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poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “poetry”

18 Jun 2014
4 Comments

I am the egg-man


pushing from the inside
kicking and pushing and
screaming inside this
unbreakable shell
I sit on a shelf
thinking about knocking
myself off
wondering if I fell
hard enough
I just might break out

hired thieves move
stealthily from a
thicket of woods
casting nets
along both sides
of this historic wall
betting amongst themselves
just how rich they’ll become
once hauling me
to the castle in one piece


june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , , , , ,
16 Jun 2014
4 Comments

Beyond These Walls


This strange new world has me abounded by fear
not sure where I stand
unsure when I may fall

The aggression builds boundlessly
until the anger lets loose

And when it’s over
when I reflect on the action
when I’m all alone in my own little world

I weep
yes I weep like an angel

Since when do actions speak more loudly than words?
I say Jesus’ acts were more powerful than his gospel
(I keep him in my pocket, like a slug)
And when I’m sure that I can’t stand
on my own two feet
I reach for him

and weep
yes I weep like an angel

Try to believe you’re no different
than you were at the age of three
and you’re fooling yourself

Try to believe you’ve never pulled the trigger
and you’re fooling yourself

White concrete and silver steel
have never had the same meaning
as they do now


originally penned nineteen ninety-six
audio recorded june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dogma, Poetry and tagged , , , , , ,
15 Jun 2014
4 Comments

triple-header


out in the field we wielded sickles
carving weeds into baselines
and summer into baseball

when word got out about the
neighborhood transformation
prospects from near and far arrived by
foot and on bike with gloves and caps
and bubble gum and bats

curious seekers trickled in
spectating the self-governed exhibitions
sitting on lawn chairs and blankets
munching popcorn and cracker jack
and sipping five cent lemonade

as the winning run crossed the plate
dinner bells could be heard
echoing through the streets
a signal of sorts to choose two new teams
followed by the first pitch to the third
and final game


june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Baseball, Poetry and tagged , , , ,
12 Jun 2014
6 Comments

pushing and pulling


it’s so dark I can’t even see my fingers
so cold cannot feel my heart

machines hum along in the white room
giving me fresh air and influencing my dreams

what nobody knows
       is when I’ll be home
or when I’ll be able to say
       I remember everything

(due to atmospheric disturbances
summer never arrived)

crawling through the rubble
my fingertips make rocks sound like glass
rubbing against themselves like butterfly wings

scratching below the surface
I give inspiration to newly awakened lives




june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged ,
09 Jun 2014
7 Comments

Watching a Petal


With exact timing the rain-soaked branchlet
released water-droplets; while below
a soft, geranium petal strained to reach
the four o’clock sun, its efforts deterred
by a consistent explosion of sorts.


originally penned circa nineteen ninety-two
audio recorded june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Micropoetry, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , , ,
07 Jun 2014
3 Comments

spider queen


santa ana winds fan
the flames and further
separate the queen
from her entourage

armed with rain clouds
pawns venture in unafraid
questing to rescue the
queen of the stone age

her king relocates castle
closer to the shoreline
petitions clergymen
for a wing and a prayer

backed into a corner
queen abandons her netting
races with her babies
spraying pepper mace


june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , , , , ,
06 Jun 2014
2 Comments

ode to the sea bird


bird of prey
invisible in flight
dies a hero’s death
rises on the other side

bird renewed
transgressing in time
dives past new moons
attacks as meteorites

bird of the ark
born inside a lab
circles among the clouds
destined to find land


june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , ,
05 Jun 2014
6 Comments

the house next door


I found my teeth in the guest bathroom
inside an empty jar of vaseline

I called out to see if anyone was home
and was thrilled to see the cat
rubbing up against the hallway

smiling I tickled my ivories
with my tongue and pressed my bridge
tighter with my thumbs

opening the shade to one of the dormers
light flooded in and nearly
killed me

across the street an unmarked car
slowly came into focus
a man with a hat in the driver’s seat
smoking a cigarette

walking away I told myself
that house across the street is much
dirtier than mine
and I sat down on the edge of the bed
shivering
considering my next move


june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , , ,
03 Jun 2014
2 Comments

who do you think you are


I’m nothing like you
I do declare
raising my nose high in the air
turning my back
(or should I say derrière)
to your very existence
and incendiary ideas



june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , , ,
02 Jun 2014
3 Comments

up around the bend


in the distance you hear
repetitive pounding of steel on steel
hammer on railroad spike
near perfect in rhythmic meter
and gradually pleasing to the ear

workers form a line around the bend
like pistons rising and falling
each man a link to the next
rotating and following further and
further away from their cages


june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , , , ,
01 Jun 2014
6 Comments

where oh where can she be


she’s in a better place now
he mumbled to himself
retying his wingtips on the bathroom stool
dabbing his finger with his tongue
and erasing old smudge marks

she never felt comfortable
walking in her own shoes
choosing instead to be someone else
like a promising young star
searching for that perfect role

he walked back into the parlor
and mingled among the living
wondering where in the macrocosm
her consciousness had landed
now that her body lay in state


june two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , , , , ,
21 May 2014
8 Comments

running on empty


reborn into this world
no longer can I say
I don’t belong
can no longer keep quiet
my doubts about
making it out alive
once the fossil fuels are gone

putting down half-filled shots
of eighty proof rye
rocket scientists collude with
future historians
rewriting how everything
precisely went down
once the reserves ran dry


may two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , , , ,
17 May 2014
4 Comments

somebody’s going to die in the land of fools


tower guards flash spotlights
across the desert sky filled with zeppelins
searching for someplace to hide

the wreckage in the field goes unnoticed
for nearly a fortnight

by the time help arrives nothing is out of place

ever since
black sheep wander the land of fools
where someone is certain to die
any given night
slaughtered by supersonic streams of consciousness
running artificial red lights





may two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , , , , , ,
14 May 2014
4 Comments

hopping on another plane


if I was any more aware I’d be dead
she said
lying face down
the anguish in her voice the result of my will
digging deeper into her quads

what’s that supposed to mean
I said
switching things up by slowly
massaging her thigh
locating more tissue
untouched in so many years

oh shit
she said
I felt that
oh god that feels so good

that part about the dead
I asked
what’s that all about
some sort of enlightenment

oh yes
she said
that’s exactly what it is
and if you just shut up
you just might get me there


may two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dogma, Poetry and tagged , , , , ,
10 May 2014
6 Comments

The great virtue of compassion


I returned to earth as an underfed
infant in a remote village
where nurses are plenty
and painted-face doctors
routinely perform miracles

Years later my dying mother
begged me in a language
I barely understood
to escape the poverty this
barren land provided and
seek refuge in the golden city

As I traveled by foot from
desert town to desert town
visions of previous lives
entered my waking dreams
detailing how I had traveled
this road centuries ago
comforting all who hungered
by first feeding their minds


may two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dogma, Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , , , , , , , ,
08 May 2014
2 Comments

a moveable boulder


sometimes by millimeters
other times by inches the boulder
moved closer to the edge

over time the river carved
new pools out of wind and rain
recreating and repeating itself
reinventing the landscape via
natural courses of events

all the while the boulder
followed along the bank
like an intricate mechanism
inside a priceless chronometer
powered by the sun and destined
to witness the end of time


may two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

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

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