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poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “poem”

january rain


she told me she liked a good cliché
liked how it felt against the
tip of her tongue

she was the kind of gal
who loved to french kiss for hours
or so she told no one

I remember her telling me on
new year’s eve
to be at the bus stop at noon
where she’d pick me up and
we’d go picnicking in the park

it rained throughout the night
and well into the morning
and though the buses don’t
run on sundays
there I sat in the dark
wondering where she was





june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

true interpretations


it rained all night
and while I slept sharks
swam in circles around my body
either protecting me from myself
or saving me for later

awakened by wind sweeping in
morning sunshine
I took to the kitchen
coffee maker abuzz
birds of the air outside my window
like chatty statuettes
swapping old stories

settling back into real-time solitude
I revisit casualties
both foreign and domestic
making headlines on print and
television and internet
their bodies dead or dying
my prayers hoping they find
doves soaring on the other side

unable to shake the current
course of events
I stare into my oversized cup
of morning petroleum
dorsal fins circling above the surface
daring me to find out the true
interpretation to my dream


june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

in this land of make-believe


these dreams go beyond make-believe
and into spaces without stars
where coldness goes unnoticed
and past lives become memoirs

as I lie asleep out at sea
you seem to disappear along the shore
consumed by ultraviolet rays
disguised as gently rolling waves

cradle rocking from side to side
foreign voices tell me not to cry
assuring me things will be all right
once understanding how it ends





june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

I am the egg-man


pushing from the inside
kicking and pushing and
screaming inside this
unbreakable shell
I sit on a shelf
thinking about knocking
myself off
wondering if I fell
hard enough
I just might break out

hired thieves move
stealthily from a
thicket of woods
casting nets
along both sides
of this historic wall
betting amongst themselves
just how rich they’ll become
once hauling me
to the castle in one piece


june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Beyond These Walls


This strange new world has me abounded by fear
not sure where I stand
unsure when I may fall

The aggression builds boundlessly
until the anger lets loose

And when it’s over
when I reflect on the action
when I’m all alone in my own little world

I weep
yes I weep like an angel

Since when do actions speak more loudly than words?
I say Jesus’ acts were more powerful than his gospel
(I keep him in my pocket, like a slug)
And when I’m sure that I can’t stand
on my own two feet
I reach for him

and weep
yes I weep like an angel

Try to believe you’re no different
than you were at the age of three
and you’re fooling yourself

Try to believe you’ve never pulled the trigger
and you’re fooling yourself

White concrete and silver steel
have never had the same meaning
as they do now


originally penned nineteen ninety-six
audio recorded june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

missing organ donor


those freckled spots mysteriously
appearing overnight on my arms
remind me
how very much alive I am
my markings like rings on a tree
perhaps one day
exposed for all to see



june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

triple-header


out in the field we wielded sickles
carving weeds into baselines
and summer into baseball

when word got out about the
neighborhood transformation
prospects from near and far arrived by
foot and on bike with gloves and caps
and bubble gum and bats

curious seekers trickled in
spectating the self-governed exhibitions
sitting on lawn chairs and blankets
munching popcorn and cracker jack
and sipping five cent lemonade

as the winning run crossed the plate
dinner bells could be heard
echoing through the streets
a signal of sorts to choose two new teams
followed by the first pitch to the third
and final game


june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

pushing and pulling


it’s so dark I can’t even see my fingers
so cold cannot feel my heart

machines hum along in the white room
giving me fresh air and influencing my dreams

what nobody knows
       is when I’ll be home
or when I’ll be able to say
       I remember everything

(due to atmospheric disturbances
summer never arrived)

crawling through the rubble
my fingertips make rocks sound like glass
rubbing against themselves like butterfly wings

scratching below the surface
I give inspiration to newly awakened lives




june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Watching a Petal


With exact timing the rain-soaked branchlet
released water-droplets; while below
a soft, geranium petal strained to reach
the four o’clock sun, its efforts deterred
by a consistent explosion of sorts.


originally penned circa nineteen ninety-two
audio recorded june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

spider queen


santa ana winds fan
the flames and further
separate the queen
from her entourage

armed with rain clouds
pawns venture in unafraid
questing to rescue the
queen of the stone age

her king relocates castle
closer to the shoreline
petitions clergymen
for a wing and a prayer

backed into a corner
queen abandons her netting
races with her babies
spraying pepper mace


june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

ode to the sea bird


bird of prey
invisible in flight
dies a hero’s death
rises on the other side

bird renewed
transgressing in time
dives past new moons
attacks as meteorites

bird of the ark
born inside a lab
circles among the clouds
destined to find land


june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

the house next door


I found my teeth in the guest bathroom
inside an empty jar of vaseline

I called out to see if anyone was home
and was thrilled to see the cat
rubbing up against the hallway

smiling I tickled my ivories
with my tongue and pressed my bridge
tighter with my thumbs

opening the shade to one of the dormers
light flooded in and nearly
killed me

across the street an unmarked car
slowly came into focus
a man with a hat in the driver’s seat
smoking a cigarette

walking away I told myself
that house across the street is much
dirtier than mine
and I sat down on the edge of the bed
shivering
considering my next move


june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

metallic storm


stars are brightest in the desert
and from there you can clearly
see the other worlds

beneath the sand the past lives on
beating shallow breathes and
awaiting the next impact

time travelers land without incident
collecting precious data
left behind by meteorites

full moon pushes old photographs
onto the new shoreline
giving rise to the possibility
that life somehow lived on




june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

who do you think you are


I’m nothing like you
I do declare
raising my nose high in the air
turning my back
(or should I say derrière)
to your very existence
and incendiary ideas



june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

up around the bend


in the distance you hear
repetitive pounding of steel on steel
hammer on railroad spike
near perfect in rhythmic meter
and gradually pleasing to the ear

workers form a line around the bend
like pistons rising and falling
each man a link to the next
rotating and following further and
further away from their cages


june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

where oh where can she be


she’s in a better place now
he mumbled to himself
retying his wingtips on the bathroom stool
dabbing his finger with his tongue
and erasing old smudge marks

she never felt comfortable
walking in her own shoes
choosing instead to be someone else
like a promising young star
searching for that perfect role

he walked back into the parlor
and mingled among the living
wondering where in the macrocosm
her consciousness had landed
now that her body lay in state


june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

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