this is where I belong
inside an empty room
inventing a song on the fly
for nobody to hear
after the invention
after all the rewinding
& fast-forwarding
after all the edits have been made
there is still no closure
the end product
nothing like the original
which somehow remains intact
to this day
september two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
it was a gem of a thought
something I had been waiting for
these past few days
but when it hit me
I was far removed from my comfort zone
and by the time I was able
to resurface into my space
the thought was dead & gone
as if it had never existed
in the first place
august two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
the finish line is barely visible
a thin papered strip of memories
held in place by bookend angels
with nothing but time to burn
sometimes the light is further
than what side view mirrors can see
other times up front and flashing
like an ambulance called on the scene
its influence fading inside a
tunnel of diminishing returns
where mind and body separate
if only for a moment in time
innocent lives cast inside
neighborhoods mostly off limits
practice running and gunning
and killing lights that
one day were once inspiring
september two thousand fifteen
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
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