there’s no news for good reason
spirits & communication lines long down
parade routes forever rerouted
people on the streets a thing of the past
the lower atmosphere littered with drones
weaponized or humanitarian in nature
controlled from as far away as the arctic circle
or as close to the boy next door
march two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
three AM here we go again
sleep walking across the ocean floor
gills for cheeks
& breathing quite naturally
gravity simply a concept
from twelve thousand feet below
once back in the racks
REM sleep returns to sender
a sailor & his sweetheart
the latter whispering
we’ve just begun
please make it last all night
ninety days fast approaching
the awakening is near
lights flashing & sirens sounding
the crew in position
the captain commanding
prepare to launch ASAP
march two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
all the beautiful people
stealing what they may
from all of the lonely people
the ones passing you by
like ghosts in the night
listening & maybe chatting
giving & taking without
a single body
ever
knowing
march two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
Whatever it was it’s broken
tossed out for all to see
like a rusted out tractor
pushed to the treeline
a photo opportunity for any
passerby with a camera
Take a good look for yourself
nothing works here anymore
screws loose or cards lost
piggy bank shattered to pieces
the water out of the tap
nothing but an unsteady drip
Inside this sprawling city
buildings implode
with the flash of the light
minute by minute & block by block
the beaten & broken
keep coming back to life
march two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
when you don’t think
but simply do
that’s the condition
you are after
a natural state of motion
actively determinable
but unrealized in the mind
from there you sit still
in the center
of your own indifference
naturally at ease
pausing without reason
rewinding at will & replaying
all that you’ve done
march two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
it’s gone
whatever it was
a flashing light
a fleeting thought
a glimpse deep within a newly
created memory
most likely not to be recalled
anytime soon
spared the permanency
of any & all airwaves
perhaps recorded
in some other fashion
in such a way we may
never understand
until time has long passed
and there it is
long last
staring you in the eye
march two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
it takes energy
to sustain energy
to create & recreate
the mirror understands
goes back in time
your neck at an angle
trying to decipher if what
you saw is what you recall
they’re making money
out of thin air
tens of thousands of machines
mining like virtual maniacs
their controllers hoping to
strike gold again
secluded in the sierra foothills
it’s understood some cities
are being flattened
old bosses with their old technologies
laying to waste their arsenals
out of sheer boredom
march two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
there’s not been much talk
of late about april or rain
or easter sunday
on the news they say
the drought is ongoing
children in the heartland
growing thirstier by the hour
children in the theater of war
running for their lives
nobody goes to church anymore
of course that is a lie
not as big as some others
but perfectly relevant as it relates
to the presently prevailing antichrist
march two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
addicted to the unknown
& because we don’t know any better
we shame ourselves
by exposing our bodies & souls
up & down the avenue
on the shoreline
we casually collect seashells
& look at ourselves in the mirror
unlocking the mysteries
to the goddess of love
by eventide we turn away
throwing away the unconquerable
but keeping what matters most
the off-white angel wings
& footprints in the sand
march two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
a beautiful shot is what you would call it
a well thought out plan expertly executed
what else would you expect for one million pounds
paid via wire transfer to the caymans
the most important thing was the publicity
entire world knowing the end of the end is near
the fighting & the lies & the supersonic missiles
surprisingly cease to be talking points
the mainstream media & the underground unite
all because of a terroristic precision strike
fired from two hundred fifty yards away
hitting its integral & intended target
march two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
the plagiarist was working
on sublime messages
having been reminded of something
socrates once wrote about poetry
stitch & sew & repeat ad nauseam
forever shutting the one eye
that could see through anything
calling out you’re a liar
look & see your pants are on fire
mentors & proteges often clash
dueling for the honor of who wrote what
a winner take all proposition
the loser sentenced to silence
march two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
putting things into perspective
could be the worst thing
for the psyche
in other words
forget about making sense
of the material world
instead seek all possible ways
to free yourself
from your body
and from there & there only
will you come
to understand compassion
march two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
write some words for me
and then read them
to me
push me pull me
lift my spirit
out of my body
make my mind pause
inside a peaceful presence
the sound on all four sides
like a seashell
your voice in the background
gradually gaining volume
march two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
what else is there to talk about
now that the storms have passed
I was told it would go down like this
first the great divide & then the fall
in my mind the great resignation
was more like a melancholy separation
especially when compared to the present
I’m done waiting or moving in lines
for some handout I could do without
there are plenty of other ways to escape
open your mind & I’ll show you
march two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
instead of pushing a button
I snail mail a handwritten note
saying please call me
of course I signed my name
in an unfriendly kind of cursive
sure to trigger an emotion
a few days pass by
& by then I’d forgotten that you’d
forgotten how to forgive
march two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
it’s a complicated thing
trying to live in the past
whether it be via memories
or physical reality itself
the theory of experience
is like a bulletproof vest
hanging on the door hook
next time you’ll probably
take it with you
if there is a next time
march two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
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