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poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “poem”

14 Jan 2022

By art itself


I’m not too concerned
if I don’t hear from you again
you see I have you locked
in this utopia
complete with a flower garden
apple tree & snake
white sands nearby & heavenly
clouds up above

You’re not the only one
to have it made there alive
the rest of us recirculating the works
filling stadiums with zealots
and unlocking
more & more mysteries
some by way of science
but more often than not by art





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

Posted in Dogma, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
13 Jan 2022

café au lait


birthmark upon my face
for what reason do I deserve
your benign designation

is she a flower or a weed
a ship sailing across the sea
destination unknown

what past truth lives inside
commandeering my dreams
seeking to be found

oh how mere strangers
stare & point in my direction
at my poetic imperfection





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
12 Jan 2022

One day I am the wind & another the lightning


I’ve been reading Camus & Sartre of late
thinking of the things that
should have been
the people I should not have lost for no
good reason
the sights I swore I would see

I tell myself I’ve seen the Acropolis
in another lifetime
long before it’s great deterioration
and my own tragic death

I’ve been listening to the likes
of Beethoven & McCartney
knowing full well it wasn’t the first time
they were performing at their peak

It’s true I once had a pretty face
but that was before the accident
before the jagged edges
and the separation
detached from another past
circling headlong into the next





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
11 Jan 2022

emergency landing


it fell from the sky & settled at the foot
of a ten foot bronze soldier on horseback

the town square first became deafened
by the sound of a supersonic missile
followed by the ground shaking with the force
of a thousand stampeding elephants

whatever it was crashed but did not burn

the alien craft quickly became disassembled
and whisked away by a team of outsiders
fully decked out in orange hazmat suits
speaking in a language foreign to any local
brave enough to witness the near distant future





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

Posted in Aliens, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
10 Jan 2022
4 Comments

succession planning


forget not
the southern gale
bringing back hope
from an otherwise
weary planet

how long it’s been
since the sun
shone on the surface
your thoughts
having grown dark
in recent years

artificial illuminations
light up the night sky
and for a moment
you wonder
how much longer
you plan to stay





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged ,
09 Jan 2022
2 Comments

cheap sunglasses


everything went dark
we searched on hands & knees
calling out to a god
who could not hear us

it was as if the sun
had imploded
opening up a portal
of mass starlight
reigning both day & night

none was close enough
to illuminate the moon
and all the earthworms
emerged & glowed
blue & orange





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
09 Jan 2022

tomorrow


it’s broken
you can’t fix it
my vision cannot
correct itself on a dime

I’ve been hitchhiking
for what seems
like a century
every morning
finding myself in line

they say there is a god
that can fix your
temporary ailments
even though I say
tomorrow is already here





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

Posted in Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , | Leave a comment
07 Jan 2022

Born on the Outskirts of Hazlehurst


There is mystery in the moment
in the here and in the now
much like the time when Robert Johnson
fell down on his knees

The greenery is incredulous
outside the city limits
cotton fields needing picking
workers singing the black man’s blues

Deals are made with the devil
on an ongoing basis
some better known than others
all with a common denominator

It’s not so much what you wish for
than what you think you need
guitar strapped on your back
heading up north on highway one





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
06 Jan 2022
7 Comments

evolution one oh one


what’s happening today is peanuts
climate change
the steal & corrupt machines
pandemics & pointing fingers
insert your own examples here

most everyone believes
they live in interesting times
that is until they’re dead
opening up to the idea that what’s
going on here is supposed to be
working toward the common good

evolution will surely take the
human race to interplanetary travel
becoming more godlike
with each passing generation
unless of course
they kill each other first





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
05 Jan 2022

heaven on earth


don’t let current events get you down
the world has always been this violent

most of the time we pretend to be safe
in our homes behind locked doors

in the summer windows wide open
curtains waltzing freely
          and in the winter
we keep them shut
feline asleep on the narrow sill
basking in the sun

out of control wildfires
fueled by straight line winds
and hundreds of dream homes
alter the landscape and complicate
the notion of heaven on earth





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

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
04 Jan 2022

collage interpretation


they’ve been in isolation
going on three years now
making money by assembling
kaleidoscopes
at the kitchen table

the youngest is getting smarter
day by day
and the cat has become
like a carrier pigeon
taking out the trash
and bringing back news from
the outside

it’s a kind of reality
the world is getting used to
clouds transmitting signals
via air or radio or millimeter waves
occasionally changing up the frequencies
giving life to handmade
kaleidoscopes
secretly being launched into
outer space





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
03 Jan 2022

one hundred nineteen acres


garden cemetery inside the city
didn’t always used to be that way

nobody imagined how urban crawl
would wrap around
a canopy of over two thousand trees

brick walls & wrought iron fencing
winding pathways & architectural beauty
all subdued by pastoral plantings
drawn up over fifteen decades ago

to be inside graceland is to be
outside of the ordinary
the dead walking among the living
inventing & articulating
playing catch
watching a rehearsal
bustling among the buyers & sellers
be they tourists or curious neighbors
or permanent residents





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

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
02 Jan 2022

mission improbable


I raise my hand
in hopes of being chosen
skyrocketing off into space
while still being alive

this mission
isn’t exactly life or death
but it may preserve my health
beyond earthly means

they say space
will slow the aging process
traveling at warp speed
toward my rebirth





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
01 Jan 2022
2 Comments

rabbit’s foot


we came from the depths of the ocean
and learned to breathe differently
one day walking upright on earth

years became decades became centuries
and soon peter would learn to catch fish
and levitate on the sea of galilee

time would accelerate undeterred
rebirth begetting evolutionary rebirth
what were once fins becoming wings

there is no final frontier here on earth
whether at the near outer edges
or beyond the unconscious universe





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

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , ,
30 Dec 2021

when life is passing you by


delivery trucks
those ubiquitous messengers on wheels
also known as santa claus
or carrier pigeon
or marathon man
come & go but mostly go
to anyplace but your own

and there you are
in your self-imposed exile
seeking wisdom but gaining frustration
with every step van
or box truck
or pizza delivery driver
passing you by





december two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
28 Dec 2021

and altogether sophisticated


she wore pink cowboy boots
and ate peanut butter & chocolate
ice cream for supper

nobody questioned her appetite
or resolve to go it alone
one day venturing out into the leafless
and snow covered nature trail

gradually disappearing from sight
we prayed one day for her return
perhaps as a bright blue flower
or a frog mistaken as a prince

overnight she was all grown up
and altogether sophisticated
like she had always hoped to be





december two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , | Leave a comment

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