the water is pretty toxic here
but the children
seem to have adapted
the ones with years of knowledge
are not faring so well
their numbers dwindling
by the day
the crops should be better
next year
thanks to all the dying
without question
the mountains are shrinking
the price of gold
going higher & higher
january two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
I’m done counting my blessings
you see there’s nothing left
I’ve bundled them into packages
& shipped them off to those
who need them more than me
I just gave my last interview
did my best not to say
I don’t give a shit anymore
was quick to bite my tongue
instead talked about the children
needing more than ever before
how without the blessings
they’re destined to become
something we’ve never seen
in all of human history
june two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
laying down fiber
high speed generation
a thousand megabits per second
like hummingbird wings
a race between
the underground & the cloud
a pay-per-trip time machine
idling in the wings
won’t you step inside & see
how it all ends
april two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
there is a divide
between how we got here
and whether a history
stained from the beginning
matters or not
how do you fix something
that’s always been broken
even though at the time
people believed
in what they were doing
living in interesting times
has become so passé
I want to start living
somewhere in the future
march two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
living in the present
yes I get that who doesn’t
taking in the sights and sounds
as if you’re seeing the world
around you each and every day
for the very first time
but alas what challenges
the present creates
especially when piecing
together past and future events
defining and redefining
perceptions and realities
not to mention those ever elusive
dream interpretations
so here you are sitting
at an outdoor cafe
alone or perhaps with a
real or imagined friend
living in the moment as they say
never pulling back or pushing forward
somehow knowing every single word
to every single song streaming
out into the open air
april two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
in the backyard
all secure by a privacy fence
two boys continue their work
on new and improved old ideas
they’ve done the math
and they’ve completed
the construction
all that’s left is to send
that damn rocket
out into outer space
striking a light
they set the fuse to burn
running away at full speed
their future blazing overhead
march two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
summer has never been so close
knocking hard
loud and clear like a thunderclap
if you didn’t hear that
you may as well be deaf
I murmured
but there was nobody around
to absorb my spoken words
except for nightbirds and spiders
and hackers inside my laptop
there are many weeds needing
pulling and much soil needing turning
I keep telling myself
but in the middle of the night
none of that is occurring
at least not in real time
come monday morning nobody
may remember exactly what transpired
whether it be a history rewritten
or saplings thriving free of gasoline
june two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
it started with wheels made of rocks
rolling down grassy hills
chased by boys in sparse clothing
whooping and hollering for the damn
thing to stop
such imagination led to saddles for
elephants and chariots for horses
led to rickshaws powered by men
led to river boats exploring the
river euphrates
I remember walking beside caesar
back home via the appian way
I remember shadowing jesus
riding his pony into jerusalem
there are plenty of magic carpet
rides to steal upon
taking you back to that exact
place where you remember
witnessing everything for the
very first time
december two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
reborn into this world
no longer can I say
I don’t belong
can no longer keep quiet
my doubts about
making it out alive
once the fossil fuels are gone
putting down half-filled shots
of eighty proof rye
rocket scientists collude with
future historians
rewriting how everything
precisely went down
once the reserves ran dry
may two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
the moment you start looking back
and analyzing every misstep
chances are you are not where
you want to be
and all the hopeless wishing in the world
will leave you even more wretched
consider the beauty of the butterfly
and ask yourself if your life isn’t worth
just as much
and maybe then you will understand
moving forward is the only option
with or without a migration map
june two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
jdubqca 