the smell of ash
& burnt wood
a slight breeze from
the south
nearly midnight
something is wrong
with the world
the terror within
takes a back seat
to someone
else’s reality
where most struggles
go unnoticed
burning a slow burn
september two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
she looked out of place
sitting near the exit door of the bus
some believed she was from
another world
sent to sit in one spot & observe
some say she was a sorcerer
or an oracle
or simply an hologram
—that her position on the bus
had something to do
with coordinates of certain stars
days turned into weeks
weeks into months
months into years
yet she continued to occupy
the same seat on the bus
for whatever reason
nobody had the courage
to directly ask her
why on earth she sat there
in silence & expressionless
in the meantime people came
and people went
a cycle of certainty in an uncertain world
—of course in the end
she may have never existed at all
august two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
before I begin let me
go back up to the very beginning
where weapons of war
were as rudimentary
as the very act of rape
how can you write about hunger
without ever going hungry
how can you write about death
without first dying
there is no poetic justice
in these once-upon-streets
forever bustling with a sensation
you can no longer describe
march two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
forgive my apathy
I’m long adrift in no man’s land
examining all life around me
as if for the last time
offbeat winds blowing
in contradictory directions
stars steering me at night
offering empathy
this invisible me
like a thimble in the raging sea
believably staying afloat
white flag waving high
october two thousand twenty
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
there was a problem with my shoulder
but the x-rays contradicted my word
and when the good doctor pressed here
and prodded there I responded
I could feel no discomfort
my parting orders included the words
‘acute pain’ and it was then I realized
the health system can be like a chameleon
and so I made an appointment with a
physical therapist and she
easily found my trouble spots
exposing them as true weaknesses
addressing and describing them in such a way
that left me smiling and nodding my head
as time went by I assured her
exercises and effort were making a difference
but I sensed she thought otherwise
and though she never called me a liar
she nonchalantly explained how the pain
in my shoulder would never go away
much like the weight placed upon this world
october two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
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