jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “poem”

19 Jun 2022

On the home team’s starting pitcher


“You’ve got to have an attitude if you’re going to go far in this game.”
                                                                                         Bob Gibson

He’s gotta keep ‘em off balance
using his head as well as his arm
mixing it up north & east
and west & south
consistently changing speeds
—letting the ball fly from various
release points
and mostly importantly
never showing them
the whites of his eyes





june two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Baseball, Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
18 Jun 2022
4 Comments

a ledger of lies


the world has always been a lie
and if you don’t know that as a fact
you’re living an imaginary life

if you follow the money you’ll find the lies
whether in ukraine or tehran
cairo or athens or amsterdam
the korean peninsula or washington dc

gold is still the real deal
but printed money is another lie
fake proceeds pumped into the stock market
simply because it gets high on bloatedness
and loves to implode

the lies are in the grocery stores
in parking lots
pizza places & ballparks
car dealerships & gas stations

the lies are in the air like electricity
almost always for sale
sometimes on the open market
other times in the dark web





june two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in History, Poetry and tagged , ,
17 Jun 2022

my best friend’s transformation


turns out my best friend
was a cartoon character all along
and it was only recently
he decided
to let everyone in on the revelation

having not seen him for decades
(except occasionally on television)
it was hard at first to accept

but the longer I processed
the information
the more believable it became

I decided to give him a call
to let it be known the last time we
got together
was nineteen seventy-nine
asking what are the odds
we’d ever get together again

it was a rhetorical question
but he answered it anyway
in a comical sort of way
that was impossible
for me to comprehend





june two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
16 Jun 2022

and for the last three he stays


it’s not like I’ve been here before
staring death in the face
recollecting what it was like the last time
and how effortless it seemed
to move onto the next phase

they say over time
life is supposed to get easier
but that is far from the truth
just ask any old cat
rising from the ashes for the seventh
or eighth time

and now here I stand before you
challenging the status quo
asking how in the world can I be
the same man you once knew
even before you were born





june two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
15 Jun 2022
2 Comments

concussion


one minute you are wide awake
the next nothing exists
a time lapse that could have lasted
a lifetime & a half
filled with dreams you were dying to fill
crushed into a nondescript paradigm
designed by your own doing
surrounded by those who love you
calling your name
time & time & time again
until finally there you are again
your old self turned into something
ever slightly different
never knowing what truly happened





june two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
14 Jun 2022
2 Comments

distractions in my peripheral


I see something scurry by on the rug
not too far from my bare feet
a spider or centipede or such
but when I look up & lower my
reading glasses
there is nothing there

I go back to the chromebook screen
tapping on the keyboard with
great abandonment
and it happens again
a little shadow in my peripheral
racing across the floor
I pause & remove my readers
but there is nothing there
save colorful shapes
in the paisley patterned rug

I return to my poem in progress
which has now become
a complete distraction
spiders & centipedes & imaginary dragonflies
taking over the center of my attention





june two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
13 Jun 2022
8 Comments

beyond the burning cities


at what point does the truth not matter
after the walls have crumbled down
and the fighting men have retreated

past neutral borders into safer cities
abandoning their own identities
past the point the truth doesn’t matter

blending in to regroup & relearn
a language other than their own
spoken by fighters who have retreated

dying to live another peaceful day
abandoning a pledge & a promise
at what point does the truth not matter

recruiting women & children into their fold
sabotaging their own bridges
fighting men fearful & in full retreat

abandoning their own ideals
turning their weapons into passports
at what point does the truth not matter
as once fighting men stage a full retreat





june two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in In the City, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , ,
12 Jun 2022
2 Comments

dual linguistics


slipping in & out of consciousness
the world is suddenly strange again
going from one calamity
to the next
hopeful something wonderful
is on the horizon

an alternative reality may be that I’m
actually dead
as reported two plus years ago
after the new flu broke out
leaving me hanging around in this place
and that
waiting for someone or something
to tell me what I should do

one thing’s for sure
that is the birds on the other side
are starting to make
more & more sense
as I continue to pick up
on some of their languages





june two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Poetry and tagged , ,
11 Jun 2022

on the road to recovery


believe you me
the timing could not have been worse
the messenger missing in action
whatever news he could possibly convey
lost due to the powers that be

getting back on the right foot
may take some new kind of learning
a solitary endeavor
best suited for those
looking to find their way home





june two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
09 Jun 2022

Wichita


If I catch you coming back my way
I’m gonna serve it to you
                        ―John Anthony White

She pinned a tail to my behind
as if I were a donkey
somehow tied a string to my underbelly
and away she sent me sailing

With each tug & pull
[and adding more line]
I became less & less vulnerable
relaying signals
that no Seven Nation Army
could ever hold us back





june two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
08 Jun 2022

très bizarre


it’s not easy for any of us
and yet we proceed
as if everything is peachy

it’s a face that you wear
like a past familiarity
known before birth
saying you belong here
but then—out of nowhere
once your eyes
are again wide open
—complete abandonment

it’s hard to say what you mean
as you easily proceed
from one bizarre moment
to the next





june two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
07 Jun 2022
2 Comments

goddamn pistachio


she broke a nail
opening a pistachio

‘goddammit’ she said

I told her I was sorry
and poured her
a hazy IPA
into a pilsner glass
—told her I’d fetch her
some clippers

and the superglue
she said
bring me some goddamn
superglue

….it’s in the junk drawer





june two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , ,
06 Jun 2022
7 Comments

closing in on separation


“To forgive is to set a prisoner free
only to discover that the prisoner was you.”
                                          —Lewis B. Smedes

holding on to anger is easy but unhealthy
being able to forgive is the opposite
—on both counts

this is a poem for you
whoever you may be
holding onto something dangerous
whether you know it or not

it’s nothing to be apologetic about
that is being human
but it’s something when unable
to comprehend
there’s a greater reality
residing inside a soul





june two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
05 Jun 2022

Over & Under the Radar


I’ve been losing my way of late
unlocking out of place doors with a
skeleton key I won on ebay

It isn’t exactly like I’ve turned
into Alice or moved to Wonderland
but there’ve been occasions
I’ve been lucky to find
my way back to the drawing board

And there I sit sketching new ideas
drawing a sky full of doors
without keyholes
the boy down below
pointing upwards & ever hopeful





june two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
04 Jun 2022
2 Comments

panhandler at the gas pump


I don’t know where he came from
but suddenly he was there
presenting himself by asking
for one dollar
& one dollar only

having driven 600 plus miles
I was back home after
a twenty year hiatus
summoned by attorneys
to settle my mother’s estate

it was almost as if
I had met this man before
blue eyed & dark complected
maybe from high school
maybe somebody’s angel

to get to this point
I was ahead of schedule
a few blocks away from my meeting
having decided to stop
& top off the tank
at a cost far exceeding
one hundred dollars





june two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , ,
03 Jun 2022
2 Comments

five thousand miles away


I broke my fast with a beer
it’s been a day
& a half
the moon flirting with the sun
on a saturday morning
after the arrival of the
screech owl in the tallest pine
but before the paperboy
hand delivers
absentmindedness

I say no news is good news
but we all know better
displaced men & women
& children
learning as they go
one eye squinting
the other zeroed in on the sight
picking off one target
after another until
the last one surrenders





june two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , ,

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