jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “earth”

silver blue jewel


I repeat myself
at the risk of sounding old
like the toy dinosaur
stuffed inside the davenport
left there as a surprise
by the mischievous one
the one who tells me
this one is a carnivore
that one an herbivore

in the grander scale of things
they’ve not been gone
that long
some coming back to life
in living rooms
backyards & museums
the silver screen
some discovered on
castaway islands

I repeat myself
at the risk of sounding old
what did you say
we couldn’t hear you

they plead to be told a story
the one when you were a little girl
and the earth herself
was the size
of a silver blue jewel





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

four twenty & counting


there’s a hole in the earth
will you fill it
will you create
something beautiful out of it

what if you filled it with seeds
what would they be
regular or feminized or auto-flower

would you plant
birch & oak
maple & pine
palm & beech
—how many trees will it take
to fill the void

will you live out your days there
cultivating & dreaming
turning the hole into an oasis
yourself into a god

will you find that death
is impossible there
once deeply rooted
down in the hole





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

idling at the crossroad


perhaps earth herself was responsible
for killing off the dinosaurs
and nothing else
having become disgruntled with the way
they pillaged the land
a select few destroying the lives
of so many others


they shall be reduced to birds of flight
and various reptilian creatures
who will later be named by humans
but only after the latter
would have reached a certain degree
of intelligence

the rest of the story stands before you
idling at the crossroad
the beauty of her diversity at odds
with the human byproduct

   the contributions of the artists
   the pollution of the cities
   capitalism & socialism & pseudo philanthropy
   geometry & astrology & poetry
   mass murder & social injustice
   merry christmas & april fool’s day






december two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

navigating through the greatest distraction


there’s little left to understand
now that the clocks
have been set back
sixty something to be concise
commanded by the powers that be


a mass withdrawal from the present
has long been underway
groups divided between
(among varying degrees) retreating
and moving forward
not a one of them staying put

some say the underground
is the place to be
where planning is improvised
and tunneling toward the core
is the greatest distraction
there is on earth





november two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

clouds as white as elmer’s glue


it’s october again
we start talking about pumpkins
and apple orchards

two miles from the highway
gravel road
sure to make an impact

on this life & the next
a sort of roadmap
linking the planet earth

to some place
we’ve not yet visited
a remote fortress if you will

far from all the madness
happening inside a spinning top
colored ocean-blue & elmer’s glue





october two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

the quiet earth


the ocean pulls back
& the moon
wanes
unattended smoldering
slowly advancing


call it a slow burn
if you will
call it a cleansing
a purging
fire on the water
strangely inviting

the earth has never
been this quiet
the airwaves nearly vacant
except for what
the stars
& the quasars giveth




june two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

commonality


I seem to keep missing you
one turn after the next
all the while telling myself I’m not
looking for anything in particular

it is summer but you know that
the solstice a mere hours away
I’ve long since ventured out
chasing shadows on the open road

it’s true the earth keeps spinning
unchanged yet ever-changing
dividing & distancing & reuniting
common people like you & me




june two thousand twenty
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

stirring the seed in the soil


it seems the trick is to feed your body
with specific types and amounts of oil
or so I’m learning there is more to nature
than leaf and flower and feather and bone

to the perfect alien we are one in the same
especially when viewed a million miles away
subtleties at best captured in a mirror
attached to a wall countless centuries ago

in the urban garden there is more to life
than surveillance and common temptations
abundance showing itself in spades
evident on low hanging vines and branches

folklore and concoctions openly compete
promoting cures and extending lives
nearly all sharing a simple solution
showing respect to the goodness of earth




august two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

drawing lines in the sand


with earth day fast approaching
how cannot images of
cosmic collisions cross my mind
planets spinning
dramatically out of control
elsewhere within the milky way

astrologically speaking
the local gods continue
to reconsider scientific law
the orion arm their local playground
occasionally bringing
mother nature to her knees





april two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

why can’t this place be any better


looking from afar she’s a beauty
dressed in variations of blue and white
spinning in place like a ballerina
poised and full of grace

born into a seemingly endless era
she has lived and died countless times
only to return to confront the dangers
the natural order of things create

unconcerned with the scars modern
minds have fatally placed upon themselves
she feeds on mere mortal wounds
knowing time will heal all things



july two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

before this world


it’s like I had been here before
this sometimes lonely
sometimes violent planet
spinning tales of uncertainty
fighting for her own life from
forces inside and out

irreconcilable differences
fester beneath the surface
and in the hearts of men
who pretend love doesn’t exist
propagating arms races and
settling disputes with destruction

the creator casts lots and flirts
with extinction in innumerable ways
taking out ground troops in
single covert operations
recasting their souls back before
this world was ever born



june two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

The great virtue of compassion


I returned to earth as an underfed
infant in a remote village
where nurses are plenty
and painted-face doctors
routinely perform miracles

Years later my dying mother
begged me in a language
I barely understood
to escape the poverty this
barren land provided and
seek refuge in the golden city

As I traveled by foot from
desert town to desert town
visions of previous lives
entered my waking dreams
detailing how I had traveled
this road centuries ago
comforting all who hungered
by first feeding their minds


may two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

going back in time


fires in pits burn like hell
smoldering blind arrogance into
nondescript skies

wayward planet tumbles unnoticed
indistinguishable from any other
breathing thing on life support
its black gold stripped and sold
ages ago by alien mariners

time travelers daring for closer looks
would be hard pressed
to find usable oxygen or
colorful postcards floating alongside
amphibian skeletons busily
building new fossil records





may two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

earthbound and elemental


she keeps old zippo
and stick matches
stashed inside denim pockets
just in case something
ever needs starting

innocent dragons
breathe in knowledge
exhaling old world ideas
to winded children
dying for fresh air

oceans rock and roil
worshipped by clouds
parading as aliens
showering the coast
inexorably

deep within the soil
life awakens
stirred by foot driven shovels
uncovering rock
never before seen


january two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

genome projects


this old blue jewel continuously
reinvents herself
through orderly chaos
using beautifully destructive forces
to tear herself down and rise again
in unimaginable creativity

she is her own god forever conjoined
with the serene sky
the strands of creation
emitting sparks from her fingertips
fashioning transcendental elements
into a supernatural world



june two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

first blanket


the ancient ocean gave birth
to fertile earth admired from afar
worked by hands never seen

from its soil a new creation evolved
assisted by elements capable
of producing wind and fire

seedlings awakened and stretched
and instinctively sought to reach
the warmth of the outer dome

brown and green gradually gathered
throughout the valley
weaving itself into a blanket
of outlandish color





november two thousand twelve
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

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