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poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “poem”

11 Jan 2014
6 Comments

on getting to first base


she caught me smiling
and pretended she really
never glanced my way

in a bout of bravery I decided
to get up from the patio table
and walked over to hers
and asked her softly
why she had looked my way

oh you reminded me of someone
she began
someone I once met in cincinnati

have you ever been to cincinnati
she asked me
batting her eyes and using her slender
index finger to flick off the long ash
from her virginia slim

no I said
I never have but I once promised myself
I’d like to become a speck in a sea of red
at the stadium there on the ohio river
and catch a foul ball with my bare hands

that sounds like fun she said
why don’t you sit down and share with me
more of your baseball fantasies





january two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Baseball, Poetry and tagged , , , , ,
07 Jan 2014
6 Comments

breathing lessons


lying flat on the floor
first I bend my mind
then my body

from there I wonder
where my soul takes me next

temperatures rise
then fall to record lows

the crow flies due north
searching for something new

moving pictures
stored on the ground
and in the cloud
suddenly freeze

lying flat on my back
I close my eyes and
pretend I’m breathing
for the very first time



january two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , , ,
05 Jan 2014
12 Comments

the blue in her eyes


the little girl sat on a park bench on
a late sunday morning in her
white freshly pressed dress
and white lacy gloves
holding a petite black purse
and wearing black catlike glasses

a slight breeze
brushed back her wavy blond hair

a young man kneeled before her
pointing a camera her way
snapping photograph
after photograph
telling her to look this way and that
using words like angel
and baby
and darling
as if she was a magazine model

now smile he told her
but she would not smile

please smile darling
show me your lovely smile

but she refused to smile
without offering an explanation
clenching the clasp of her petite black purse

becoming frustrated the young man
stood tall and begged her to tell him
why she would not smile

moments of silence ensued
except for the wind traveling between them
brushing forward her hair
and shrouding the blue in her eyes



january two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , ,
02 Jan 2014
6 Comments

far side of the sun


amid dark winter nights
I lay out glorious plans
to conquer the seed
the wind and the rain

the whiteness of the world
inspires me to envision
perfect days where irises
bloom under moonlight

sacred revolutions seem
as remote as paradise
testing my patience
from far away places



january two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , , , , ,
01 Jan 2014
2 Comments

new year revolution


we went underground with new people
the ones we always wanted
to hang with
but never configured coordinates
exactly right

smuggling firearms and ammunition
inside gift-wrapped packages
we took off
on one-way interstellar flights
prospecting peace

a new revolution bravely speaks
against centuries of hate
taking off
with old ideas in real-time practice
to change the world


january two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , , ,
30 Dec 2013

queen for another day


inside the ant farm fat-bottomed
shoppers coast on motorized carts
clogging the produce section and
regurgitating freshly stocked veggies

an accident in bakery sends signals
to emergency crews who remove
themselves from feeding the powerless
to harvesting the tiniest of crumbs

cleanup on aisle nine sends her majesty
screaming to her many abigails who
busily stitch her tattered wings
in hopes of swarming another day



december two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
28 Dec 2013
10 Comments

the spirit must live on


we prepared our minds with
foolproof lies and
carried on about our lives
as if darkness never
overshadowed anything

what was once reinvented
can be invented yet again
and those monsters
lurking behind old photographs
remain buried alive

unsuspecting memories
hang in undisclosed caverns
like misplaced dreams
tapping your shoulder
night after tireless night

without thinking we pushed
onward through the air
like a refreshing wind
blowing away the morning fog
that once weighed us down



december two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , , , ,
22 Dec 2013
7 Comments

Alive and Well in Las Vegas


The King and I sat in a barber shop
on the Las Vegas strip
swapping oft-told stories
and questioning the reasonings
behind failed empires

He explained how his realm reaches
far outside the lines of Clark County
where one-armed bandits
pay homage to sinners
and tax collectors

He spoke with quiet authority
on the decline of principles
and goodwill toward men
using literary devices
to illustrate his finer points

With the sun soon to vanish
in the cool desert air
He tucked his hair up under his hat
and led his sandaled entourage
down the boulevard



december two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dogma, Poetry and tagged , , , , , ,
21 Dec 2013
2 Comments

Winter Blues


butterflies are nothing but
welcomed distractions in a
hurry-up-world
long after the youth of careless
rebellion becomes
netted in routine



december two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Micropoetry, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , , , , , ,
20 Dec 2013
4 Comments

building blocks and dreams


we worked the wet sand
into old world castles
restarting aqueducts and
protecting the bridge with
toy soldiers

overnight tides washed
away recent memory
giving way to daybreak
and the innocence of
virgin beaches

starting from scratch
we sawed and
sanded and hammered away
convincing ourselves
things will be different



december two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , , , , , ,
18 Dec 2013
1 Comment

imperfect papers


when they wired this one
there was no ground
it was either lights on
or lights out

she told me if I wanted
to wait another week
she was expecting
a new delivery

shaking my head
I explained how I needed
to move on after
losing Rosie last month

buckling her replacement
into my hatchback
I hoped to regain



december two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , , , ,
16 Dec 2013
2 Comments

Unrealistic Haiku Expectations


You kept me boxed in you did
With your rules
About long hair and piercings
Telling me what can be visible
And what can’t
With tats and other stuff

I can’t imagine you expect
Such conformity
This day and age
At a time when I should print
Anything I like on Twitter
And not be badly judged

I know you expect endless creativity
In a five seven five set
But you’ll have to forgive me
For stepping out of bounds
Every now and then
With three irregular verses



october two thousand eleven
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , ,
15 Dec 2013

a poem of possibilities


buried far beneath the earth
in the garden of good and evil
lies dormant the key
to man’s heart

the seedling had failed
to germinate
while the tree of knowledge flourished
thereby leaving man
selfishly singular

it’s been said treasure can be found
somewhere in the cradle of civilization
its hidden secrets
more powerful than the words
of all the enlightened masters
who left this world
dreaming of lasting peace



december two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
14 Dec 2013
7 Comments

number nine doesn’t live here


you rarely recall that night
you should have died
yet every time it surfaces
you completely understand
how kissing the world goodbye
is as simple as
landing on your feet

you imagine you were born
a feline with siamese blood
running through your veins
a cool cat who’s been
around the block six or seven
or eight times
but certainly not nine

crouched behind a waning moon
you patiently wait for hope to rise
above the horizon
feeding your mind with
enlightenment
giving you courage to carry on
yet another day



december two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Animals, Poetry and tagged , , , , , ,
10 Dec 2013
7 Comments

missing the most wanted


they locked down the schools
and called on the bloodhounds
from three counties away

human chains stretched across
the countryside carrying
torches and kicking stones

holding hands they waded into
cedar lake until they could
no longer breathe

throughout the city church lights
enlivened stain glass windows
well into the wee hours of the night

in the morning there was still no news
not counting the posse that
galloped out of town at daybreak



december two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , , , , , ,
08 Dec 2013
4 Comments

charting the free verse sky


those stars we used to wish upon
the ones first appearing in the twilight
or the ones falling from the
sky while sitting on the front porch step
where have they gone
now when you need them the most

sometimes I think of a certain star
that shined so bright it had no choice
but to crash and burn in some
remote forest you’ve never heard

those are the kinds of stars I miss the most

this universe is nothing but a free verse
poem with a little sizzle and endless syllables
spherically rotating around your ever
expanding mind
your inner child
charting the course of events
of every single moving object



december two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

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

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