we were supposed to be
in california
somewhere due north
of san pablo bay
but somehow wound up
in scottsdale arizona
where it didn’t take long to notice
the dust never settles
april two thousand twenty-five
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
I was short
& you gave me some leeway
we were halfway to chicago
when I said I couldn’t go on
I needed to stop whatever it
was we were doing
and try something else
so you pulled into the next oasis
and wished me good luck
my pockets stuffed with
electronic paper goods
& assorted memories
with nothing on the horizon
I sat in the common area
sipping on my free caffè latte
& studying all the faces
slowly beginning to realize
what I truly missed the most
was my painted desert
may two thousand twenty
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
mad scientists experiment with crash test beauties
self-driving cars fueled by all-powerful sunshine
speeding down mojave superhighway
once promising starlets now victims of trial and error
first degree texts erased by corrosive sand
blown away by bulging moon and desert winds
friends and relatives and drones search earth and sky
all signs of life and death seemingly nonexistent
as if nothing ever really happens here
april two thousand eighteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
bulleted cars crawl on desert road
headlamps shining
motors purring silently
powered by a sun
hidden past the dunes
old soldiers march in the rear
in light camouflage
carrying rifles and canteens
their breath visible while
chanting in the cool air
twenty thousand miles overhead
satellites pick up chatter and
transmit to the other side
resting comfortably
somewhere near the water
like a wine connoisseur
star-studded aficionados
select bombs from a list
packaged and activated
and released from a carrier
morning sun cast shadows
stretched across the desert
etching out new roads
and offering new hopes of
finding refuge near the red sea
october two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
stars are brightest in the desert
and from there you can clearly
see the other worlds
beneath the sand the past lives on
beating shallow breathes and
awaiting the next impact
time travelers land without incident
collecting precious data
left behind by meteorites
full moon pushes old photographs
onto the new shoreline
giving rise to the possibility
that life somehow lived on
june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
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