jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “cemetery”

03 Jan 2022

one hundred nineteen acres


garden cemetery inside the city
didn’t always used to be that way

nobody imagined how urban crawl
would wrap around
a canopy of over two thousand trees

brick walls & wrought iron fencing
winding pathways & architectural beauty
all subdued by pastoral plantings
drawn up over fifteen decades ago

to be inside graceland is to be
outside of the ordinary
the dead walking among the living
inventing & articulating
playing catch
watching a rehearsal
bustling among the buyers & sellers
be they tourists or curious neighbors
or permanent residents





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

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
16 Aug 2018
8 Comments

cemetery trees


candles are made to be lit
just as wishbones
are meant to be broken

I’ve no idea where they come from
but they just keep on giving
like there’s no tomorrow

yesterday’s best ideas are nothing
more than a passing fancy
notwithstanding indecipherable rhymes
capable of sneaking through cracks

around here we talk about what
will be or what may have been
all the while knowing full damn well
we’ve no intention of being caught
dead in our tracks




august two thousand eighteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
21 Jul 2018

small miracles


cemetery trees understand you more than
any mind reader ever possibly could

we canceled our vacation plans and instead
spent the weekend planting evergreens

chapel in the field is lit by candlelight
little women on their knees counting beads

I remember this place from once upon a time
and something tells me so should you




july two thousand eighteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
09 Dec 2016
11 Comments

places buried in the past


I did not know her
but I was compelled
to find her final resting place

it was a bright but cold december day
but I kept warm in the car
driving mindlessly past corn fields
mile after mile after mile
stripped clean yet ruggedly barren

the interstate traffic was heavy
and I wondered how many seekers
if any
had set off on a journey
to find her final resting place

google maps told me how to get there
but I only had to read the directions once

and when I got there
it was as if I had been there all along



december two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , ,
13 Jan 2015
9 Comments

picnic in the park overlooking the cemetery


it just sucks
all this is going on and one day
nothing matters
none of it matters
and you’re gone
and there’s nothing more

who’s to say there’s nothing more
she says
sitting back in her director’s chair
legs crossed and freshly shaved

don’t go there he says
don’t you dare go there

maybe death is a good thing she says
maybe it’s the start of something new
and hopelessly beautiful
just like this glass of champagne

maybe we shouldn’t be buying champagne
he says
maybe we should be buying real estate

yes she says
a change of scenery would do you wonders


january two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , , ,

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