jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “poem”

07 Jun 2021

the last of the subway series


going into the eighth
anything could happen
for you see
the fat lady has yet to sing

yogi nods to casey
who pulls the starter
& that’s when it all starts
to unravel
the say-hey kid
dancing around second

in the right field bleachers
all the fans boisterously sing
ninety-nine bottles
of beer on the wall

of course it all comes
crashing down
when mister coffee bounces
into a double entendre
thereby passing the torch
onto number seven himself




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

Posted in Baseball, Poetry and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment
06 Jun 2021
2 Comments

back into your busy world


how far you’ve roamed
little lamb
chased away by barking dogs
on the hunt for a scent
nothing to do with
the likes of you

further lost day after day
tip-toeing on pins & needles
the rock tricky
& occasionally vertical
hopefully opening to a surprise
on the other side

another sleepless night
gave way to northern winds
bringing with it
dreams of the future
retracing countless steps
back into your busy world




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

Posted in Animals, Dreams, Poetry and tagged , ,
05 Jun 2021

lost in late june


it’s late but not that late
the sun nowhere in sight
little ones out back yelling
where did it go
where did it go

nobody knows where the
butterflies went
chased away by roman candles
someone did say
someone did say

lost in deep thought
trapping stars in glass jars
smaller than fireflies
falling from the sky
falling from the sky




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

Posted in Micropoetry, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
04 Jun 2021
4 Comments

from the kitchen window


new blooms move with the arc
of the perennial sun
stretching their necks
& blinking their eyes
wide open to brand new ideas

the earth has become
more than an orbiting sphere
to mere mortals
a linear timeline from pre-fossil
to garden of eden
babylon to peloponnese
old paris to present day chicago

flower window boxes
simplistically shows how far
we’ve actually come
artistically covering the atrocities
of past & present & future
watering hope & possibility
right here from the kitchen window




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

Posted in History, Poetry and tagged , ,
03 Jun 2021

prime numbers & secondary colors


use your words
written or spoken
or by way of signing
all depending upon
how you see yourself
at the moment

at times words
simply won’t do
like when jesus upturned
tables at the temple
or elvis attaining
his isolated lowest

and what about those
outer body episodes
when all you have
are prime numbers
and secondary colors
to express yourself




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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
02 Jun 2021

nineteen ninety-nine


they were small samples
but they were perfect
neat & tidy & filed away
in the cooler

this place is so secure
maybe not like fort knox
or maybe even more

even if I gave you
my (pass)word
or my barcode
the window to my soul
my first born or my last breath
you’d struggle
to get past the gate

as if in a flashback
we find ourselves
hanging out in the cooler
passing around bits & pieces
subconsciously agreeing
how nineteen ninety-nine
was a killer year




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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
01 Jun 2021

early in the morning


hand me your dream
let me take it from there
let’s see how far
we can stretch the sky

it’s been ages
since I’ve heard voices
finally returning
to calm me down

I used to think angels
disguised themselves
as red wing blackbirds
restless by the roadside




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

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
31 May 2021

back in the game


new leather bag
jet black with a thin strap
count ‘em one two
three gold zippers
perfect for
compartmentalizing
a few zodiac signs &
today’s mental mood

money clip holding tight
a few precious scraps
an apple card with a slice
or two in reserve
privy to proof of legal age
& all kinds of insurance

fingernail clipper
a box cutter (just in case)
a chain with too many keys
a rosary with black beads
a few triple A batteries (again
just in case)
and so many more little
metallic things

strolling down 5th avenue
like a big dog on parade
the big pouch empty but open
hoping something that glitters
may yet again
catch my cautious eye




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

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , | Leave a comment
30 May 2021

center of the universe


an explosion at the end of the street
chased all the strays out of the backyard
of the empty house for sale next door

only half a block away
my windows shook but all remained intact

multiple sirens sounded closer every millisecond

I looked out the bay window but all I saw
was smoke billowing
upward in the once clear blue sky
like a fat charcoal snake twisting & turning vertically
as if commanded by its charmer

what used to be a quiet street
became anything but
curiosity seekers gathering at an alarming rate
to what appeared to be the new

center of the universe
a place becoming more dangerous by the hour




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

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , | Leave a comment
29 May 2021

further feeding the dream


listen
can’t you hear
that little buzzing bee
chasing you
in a dream

glass jar in one hand
lid in the other
catching flashes of light
once the sun
dissolves itself

in the dream
you are in the glass jar
shaped like your
mother’s uterus
the contents
gradually evolving

lukewarm & invisible
you direct the workers
in & out of the garden
collecting pollen
& other personal data
fed back into the dream




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

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , | Leave a comment
28 May 2021

immeasurable precipitation


sadness lingers in the air
going on fifteen days now
absent the once smiling sun
stuffed inside some closet
like a forgotten promise

I keep thinking the end is near
a place that doesn’t exist
simply an inherent idea
implanted into my heart
the first time I witnessed light




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

Posted in Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
27 May 2021

objects in mirror are closer than they appear


how will I write traveling
near the speed of light
hazards blinking red
or so command tells me

the autopilot speaks
on different occasions
sort of a play by play
coming through the pipe

I lean back & jot down
a few words about the weather
always lacking here
no wind no rain no snow

personal experience
tells me I become younger
each passing light year
lines on faces diminishing




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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
26 May 2021

outside belleview iowa


pitching tent along little mill
on a friday evening
as if it were yesterday

from spring to fall
brown & rainbow trout
occasionally released
into coldwater stream
sometime after sunrise

morning menu
includes bacon & beer
& last night’s catch
two old friends unlikely
to meet again




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

Posted in Fishing, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
25 May 2021

they did not come from royalty


they did not come from royalty
these aliens
from the darkside
& though they thought
what shores they landed upon
they were dead wrong

they fled for reasons
other than their imaginary fears
bringing with them
advanced technologies
certain to change
the existing landscape

in the beginning
they struggled to survive
but more & more arrived
until their numbers
outnumbered all the natives
& immigrants combined




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

Posted in Aliens, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
24 May 2021
2 Comments

dead to right


all I wanted to do was play baseball
but world wars got in the way

throwing fastballs & sliders
big fat curveballs exploding in the sky

the airwaves were full of danger
yankees overtaking bases

bearded men in kneehigh red socks
slaughtering the entire field

of course it’s justified by orthodoxy
IEDs & suicide squeezes

inside foxholes older men in uniforms
chew tobacco & flash signs

though they’re waving me in
instincts tell me I must be dead to right




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

Posted in Baseball, Poetry, War Poems and tagged ,
23 May 2021

Cedar Lake


Many men go fishing all of their lives without
knowing that it is not fish they are after.
                                      ~ Henry David Thoreau


They call it a lake but it’s really
just a big pond

I was told it’s so shallow
you could walk across it
which left me thinking
maybe I’d give it a go in early
February before the thaw

A decade ago
city officials pronounced it was safe
to eat the fish caught there
but as for me
I’ll only catch & release




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

Posted in Fishing, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment

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