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poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “poem”

04 Jul 2019
2 Comments

what have I become


how am I to follow suit
on such a sorrowful day
sun beating down so hard
keeping even ants
from working on the hill

he had died in my dream
countless times
but now that I’m older
than the dream itself
others may visualize
my youthful presence
as a mere memory

I never should have followed
irrational commands
disturbing the soil
where the earth god
works her timeless magic

what have I become
if not a shadow
of my former self
having shed thoughts
of those who made me
instead focused
on rebuilding hills I once
foolishly destroyed




july two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Nature, Poetry and tagged ,
03 Jul 2019
2 Comments

on the streets of san francisco


I’ve been listening to the revolution
evolving on the radio
emergency broadcast system
reporting prisoners on the loose
and exotic birds taking flight

meanwhile tiny soldiers steal
from local food banks
exchanging day-old bread
for water and ammunition
on the corner of oak and divisadero




july two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
01 Jul 2019

whiskey in the jar


monday in july
midday sun weighs on my
mundane thoughts
oscillating fan stuck on low
collar unbuttoned and stained
wandering thoughts leading me
to wonder what the night will bring

there’s whiskey in the jar
within arm’s reach
reminds me of old irish songs
and heavy metal music
taking me back to the summer
of nineteen seventy-eight
when days were so much simpler




july two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
30 Jun 2019

just in case


I’ve not been taking calls
but somehow this one came through

I’d been smoking and coughing
complaining about not getting
enough to eat or drink
beginning to wonder
if anyone would be visiting
again anytime soon

when the phone rang
I pressed ‘answer’ out of curiosity

nobody was on the other end
but at least I had another button
to push if need be

I looked over at the end table
and there I saw
an unopened pack of camels
and my anxiety
suddenly lessened




june two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
29 Jun 2019
3 Comments

national anthem


baseball game streaming
live on a.m. radio
I’m in my bedroom
in full uniform
practicing my grip
on brand new ash bat

not too tight but not too light
coach would tell me
you should see how robinson
and aaron and banks get it done

this is all before cable television
and all I got to go by
is how the announcer on the
radio calls it
unwittingly explaining to boys
how men of color
are quietly changing society
one integrated game at a time




june two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Baseball, Poetry and tagged , ,
28 Jun 2019
2 Comments

making preparations


hard to imagine what will be
once accumulating everything
outside an efficiency shell
baby cries and heartfelt tears
twelve packs and doctor visits
stocks and bonds and mutual funds
fruits and vegetables and perennials
a bouquet of annuals behind your back

you learn to feed and water yourself
shaping and reshaping with razor sharp tools
growing and trimming and growing again
redefining yourself year after year
nobody noticing subtle changes

but you notice nearly everything
newly awakened apparitions
playfully passing through pyramid walls
entering your subconscious night and day
filling prescriptions and making preparations
much like the ancient egyptians used to do




june two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
27 Jun 2019

self-identifying object


at a loss for words
I take my mind far away
listening to ocean waves I once visited
when I was a child

as a child I often told myself
I’d been here before
but the people surrounding me
seemed so strange
as if they somehow didn’t fit

I never did quite fit
into this world I was born
like a castaway or black sheep
I often found myself drifting
into no man’s land
telepathically following
the third brightest object in the sky
only I could see




june two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
26 Jun 2019

Planting seeds in 1967


I’ve always wanted to write a poem
about strawberry fields
having memorized the very idea
via a Lennon slash Beatles song

I remember saying we should
plant some strawberries
many miles away
allowing them to blossom
a far cry from the city lights

[And that is what we did
so many moons ago]

Eventually we’ll lose our way
in the end holding hands
finding comfort knowing
those forever promises
became strawberry fields




june two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
25 Jun 2019

Queen sacrifice


I’ve been stealing ideas out of thin air
and making them my very own
since the day I was born

I won’t pretend to lie
but my reality is based on fact
and though at times indisputable
I often find a need to prove myself

It’s true I discover raw inspiration
in a child’s song or a falling leaf
innocently singular and colorful
repeating itself in search of perfection

Her majesty is like a stranger
beautiful and approachable
leading me to believe her existence
is eternity personified




june two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
24 Jun 2019
2 Comments

war correspondent


it’s not like I’ve not been trapped before
in the most dangerous cities in the world
keeping my sanity by recounting
what I can in my own little black box
capturing complicated stories
of lives on the move

play zones exist anyplace imaginable
especially for toy soldiers
expanding their capabilities since birth
learning to run with or without
a gun to grasp or hand to hold
duck and covering instinctively

with greater frequency I’m unable to reload
either from fear or lack of supplies
waiting on a lull in the action
a chance to buy or steal more ammunition
before once again shooting at will
at men inside boxes with eyes sewn shut




june two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in In the City, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , ,
23 Jun 2019

maximizing net pleasure


she sang and danced in my sleep
arousing my senses and touching my heart
making me believe she was all I needed
from this day unto eternity

once awakening I felt exhausted
having lost patience and time and body weight
attempting to relive what had transpired
before it was forever gone

there is this overwhelming desire
residing in the recesses of a curious mind
creating and recreating an epicurean reality
momentary and indescribable




june two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
22 Jun 2019
5 Comments

no matter what our bodies say


waiting for the rain to end
we talk about loving each other
to this very day

we walk hand in hand
taking in fragrances happening
to arrive our way

there’s no mistaking
how this path is meant to be
on this earth and beyond

we’ve no sense of slowing
this day or the next
no matter what our bodies say




june two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged ,
21 Jun 2019
4 Comments

haunted in america


forensic science is alive and well
in most of these here parts
despite what’s been codified

some internal wars are never over

collisions continue on a regular basis
like rogue comets passing through
rather unsophisticated asteroid belts

those on the ground continue to shoot
at the moon haphazardly
while snipers in the trees prefer
the precision of ropes and ladders

some past sins are not easily forgotten
let alone forgiven

this land of the free is riddled with asterisks
just look to anyone still on the run




june two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in History, Poetry and tagged , ,
20 Jun 2019
2 Comments

this land is our land


one piece of paper filled with legalese
tells me something opposite
of what I thought to be true

I’m finding what’s mine isn’t exactly
what I imagined
especially since ill-equipped
to put up a fight be it physical
or intellectual or otherwise

I’m not interested in reliving
the wild wild west
squatting or dueling
or taking it to the streets
where sheriffs and marshals
take the law into their own hands
whether by what’s been writ
or by brute force




june two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged ,
19 Jun 2019

a thousand maniacs


where am I to look
now that they’ve taken my view away

here I sit with a fob in my hand
wondering what if anything it controls

I have many visitors
throughout the night
none of them saying a word
but rather shaking their heads
and stomping their feet
as if heavy metal fills the air

there’s a guitar propped up
in the far corner
I imagine I’m shredding it
like I used to do
and everyone in front of me
is screaming
like a thousand maniacs




june two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
18 Jun 2019
5 Comments

not as long as you allow it so


no one can help you
is what she was trying to tell me
in a language not my first
and though I may have comprehended
I pretended not to understand

we went about our merry ways
and days went by
until out of the blue she sent
me a text in my own language
saying no one can help you

for some reason I reacted reflexively
swiftly swiping it away
and thinking to myself
when in the world was the last time
I ever asked for help

weeks and months ensued
and I went about my days per usual
all the while thinking to myself
how right she was when saying
one one can help you
not as long as you allow it so




june two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged ,

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