jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “expectations”

17 Jun 2023

No expectations


I’ve made my way here
on account of my mother
a woman well aware of her family
but unwilling to look
neither forward nor past

She’s deserved much more
than what’s been handed to her
and I’m afraid I may be
her last chance to understand
what she may have missed

There is no self-loathing
as far as she is concerned
but where I come from
[based on my own experiences]
is precisely the opposite

Making my way back from a
pub on Ennis Friary
I conduct traffic near midnight
believing the Irish in me
is exactly what she had expected





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
28 Apr 2018
13 Comments

unrealistic expectations


recreating that which transpired ages ago
like piecing together an impossible puzzle
patching together squares of unrelated fabric
having no business being stitched together

there’s a timepiece strapped to my wrist
and I’ve no means of removing it
ticking like some roadside bomb
waiting for the perfect time to explode

I’ve nowhere to go except forward
strapped in boots and marching through
frozen grass icing over like a stream
old familiar territory once made of concrete

there’s a house up ahead I know it well
an old childhood friend used to live there
how many times I’ve been drawn inside
a world where I was always welcomed

it’s early but not too early
the sun arising
shining upon the front screen door

before I am able to knock
a child appears
our eyes meeting inquisitively

the child’s eyes give way to a man
about my own age
pushing open the door and telling me
he’s not been well
and that he’s been expecting me




april two thousand eighteen
copyright j matthew waters
all right reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , ,
05 Mar 2018
2 Comments

lowering expectations


oh my evocative moon
how your passions leave me emotionally spent
leaving me wanting more of what I can’t have
leaving me pretending

underdog contenders slip by the wayside
cosmic currents sweeping them
beneath the carpet
only to be rediscovered when least expected
presented as new darlings of the night sky

lucky stars come and falling stars go
but philosophic metaphors remain in flight
dashing in and out of dreams
like renegade comets bursting at the seams





march two thousand eighteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , ,
23 Feb 2013
14 Comments

the wonderful smell of spring


i walked outside
on a warm spring day
and smelled chocolate chip cookies

they must be coming from next door
i thought
so i moseyed to my neighbor’s back door
and knocked and waited
to be let in

my neighbor didn’t come to the door
so i walked to the kitchen window
and held onto the ledge
with my fingers
pulling myself up so my chin
rested on the ledge
the heels of my feet off the ground
lifted by the power of my toes

there i saw two sheets of
chocolate chip cookies
laid out on the counter
untouched and looking delicious

i wondered why my neighbor
didn’t want to share
her brand new cookies

i walk away
saddened
the smell of the cookies
lingering everywhere





february two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , ,

Post Navigation