jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “poetry”

the chocolate revolution


there’s a revolution brewing
and it’s going to be loud
and dangerous and downright
unintellectual for so many

old women stand in long lines
buying magazines for their men
while inside dogs stay huddled
behind yet intact furniture

unrecruited men and boys
hide behind alleyways
reading the latest reports
from handheld devices

a voice from the loudspeaker
claiming to be the answer
promises free tickets to paradise
and chocolate for everyone


april two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

high road


they closed the high road
for reformation
or so says the orange sign
attached to the electric fence
blocking the entrance
to the mountain road

it’s no wonder the locals say
the entire system
has suffered from misuse by
political scientists
and secret police
for some hundred years

once the lights sail past
the stratosphere
the high road will reopen
and pilgrims camping
at the base will resume
their arduous journey


april two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

New Moon in the Twelfth House


I don’t necessarily like
the way I was raised
just like I’m not expressly thrilled
with the way I raised my own

I don’t mind all of the free
time I have these days
just like I’ve come to accept
how astrological forces
forever rule the world

I’ve considered going back
to tinker with a few things
but the new moon
in the twelfth house
keeps me grounded here


april two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

reverse psychology


on opening day
vegas future odds
for winning the world series
has the chicago cubs
at eighty to one
the same as the pirates
and the mariners
and right behind
the new york mets

wish I could say
I’ve got the fever
but now into my fifth decade
of blindly following
the lovable ones
I’ve since grown jaded
often pondering
if there is more to life
than mere losing


march two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

weather delay


it snowed all night
and in the morning I went to look
for my boots
so I could shovel the drive

what the hell is it doing
snowing in springtime
I complained to the woman
sitting on the couch with pencil
in hand

she shrugged her shoulders
and put her face
back in the sudoku

you know you’re supposed
to do those things in pen
just like the crossword puzzle
I said

she lifted her eyes
and stretched her arm straight at me
the pencil an extension
of her middle finger

you know she said
if you’re looking for your boots
I sold them on amazon
last month
now get the hell out of my house


march two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

all along the lighthouse


adrift on a raft
with no land in sight
you lie back
and make friends
with a setting sun

lost in dreams
the bulging moon
wrecks havoc
on brainwaves
regenerating

distant stars
seek rolling waves
tossing you
into a whirlpool
of endless light


march two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

the day of the sentencing


he was so polite
he said yes ma’am
and no thank you
even asking permission
to use the bathroom

while he was away
everyone agreed
something terribly
went haywire upstairs
while everyone else
stood by fast asleep


march two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

stick hand


pretend you’re a stick figure
wearing a beret
and twirling a baton

out of nowhere a number two
pencil eraser rubs
against your thigh

you resist with all your might
pushing back
and kicking back

eventually you become stuck
like in quick sand
your mouth wide open

absorbing into another medium
you reach out
one last time

to be saved


march two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

while looking for cheaters


I stood in the kitchen dumbfounded
body leaning toward the counter
my arms stretched out
my hands gripping the edge
preventing me from falling straight down

once again short-term memory gaps
have poked holes into my productivity
the interruption of progressive thoughts
leading me down avenues of days long gone
like when I wore batman capes
and had real conversations with the mailman

I remember once when I was five
on an early sunday morning
all alone in the great room watching cartoons
my body laid out with elbows on the carpet
and chin resting inside my hands
when all of a sudden a dull clash
resonated from the kitchen and slowly
bounced it’s way into the great room

I dared not move one iota

as I stared into the kitchen
tall shadows moved about the inner walls
no doubt cast by the breeze nudging the evergreens
but I was petrified nonetheless
and hid like a stone waiting to be found


march two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

maybe tomorrow


everything around me was ugly
including the paintings on the walls
the very walls that keep moving in
one ugly inch every hour

the newspaper scrawled out on the table
reeked of ugliness
delivered by the acne-plagued paperboy
on a dreary saturday morning

i looked outside and noticed the sun
hid behind hideous clouds
and i remember asking myself
why is everything so ugly

i decided to stay inside
and selected a rock glass off the shelf
setting it next to a bottle of jack
who was the ugliest son-of-a-bitch
i ever did meet


march two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

billy loved apple pie


billy died on a sunday
and he never did get a proper
burial. fact is, nobody
knew exactly what happened
to his remains.

a bunch of his buddies
decided to get together one day
and followed a funeral procession
on foot. they were well equipped
with beer on ice
and hash under glass,
not to mention a few packs of smokes.

when the preacher finished
anointing the grave
with oils and incense,
someone beyond the bushes
cracked a joke
about how billy used to love
to smell his finger
after he’d got some.

nobody was ever sure
who really got buried that day,
but everyone knew
soon there would be pie.


march two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

metallic storms


this little planet
collects preciousness
from throughout the galaxy

this ring shines
from outside energies
we’ve yet to understand

the established gods
refuse to assign value
for what is worthless

without ending
where would we begin


march two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

lessons to be learned


enormous yellow bus
makes historic stop
at the corner of oak
and every avenue

daddy holds his little girl’s
hand as the two of them
stand speechless staring
at the flashing stop sign

the door swings open
and curious feet disappear
into a swarming world
of pushing and pulling


march two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

bedtime stories


pretend you slip into my slacks
one leg at a time
button my newly ironed shirt
from bottom button to top

you get frustrated with yourself
because you can’t seem
to get the bloody dimple square
on the regimental tie

the silent alarm suddenly
signals half past eight
you lie awake forever late
to next week’s meeting

the reverie shakes you alive
screaming in your sleep
i hate you i love you i hate
the way the story ends


march two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

the best of times


atomic clocks don’t reside
in chicago
they need to be out there
in the big sky
where microwaves
have no place to hide

the intelligence of time
transitioned from
lord kelvin’s suggestions
whilst cool atoms
forever suspended
chime in milliseconds


march two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

no-hitter


fifty plus thousand baseball fans
rise to their feet
chanting one more out
their collective roar absorbed
into every player on the field
including the umpires
baseline coaches
and the chubby little bat boy

on the mound the pitcher
winds up like a whirling dervish
his eyes hiding below
the bill of the cap
his left leg rising
unrealistically
his first two fingers
gripping the ball along the seams

once released
this soon to be historic fastball
zips sixty and a half feet
in point four five seconds
smacking the catcher’s circular mitt
untouched and in the zone
causing a chain reaction
of pyrotechnic explosions
and dizzying exuberance


march two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

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