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poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “poem”

21 Jul 2019
10 Comments

fragile is the flower


I’m easily moved to tears
not because I’ve grown sentimental
over the course of time
but rather because
that’s the way I was made

I used to wonder
if I was the reason
my father showed disdain
for anything soft
be it a baby’s bottom or a butterfly
a geranium petal
or a genuine display of affection

of course such thoughts
no longer belong to me
having come to accept the terms
of my own philosophy
including how some of us
deny the fragility
of the human condition




july two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged ,
20 Jul 2019
2 Comments

make amends with you


an endless sky and sun so close
melting muscle into bone
stripping clothes from your back
surrendering to your natural self

you’ve taken to this task before
making amends with yourself
peeling one layer after another
sweeping dead skin into tin can

do not confuse the sun with fire
the latter of which burns man-made
objects to the ground
the other capable of recreating
your own ashes into something new




july two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , ,
19 Jul 2019

this never ending war


this never ending war
call it evolution of revolution
as predictable as time itself
spinning and orbiting
one object around another

robotic tin soldiers
advancing exponentially
mercurial eyes laser sharp
lethal like the very weapons
they wield on command

the course of human history
seemingly on autopilot
at odds with peacemakers
challenging old world warlords
brokering old deals with satan




july two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , | Leave a comment
18 Jul 2019
4 Comments

green will always be your eyes


here we are back on the moon
like it was nineteen sixty-nine
year of the miracle mets

oh how I remember it well
my dear friend
staying up all night
fighting demons disguised
as russian cosmonauts

so many years later
I’m reminded in song
being with you girl
is like being stoned
a million miles from home

they say the sun is blue
when running free
on the dark side of the moon
where gravity loves company
and green will always be your eyes




july two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Aliens, Poetry and tagged , ,
17 Jul 2019
3 Comments

I left my phone charging back home


my father grew up near the spoon river
[named after a fictional illinois town]
and only lately have I wondered
if as a boy he’d fish for channel cat there
something he loved to do in his retirement
at lock and dam 14 on the mississippi

here I stand hundreds of miles away
casting my line into the wapsipinicon
[named by the chippewa after aquatic
plants they called ‘swan potatoes’]
my eyes focused on the shiny spinner
my mind rewinding and fast forwarding

I’ve caught and released countless cat
this hot and humid july afternoon
summer sun finally muted by the treeline
a subtle reminder that despite the heat
relief will eventually come my way
as I retrace ten thousand steps back home




july two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Fishing, Poetry and tagged , ,
16 Jul 2019
2 Comments

the next great escape


I was lost in the city
maybe for the last time
having arrived weeks earlier
held captive in a rail car

how I managed to free myself
remains a mystery even to me

this place is different
with its extensive tunnel system
all leading to the bay
where the sun sets but never rises
and the moon is always near

although wary of friendlies
I find comfort with most strangers
especially those with sandwiches
in their pockets
and forgiveness in their eyes




july two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
15 Jul 2019

lines of vision


for some reason
stitch and sew
repeats in my mind
like a child’s doll
eyes wide open
looking past
the lonely horizon

those loose ends
eventually tear open
momentarily
put back together
surgically restoring
lines of vision
and seamless smiles




july two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
14 Jul 2019

Burning Man


What have I become
Johnny Cash once questioned
covering a commercially popular
Nine Inch Nails song

Reviewing the haunting video
I can taste his inevitable demise
feel his sense of desperation
and hopelessness
lingering in my blood and bones
leaving me empty inside
questioning my own reality

What will I become Mister Cash
once I’ve followed your lead
will my empire of dirt burn eternally
somewhere other than here on earth




july two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
12 Jul 2019
3 Comments

lesson number one


are you talking to me
in syllables never making sense
blowing raspberries
and shaking about
like a fart in a frying pan

you came into this world
rather unexpectedly
cries and stretches and smiles
demanding everything
and nothing at the same time




july two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , ,
11 Jul 2019
3 Comments

[not to mention]


I don’t remember being born
though I’m certain
I was destined to run away
on more than one occasion

I try to look back and decipher
if the next event
is coded in the past

I’ve been to california [but
not to oklahoma]
first time by way of greyhound
second time via jet airliner
next time will be
either by rail or automobile
depending upon my health

it’s become such a mess
I wonder if there’s a way
to salvage future travel plans
add in iceland and ireland
egypt and arabia
tokyo and singapore and perth
[not to mention] york and jersey
both new and old

there’s a good chance
I’ve already completed the entire
globe trotting experience
and it’s simply a matter
of repurposing old photographs




july two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
10 Jul 2019

eyes of disarray


love me once I said
and I will love you forever
and though quite frequently
we breathed the same air
eventually we went
our separate ways

millions of miles later
I somehow convinced myself
I didn’t deserve to be loved
and so I set a course
in the opposite direction

at first you wrote often
but never did you tell me
what I so desperately wanted to read
and when I wrote back
my sentences were filled
with lies disguised as inner rhymes

eventually all communication
would cease to be
and years later
I would find myself
reminiscing of those days
that may have never existed
leaving me imagining
what true love must be




july two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
09 Jul 2019
2 Comments

reflections and back


from the potters ground angels surface
stretching their newfound wings
and joining the early morning choir

fear not the voices inside your head
they’ve been put there for a reason

moon and stars will eventually fall
from an endless watercolor sky
once filling your expanding mind




july two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , ,
08 Jul 2019

reworking old equations


we got a little cash
three-fifths of jack daniels
and a six pack of warm fat tire

we talk about the easy days
at the kitchen counter
dissing the left & right & mainstream
disclosing our opinions
aren’t necessarily our own

on the counter sit two boxes
one made of cardboard
the other one real pine
first one containing
a handful of colombians
the other filled with irregularly-
shaped caramel squares
wrapped inside wax paper

it was easier back in the day
discussing ‘girls in their summer
dresses’ and critiquing ‘hills like
white elephants’ in a nearby tavern
admitting how grand it would be
to one day write something original

ice cubes and rock glasses aplenty
[figuratively within arms reach]
we redirect our thoughts
figuring out how to divvy up the entire lot
before hailing an uber
back to campus town




july two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
07 Jul 2019
2 Comments

the dawn chorus


first there was the final dream
approaching morning light
bedroom curtains breathing in and out
mimicking my own circadian rhythm
and welcoming the dawn chorus

birds beginning to think it’s spring
how they invade my subconscious
pretending to be children
reincarnated from fallen leaves
singing from the tallest trees

one morning that will be me
having not awakened from the dream
free falling like a leaf among many
reaching out and believing
finally participating in the dawn chorus




july two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Dreams and tagged , , ,
06 Jul 2019

a plethora of time


she hadn’t died rather simply overslept
but for a moment we had held our breath

it stormed from dusk and well past dawn
young and old alike dreaming undisturbed

daylight delayed and electricity off grid
challenging life and impersonating pause

she hadn’t died rather simply overslept
at least for the moment or so we were told




july two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
05 Jul 2019

millions of dollars at stake


rehearsing and rewording
keeping eyes and ears open
millions of dollars at stake
electric cars racing faster
than any combustible engine
ever placed on this earth
all buckled in and good to go
demigod voices streaming
through AM radio
promising surprises in the end
eyes no longer focused on the road
rather on waxing gibbous
slowly appearing above
the imaginary shoreline




july two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment

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