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poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “poetry”

18 Nov 2015
4 Comments

Total eclipse of the sun


I awoke in the darkness
and stood motionless
unable to feel my own legs

In the darkness I stood
as if floating on air
my mind fixed on a pain
I could not feel

I imagined there was light
somewhere near
beyond the closed door
or on the other side of a shaded
window slightly cracked

I welcomed the silence
both from without and within
like a tortured creature
wishes death

It was like an explosion had
left my world perfectly still
neither spinning
nor traveling around a light
that for centuries had promised
prosperity to a diverse population


november two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
16 Nov 2015
11 Comments

a roadmap of revenge


we studied together
and recited psalms
years ago
when nobody knew your name

you kept mostly to yourself
reading scripture at night
and eschewing violence
while everyone else
danced beneath artificial lights

when the world fell apart
you slipped through the cracks
resurfacing deep inside a madness
that was nothing short of prophetic

years later I was called before
a makeshift court
forced to testify
how you had solely masterminded
a roadmap of revenge
leading to misery and destruction

what I had witnessed
would make no difference
not as long as you continued
stabbing westward
unseen and unafraid
daring an uncertain world to stop you


november two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , ,
15 Nov 2015
9 Comments

a day in the life


piece of shit chevy
idling choppily blocks away
lone lunatic in driver’s seat
under the influence of the almighty
setting his sights on suicidal destruction
certain to be caught on film
and reconstructed on the nightly news


november two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Author’s Note: The accompanying instrumental was performed by Jeff Beck from ‘In My Life,’ an album compiled and produced by Sir George Martin in 1988.

Posted in Micropoetry, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , ,
13 Nov 2015
6 Comments

brainstorming


little hands reach for stars
dangling on strings overhead
dying to be called upon by
mystics challenged to ignite
their transparent inner workings

wet tea leaves randomly stuck
across the blackboard
challenge their inquisitive minds
made to solve complex problems
with unmistakable ingenuity

there are no wrong answers
circulating in this classroom
free from outside corruptions
and ideological interferences
where real ideas for lasting peace
and harmony
become smashed
into bits
and pieces


november two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , ,
10 Nov 2015
2 Comments

A World I Once Knew


You sneak in and out of my dreams
like the sleeper catcher that you are
disappearing through star-studded walls
where you count beads on chains
and crawl on hands and knees

Of course I have no choice but to proceed
gathering crumbs along the way
cursing underneath my breath
sniffing and tasting supersonic vapor trails
you left streaming across the universe

Out beyond the planets I skip and stride
drawing pictures by connecting dots
you threw onto a blank canvas
twinkling lights redefining
what was once simply dark matter

The band on my wrist flashes and vibrates
attempting to awaken me hours before
my scheduled flight back home
somewhat smart and mechanically sound
designed to erase a world I knew by heart


november two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , ,
08 Nov 2015
2 Comments

the power of the river


it wasn’t my idea to swim downstream
though I was thrown into the fray
one might say
by no choice of my own
my mother creating a vacuum
by pulling me toward her
tricking me into naturally pursuing her
by simply going with the flow


november two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Micropoetry, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , ,
07 Nov 2015
4 Comments

best wishes from a night forgotten


I hadn’t wished for anything in about a year
so I said something out of the blue
and next thing I knew somebody was listening
to my ramblings while I later enjoyed
previously unreleased work
by james taylor

(I found myself singing along
as if I knew every word by heart)

I wished I hadn’t said some things
when I was drunk on cheap vodka
and highly potent craft porter
but that’s the way the cookie crumbles
especially the ones making a big old mess
on my walter payton jersey
freshly stained with spilt milk


november two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
04 Nov 2015

exploring new worlds within


we had no idea how badly our
emotions would influence our purpose
fighting nature with claws
and gestures and innuendo
testing our character and inner fabric
as we sought to exploit
a newfound paradise

climbing virtual trees
we peered down from high above
emitting lowly pleas
to the gods that put us here
our intuitive cries going by unnoticed
fading in the frosty air
as dusk gives way to light

slinking back down to ground zero
we stride through
blades of the greenest grass
weighed down by lowly clouds
and morning dew
each bead a world unto itself
beckoning us to blindly explore


november two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , | Leave a comment
02 Nov 2015
4 Comments

save today


she told me to never go away
that tomorrow will always be here
and I pretended to understand
exactly what she meant

she swore she never saw me
reading in the morning light
my story but a whisper
she tried to comprehend

she could never set me free
not while my words silently
surrounded the air and
seemingly flowed inside her

following her for days on end
and time of no consequence
I became obsessed with turning
a single day into all of eternity


november two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , ,
01 Nov 2015
4 Comments

runaway train


runaway boy trapped inside
an empty box
thoughts traveling thousands of
miles per hour
shirtless and friendless and speechless
sights set on any destination

freezing inside on a starless night
small fire burns inside rolling stock
holding out hands
craving another smoke
occasionally peering through slats
at a moon chasing eerie clouds

tumbling headlong through an
unknown countryside
flowers and butterflies and
home-cooked meals
infiltrate dreams inside a train
racing backwards and driverless


november two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged ,
29 Oct 2015
10 Comments

redecorating until kingdom come


while the queen contemplates how
her patterned walls need
whitewashing
explaining to her entourage
how the perfect splashes of color
and light
would make her world more perfect
the king orders in the
big bombers
turning pristine hills and dales
into a reclamation project
where little lambs wander
aimlessly
shepherdless
and bloody


october two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , ,
26 Oct 2015
8 Comments

drinking buddies


in college I drank with the best
of them
the irish and the english
and all their neighbors
spaniards and moroccans and
mesopotamians
eurasians and asians and indians
and native americans
the under-aged and over-aged
the jock and nerd and hipster
women and men and transgenders
you name ‘em
we all got along in the bar

after college I was plunged into
the outside world
where none of it seemed to matter
and I found myself witnessing
people ignoring people of all kinds
pointing fingers and impugning
cursing and kicking and hating
for no good reason
forcing me to question my formative years
wondering if they were nothing more
than an exercise of naiveté


october two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , ,
25 Oct 2015
10 Comments

an endless recollection


repetition of living has taken its toll
on my susceptible shell
altering its physicalities
while heightening my emotions

determined to keep my thoughts
in proper order
I focus on an energy
that is bound to send me skyward

nothing can take away the color
of those changing leaves
or the rippling of streaming water
polishing age-old rocks
nothing can erase the rising
of an off-white moon
or the setting of a kaleidoscope sun
nothing will remove the sounds of laughter
on a summer afternoon
or the sadness trapped inside
melancholy sighs

stepping forward and upward
effortlessly
I shed the weight of the world
and all that it entails
sailing away while looking back
at an endless recollection


october two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , ,
23 Oct 2015
2 Comments

finding her motivation


creative moon snaps
black and white photographs
from the far side
where nobody can witness
her weakness
for the human spirit

her desire to curtsy and
spin from heel to toe
diminished eons ago
today simply curious
sitting from afar
like a waning wallflower

stages of many desires
camouflage her emotions
leading on
then pushing back forces
desiring to uncomplicate
her true intentions


october two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , ,
20 Oct 2015
11 Comments

promises made in despair


she couldn’t find her stuffed bear
anywhere
except for the places
she was too afraid to look

beneath her bed
a trap door led to a stairwell
introducing a network of caverns
anywhere that poor bear
could be hiding

could be hiding anywhere

climbing up a tree barely
out of reach from
her bedroom window
someone picks crabapples
and gets ever so sleepy
dreaming of floating on air

down below a little girl
dressed in a onesie and
tears in her eyes
shouts through her funneled hands
wake up
wake up
wake up and jump
I promise I’ll never lose you again


october two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , ,
19 Oct 2015

riding new waves


you run like the wind
void of thought
breathless
chasing spirits into
the fading light

on the other side
there are souls
in limbo
hoping to follow your
every command

turning on the light
nerves scatter
in waves
circling past prior lives
sailing your way


october two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

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

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