

so it seems the bird and cat
have been chosen
to encourage me on
one pushing
the other pulling
both bickering
in their own beautiful way





march two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Animals, Birds, Poetry and tagged , , ,
03 Jan 2019
2 Comments

january thaw


winter winds unusually warm
bringing back birds I’ve not seen
in what seems like ages
suddenly returning in waves

I’ve been flying and foraging
for nearly a fortnight now
blending in with a family of
black-capped chickadees

I almost forgot what is was like
to be amongst a family
of five or fifty or five hundred
coexisting effortlessly




january two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Poetry and tagged , ,
27 Dec 2018
2 Comments

the last migration


nobody talks about birds
growing older
but here we are
sitting on park benches
bread crumbs in our hands

this sitting down is for birds
I say out loud
and you naturally agree
without speaking a word

it’s a warm winter’s day
and our shadows
are barely visible on the
black asphalt
like skinny icicles hanging
ever slowly changing




december two thousand eighteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Animals, Birds, Poetry and tagged , , ,
01 Dec 2018

cunning like a songbird


in the kitchen uncaged canaries
chat amongst themselves
swapping oft-told tales and
keeping secrets from
black & white cat crouched
against shadowy wall

outside red-breasted nuthatches
mimic dog barking at jet airliner
piercing cumulus clouds
waiting for aforementioned feline
to give them another chance
at target practice




december two thousand eighteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserve

Posted in Animals, Birds, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
18 Nov 2018
8 Comments

out of my life


oh captive bird
is that the only song
you know
sing sing sing to me
a lullaby

oh captive bird
serenading me to sleep
doors wide open
why oh why
won’t you leave

oh captive bird
finally scheming
in my dreams
can feel you flying
like never before




november two thousand eighteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Poetry and tagged , ,
15 Oct 2018

mirror for the soul


black on grey aviator high in flight
solitary and void of thought
soaring and sharing potentialities
to shadowy souls down below
their earthbound eyes
transfixed at effortless emotions
smiles forming and fingers pointing
curiously considering the possible
inevitability of one day doing the same




october two thousand eighteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
10 May 2018
6 Comments

end of speed limit


roadside singer
quite colorful and
resting comfortably atop
curved guard rail
counting blue cars
and red motorcycles
racing by like clockwork
ruffling feathers
and drowning out
magical sounds
inspired by god herself




may two thousand eighteen
copyright j matthew waters
all right reserved

Posted in Birds, Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , ,

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