how far back can you reach
is there a rabbit there
under your hat
or are they afraid
to even show themselves
it was supposed to be
a peaceful year
but certain powers that be
made damn sure
it wasn’t in the cards
and now the world
is once again
being bombed to death
—once optimistic rabbits
dig deeper into their holes
september two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
there were birthday bashes
and wedding plans
happy anniversaries
and simple cocktail parties
(released from the atmosphere
sounds of near sonic speeds
accelerate)
there were candles burning
and balloons suspended on the ceiling
teenagers smoking secretly
and babies stirring in bassinets
(precise targets become isolated and
confirmed via encrypted
airwaves)
children in paper hats chase tails
and girls in summer dresses walk on by
there were flowers abloom in the garden
and water fountains making rainbows
(suddenly a fiery crash
turned into an expanding billowy shroud
erasing all of reality in specific vicinities
instantly)
january two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
planes overhead
fly day and night
going on forever
kneeling with daughter
elbows on bed
one candle casts a light
equipped to the hilt
martyrs and saints
march into the desert
daughter falls asleep
dreams of war drums
advancing up the street
escape routes collapse
from the dead air
I take her hand and run
september two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
Fire fighting aircraft
turn their bellies upward
as they veer away
from the blaze below
their waterbombs
struggling to penetrate
the conflagration
set off days ago
by a strike from the sky
blasting the Windy City
with wicked veracity
turning human ingenuity
into a flattening incinerator
filled with rubber
and concrete
steel and humanity
stirring dead souls
into vague memories
of eighteen seventy-one
october, two thousand eleven
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
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