jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “nature”

31 Jul 2017
6 Comments

another summer lost


open the windows and let cold air in
infiltrating your comfort zone and chilling
your most heated and desperate thoughts

I know not what raises your condition
bringing your ideas to simmering boil
followed by mind-numbing afterburn

I’ve spotted your face in the passing clouds
sliver of a silver moon peek-a-booing
songbirds praising your inner beauty

although impossible to keep you close
I’ve kept your photographs frozen in my mind
turning them into moving pictures

this cold air is bound to heat up again
meanwhile I huddle inside heavy blankets
waiting for winter solstice to show



july two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , ,
13 Jul 2017
6 Comments

shades of silver and gold


I’m going to take them with me
each and every one of them
I’m going to box them up neatly
like the prettiest set of flowers
ever assembled
and present them with humility
to the spirit of the skies



july two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Micropoetry, Nature, Poetry and tagged , ,
12 Jul 2017
2 Comments

lord of the flowers


mighty clouds bulbous and swelling
swarming through dark starless skies
spinning tales of menace and fear
choosing who lives and who dies

little ones crisscross through cornfields
chasing monarch butterflies
free of cares above or below
on this earth or otherwise

what keeps your faith resurrecting
my dear flower of surprise
oh how you entertain greatness
amidst the deceit and lies



july two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , ,
29 Jun 2017
4 Comments

katydid


who’s that singing me to sleep
these late summer eves
waxing and waning like the moon
but oh so minuscule

good vibrations commingle
between life and death
cycling for the better every year
give or take a lunar month

hopping from tree to tree
from bush to shrub
petal to rejuvenated petal
tempted by the bluejay
and coaxed by the stream
making friends with frogs and mice
anything honestly faced along the way




june two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , ,
24 Jun 2017
5 Comments

just like a satellite


out back the boys chewed
on tobacco they called butterflyweed
and not a one of them had a single
thought in their head

inside the girls worked batch
after batch of monster cookies
television set playing in the background
radio blasting pop rock
not a one of them ever not talking

somewhere along the line
these monarch butterflies fly overhead
like an orange sundog drifting along
arcing like a rainbow through the midday sky





june two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Micropoetry, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , ,
12 Jun 2017
11 Comments

just before the calm


there is symmetry in your words
aloft and capacious
passing through like clouds

I used to love the way you talked
but that was long ago
and though I’ve tried I can’t consciously
recall the rhythm or the flow

those wind chimes you hung
still haunt me so
how they suddenly appear out of thin air
colorless and perfectly soundless





june two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , ,
01 May 2017
6 Comments

after the last day of april


it’s the first of may and all I have left
is this desire to sleep and
witness ruby-throated hummingbirds
feasting upon the flowers



may day two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Micropoetry, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , ,
22 Apr 2017
4 Comments

How they arrived with clarity and force


Lightning strikes on Miller’s farm
and days later
everything is gone

Are you sure it was natural
everyone seemed to ask
or could it have been an arrow
directed by an angry god

Local preachers try to explain
to congregations of none
exactly what didn’t happen

Meanwhile earth moving machines
continually roll in from far away places





april two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Aliens, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , ,
06 Apr 2017
4 Comments

out here in the fields


we can pretty much do anything
out here in the fields
except piss on concrete buildings
or turn boxcars into artwork

the bus driver went one way
while the rest of us went another
confident the slender moon would
never lead us astray



april two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Micropoetry, Nature and tagged , , ,
12 Mar 2017
8 Comments

skipping stones across the surface


there is more to this than scrambling
from one life to the next
deciding who wins and what memories
are worth replaying time and again

the rocks by the water are flatter
than the ones on the hill
but both have surrendered to their fate
indestructible forces that they are

when your calls for help go unanswered
you may need to look elsewhere
though perhaps it’s wiser to lay low
and let patience be your friend

one day the tulips will rise oh so belatedly
delayed by a recent avalanche
covering the ground like an afghan blanket
neither suffocating nor impenetrable



march two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , ,
11 Mar 2017
8 Comments

while trees are falling down


I saw some poetry while walking in the woods
but it quickly scurried away like a frightened ghost

did you see that I asked myself but I did not respond
determined to take a course unbeknownst to anyone

blood flows through my veins on borrowed time
at one within a place where hollow trees rise and fall

convinced there is no way out other than from within
I slow down my pace and surrender to the sound



march two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , ,
10 Mar 2017
8 Comments

how blue is your heart


stained glass hearts
tarnished over time
void of even the faintest
hint of crimson on the
brightest of summer days

on occasion lonely hearts
glisten back to life
slowly reaching out on the
clearest of nights at a
bulging moon turning blue



march two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Note: this poem is linked to Crow’s Open Mic Invitation

Posted in Micropoetry, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , , ,
26 Feb 2017
10 Comments

the philosopher’s playground


the ground trembled beneath bare feet
like an audible sigh from a troubled mind

even the birds paused their morning song
shifting to interpret the mother’s warning

exhausted yet incapable of finding comfort
relaxation eludes the weariest travelers

though peace on earth may one day prevail
the natural order of things indicate otherwise



february two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in History, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , ,
09 Jan 2017
6 Comments

pacifying ancient waves


it’s getting late
midwinter
the cold more than snow
wearing on me
like the moon
weighs on the ocean

the gods tell me
life is long
but there’ll be no spring
so I accept
the premise
and shift my focus

southern sun sings
lullabies
shushing darkened clouds
transforming
extreme thoughts
into peaceful waves



january two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , , ,
07 Jan 2017
4 Comments

accepting the air we breathe


the remedy is closer
than you think
though it seems to pass you by
undetected like an unseen
seductive glance

your god is a jealous one
though you’ve learned to accept that
needlessly questioning
her inconsistent suggestions

it would do you well to consider
the road less traveled
next time you set off on foot
clearing the mind
and patiently engaged
for the answer lies
somewhere in the wind



january two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , ,
05 Jan 2017
4 Comments

look out for that root


it’s awful lonely in this box
but the beauty of it is
you can hear everything

the first thing I’m gonna do
when I break out
is move that hazelnut bush
away from the fence

roots seem to all ball up
and intermingle endlessly
when they got no place to go
but thanks to the spade
nothing ever stays
quite the same
from this season to the next



january two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , , ,

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