jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “faith”

Preparation


Where do I begin
describing the beginning
to the end—what business
of this is mine

Something or someone tells you
you’ve been here before
—so very long ago

What kind of ending is this
intimate believer of the faith
—Angels from heaven visiting you
night after night
helping you
up & down
the staircase
—saving yourself enough strength
to prepare a cooked egg
atop a slice of toast

After an exhaustive night
you don’t remember a single one of them
—but somehow their names
repeat over & again in your mind:
Raphael
Jerahmeel
—and of course Michael

How they feed you bits of wisdom
and you nod & repeatedly say:
yes I know
yes I know
I remember you saying so in the dream

Soon
—soon child
—patience will reward you


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

relocating the needle to the haystack


it’s magic
how the camel passes through
the eye of the needle
though there is not a single
witness

they said they remember
reading about it
going further to say
there isn’t any truth in it
that it was merely
hearsay

but I thought
we were talking about magic
the smallest one said
and if that is the case
I wholeheartedly
believe





january two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Oh thee of little faith


I didn’t come here to be blindsided
punched in the face
and kicked in the gut
all while trying to stand back up

I didn’t come here to starve to death
nor wander god-forsaken lands
once ruled by holy men
who failed so miserably

I didn’t come here to be ridiculed
for my beliefs
whether original thoughts
or inherited by a people struggling
to break free from persecution

I didn’t come here to be dominated
intimidated or bound
detained in a cage
and held for ransom
praying to be redeemed
by my lady of mercy


march two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

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