jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “ghost”

30 Dec 2024
4 Comments

while I lay sleeping


there’s evidence a ghost
has taken up residence in my
studio apartment

for example my painting
temporarily named ‘sunrise over mars’
has mysteriously turned into
‘volcano under glass’
—the yellow oranges & apple reds
replaced with aqua green & neon pink

all of the needles in my sewing kit
have been turned into pins
and all of the iron-on patches
have been scissored into bear claws

the ‘morse code’ mice in the walls
suddenly started speaking broken english
mostly complaining about
some nondescript guest
commandeering their balls & chains
while all the while I am fast asleep


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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , ,
22 May 2024

around here


you could smell
but did not taste the citric acid
the buds on your tongue
all but gone

you once believed in miracles
fairy tales & a ghost
named pseudo su

you used to carry
one-way tickets
to unlimited destinations
but traded them in
for a kiss & three wishes

how did you not notice
I’m not around here anymore
at least not in broad daylight


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

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
09 Nov 2023

little haunted house


little mouse in little house
feeling quite at home
finding its way
through thick & thin
mainly by way of nose

blind woman living alone
senses little ghost
creeping from room to room
her sense of security
never in doubt
her sense of smell
stronger than ever

come morning
in the kitchen
as she sharpens all her knives
the little ghost mouse
comes to its senses
& lives to haunt another house





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

Posted in Animals, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
16 Aug 2023

like a ghost


unplugged & roaming
without a care in the world
the palm of their hands
their very own road map
leading them from point A
to point B

mainly invisible
except by a select few
who somehow identify
w/their predicament
stuck here on this planet
w/o a skeleton key





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

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
20 Jan 2023

leave of absence


I started a poem last night
but I abandoned it
having not slept for days

afterwards I recalled
how I had died
—in the afterlife it was as if
nothing had changed

today nobody seems to know
why I’m still here
I tell them
this is where I work
& they quietly resume
their own activities





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
14 Dec 2022
2 Comments

If you could only see me


When I found myself in the U.S., and the war was at full swing in Bosnia,
I read for survival – it was a means of thought resuscitation.
— Aleksandar Hemon

A road less traveled
a place outside of the self
if only you could see me there
maybe you’d begin
to understand what it means
to be suspended in time

Not far you should find Lazarus
astir on the peninsula
fishing no doubt
waiting on the next wave

It’s nothing but a distraction
as are all the ghosts of the past
my own image
becoming ashen

Somehow you find me
and pull
me
back
in
back onto the shoulder
of a road
less traveled





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

Posted in Fishing, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , ,
20 Nov 2022

the elephant not in the room


I wasn’t supposed to be here
I would say
it was a line I had been practicing
since nineteen ninety-nine

where were you supposed to be
someone would invariably ask

at this point I would
pretend to pay my tab
and walk through the back door
murmuring something about
how my story is as unbelievable
as my untimely demise





november two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
11 Dec 2020
2 Comments

mind over body spirit


there’s a ghost in every machine
and the smarter the machine becomes
the more dangerous the ghost

december two thousand twenty
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , ,
02 Apr 2019
3 Comments

an american alien in egypt


in the dark in alexandria
chasing an illusion
from one continent to the next

this city is far from dead
and inhaling its past is intoxicating
no matter the time of day

greeted by angels at midnight
I’m allowed to dock and disembark
a foreigner without a guest pass

I say tell them I’ll barely be seen
walking their sleepless streets
as if back in new york city





april two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Aliens, In the City, Poetry and tagged , ,
10 Apr 2016
4 Comments

as if I had been there


a thin vapor trail
slipped in through the front door
but nobody was home

if I had been there
I would have noticed something
was quite different
but I was gone on a
journey of a lifetime

the place had not changed
all these years
everything perfectly in place
as if nobody had really
lived there

while my mind wandered
away from worldly ideals
seeking out transcendental gurus
residing on new moons
my spirit remained behind
waiting patiently
to be seen


april two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , ,
05 Oct 2015
2 Comments

ghost of my former self


I always enjoy my time
walking amongst the living
dressed in off-white and
uninterested in success
briefcase in one hand
wall street journal in the other
umbrella purposefully left behind
in a vacated train seat

I once met an angel
while witnessing a stabbing
on sunset boulevard
quickly turned my back
because her light was too bright
her tucked wings a reminder
I can’t possibly find my way
without first learning to fly


october two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , , ,

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