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poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “dreams”

07 Jun 2015
10 Comments

Sunday Driver


It was a Sunday and the air conditioner
decided to stop working in my
1999 Aurora

I had been traveling from small town
to small town along
highway 13
convinced I would know exactly where
I was going once I got there

the price of gasoline was much cheaper
today but I already had a full tank

there was a rattle coming from the trunk
and I kept thinking I should stop to find out why

the cubs/cards game was mostly
static on the am radio
and I had no idea who was losing

there was a sign on mile marker 66
warning against picking up hitchhikers
and it was then I realized
I would soon find purpose to my day



june two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , ,
28 Feb 2015
3 Comments

from outside the canopy


from what I remember a tire swung
from the rafters from inside the barn
the motion putting me to sleep
safely wrapped and held in arms
I loved but would not know

the difference between reality
and dreams remain indistinguishable
from the night or morning lights
arms swinging from the canopy
rocking me endlessly to sleep





february two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , , ,
24 Jan 2015
2 Comments

I lost a day and found everything


time machine on four wheels
fueled by some kind of natural gas
yet to be mined or refined
sent me on backward courses
destined to make me believe
in new definitions

there is something to be found
where you least expect
especially when weaving in
and out of byways and highways
genuine or imaginary or
in the design phase

bracing for impact I wasn’t
sure if I was exiting or entering
my man-made machine
simple and complex and
able to travel everywhere
in a matter of seconds


january two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , , , ,
19 Nov 2014
2 Comments

impossible to stay on top


apparent victors come and go
just like their opposites who crawl
and walk and run behind the scenes
climbing mystical mountains and
sailing impossible dreams
asked to start fires
put out fires and
catapult fireworks into the night
fallout from the blasts twinkling
like a dying star
consumed by the unseen



november two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, History, Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , , ,
05 Nov 2014
6 Comments

make-believe worlds


who are we but pretend gods
unable to tame the time of day
huddled en masse on street
corners and freeways
and white-hot beaches
putting out fires and chasing
ambulances
running away from tsunamis and
disease and ghostly dreams
practicing ego and yoga and war
and the finest of arts
orchestrating chaos by day and
reciting poetry at night
calling for real gods in a pretend
world to somehow set us free



november two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , , ,
01 Nov 2014
7 Comments

blue skies and pink slips


late afternoons
sitting at the desk
facing the side window in the sweaty efficiency
drinking mickey’s malt liquor
and banging on the smith corona
I hardly notice the oscillating fan impersonating
a little robot stuck on a floor board
can barely hear the radio putting out music
or airing another baseball game

outside
the neighbor’s black lab patrols the fence line
barking indiscriminately

blank pages
enter the rollers and withstand
a barrage of pelted bars
launched by levers by way of fast fingers
fanciful ribbons turning pure white sheets into
paperless dreams creasing and
folding and pretending to be airplanes

so many summers ago
I launched countless letters into the jetstream
some struggled to make it out alive
others fading with the setting sun
a few lucky ones breaking the outer atmosphere
only to crash and burn inside wire baskets



november two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , , , , ,
20 Aug 2014
8 Comments

all alleys lead to sand & saltwater


walking away from the sunset
shopping for the next place to sleep
eyes remain optimistic of a tomorrow
promising pay

all alleys in this pacific coast city
lead to sand & saltwater
along the way housing is made from
cardboard & wire & unfinished dreams

familiar hopeful faces
unite and welcome the wonders of the day
their hands busily preparing
to feed five thousand





august two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, In the City, Poetry and tagged , , , ,
09 Aug 2014
17 Comments

miracle


I smelled what I thought were freshly
cut roses
the color red I imagined
softly brilliant in slender glass vase

I felt the velveted petals between
thumb and finger
reminding me of feathers
I once patiently nurtured back to flight

I heard the beating of a restless heart
pressed against
innocent skin exposed to light
newly created and wrinkled in fear

I dreamed of tasting a perfect fruit
innocently sweet
and promising flawless eyes
witnessing unimaginable happenings



august two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , , ,
02 Aug 2014
5 Comments

letter in waiting


this woman I once knew always
spoke the truth
steered clear of all the haters
and did what she wanted to do

she enjoyed back rubs
and always said thank you

she once told me over chardonnay
how she was sick and tired of
nobody taking responsibility

once upon a time she acted
all whole and goody two-shoes
but that made her feel nervous
and less than virtuous

one rainy morning she told me
she had found that perfect place
kissed me goodbye
and fled on foot into the city

head stuck out
second story window
I waved and yelled for her to write

once she had gotten there


august two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , , ,
22 Jun 2014
4 Comments

true interpretations


it rained all night
and while I slept sharks
swam in circles around my body
either protecting me from myself
or saving me for later

awakened by wind sweeping in
morning sunshine
I took to the kitchen
coffee maker abuzz
birds of the air outside my window
like chatty statuettes
swapping old stories

settling back into real-time solitude
I revisit casualties
both foreign and domestic
making headlines on print and
television and internet
their bodies dead or dying
my prayers hoping they find
doves soaring on the other side

unable to shake the current
course of events
I stare into my oversized cup
of morning petroleum
dorsal fins circling above the surface
daring me to find out the true
interpretation to my dream


june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Dreams, Nature, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , , , ,
21 Jun 2014
6 Comments

in this land of make-believe


these dreams go beyond make-believe
and into spaces without stars
where coldness goes unnoticed
and past lives become memoirs

as I lie asleep out at sea
you seem to disappear along the shore
consumed by ultraviolet rays
disguised as gently rolling waves

cradle rocking from side to side
foreign voices tell me not to cry
assuring me things will be all right
once understanding how it ends





june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , , , ,
17 May 2014
4 Comments

somebody’s going to die in the land of fools


tower guards flash spotlights
across the desert sky filled with zeppelins
searching for someplace to hide

the wreckage in the field goes unnoticed
for nearly a fortnight

by the time help arrives nothing is out of place

ever since
black sheep wander the land of fools
where someone is certain to die
any given night
slaughtered by supersonic streams of consciousness
running artificial red lights





may two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , , , , , ,
12 May 2014
4 Comments

designer drugs


we pump ourselves up with artificial
intelligence designed to make us fly by
unnoticed and unashamed
turning our dreams into newsflashes
made to fizzle in the dark
leaving everyone wondering
exactly what went wrong



may two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , , ,
16 Apr 2014
7 Comments

behind the alibi


alone I wander the sea
of dreams
just me and my alibi
and yellow submarine

beneath the depths of
deserted space
shooting stars sail on
outside the alibi

old borders collapse
new realities emerge
compressed and
submerged
and living a new lie





copyright j matthew waters
april two thousand fourteen
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , ,
27 Mar 2014
5 Comments

red light


camera at top of the world
forces my foot down
left facing the red light
idling first in line
outside the city’s edge

I wait with my own thoughts
neither angry nor sad
indifferent to my circumstance
my petty arguments
list of things unsaid

vague images fly by like
recollections on wheels
transporting me near and far
as if past and present
resided inside the red light

one blink of the eye
I’m rushing forward
to the next intangible destination
chased from behind by
lights of another color


march two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , , , ,
01 Feb 2014
2 Comments

slow motion


an inside energy aspires foreign
motivation
to locate new places for
cool isolation
working on remedies
to century-old habits

inside this allusion the mind’s
eye flits
like a butterfly
along winding stone steps
digressing into a deepening
pool of true change

even while away the doubts remain
false distractions replace
memories of sure
familiar space

progression continues on time
unchanged
the path homing around
new worlds
unfolding alien landscapes
and welcomed perils

incomplete thoughts bring
incomplete conclusions
halting
progressive forward movements
in favor of slow motion replays


february two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , ,

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