in the valley
rare earth elements
remain untouched
—sacrificial lambs
like a flock of ghosts
roaming the countryside
shepherdless
& blindly
sidestepping
the next catastrophe
march two thousand twenty-five
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
it’s unrealistic to think
I could be flying through space
between today & my death
yet the calls keeping coming in
fundraisers & recruiters
wanting a piece of me
like I’m a tiny part of a complex picture
dreamers connecting dots
from my body to the moon’s south pole
—eventually onto mars
I’ve since blocked such callers
stopped answering
unrecognized numbers
believing there’s nothing unadmirable
about dying right here on earth
march two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
purple tiger
smuggled in from
the southwest border
we were runners
we were kids
never paid by the hour
supposed to be home by six
but that was a moving target
—mama didn’t mind
not as long as they keep paying
social worker
stops by every ten days
making sure she’s still clean
october two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
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