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poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “Poetry”

16 Jun 2017
6 Comments

rewriting the nuclear era


summer has never been so close
knocking hard
loud and clear like a thunderclap

if you didn’t hear that
you may as well be deaf
I murmured
but there was nobody around
to absorb my spoken words
except for nightbirds and spiders
and hackers inside my laptop

there are many weeds needing
pulling and much soil needing turning
I keep telling myself
but in the middle of the night
none of that is occurring
at least not in real time

come monday morning nobody
may remember exactly what transpired
whether it be a history rewritten
or saplings thriving free of gasoline





june two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , ,
15 Jun 2017
4 Comments

atomic rain clouds


if the morning sun
rising above the horizon
whether seen or unseen
is not enough to inspire you
then by all means sleep in

otherwise rise to the occasion
and take to the skies
awarding your condition
by reaching a peace within
a peace which cannot be attained
without addressing the unspeakable





june two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , ,
14 Jun 2017
6 Comments

I was walking the dog under the catwalk


it was then I decided something
needed to change
after all I had whiskey and something
sour in that place I once took for granted

how dare I succumb to the status quo
after all I’ve been through

how could someone like me put up with
the mundane and the ordinary
when everyone else damn well knows
there are skies to touch
and happily-ever-afters to uncover

every time I walk your dog
I repeat out loud those poetic verses
found only inside
my suddenly missing manuscript





june two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Animals, Poetry and tagged ,
13 Jun 2017
6 Comments

smoke if you got ‘em


I was pretty sure I got things going
but when you told me otherwise
I kinda felt like shutting down

kinda
she says
really
how old are you

well I didn’t want to get into that
so I just went on about my business
that had nothing to do with
business at all

suddenly the front door opens
and here walks in an
uber driver carrying six tall boys
and pack of marlboro reds

there’s no smoking in the house
she says unless I say so

the uber driver looks at me
as if she’s not going anywhere





june two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged ,
12 Jun 2017
11 Comments

just before the calm


there is symmetry in your words
aloft and capacious
passing through like clouds

I used to love the way you talked
but that was long ago
and though I’ve tried I can’t consciously
recall the rhythm or the flow

those wind chimes you hung
still haunt me so
how they suddenly appear out of thin air
colorless and perfectly soundless





june two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , ,
11 Jun 2017
2 Comments

georgia


nothing is real
not even the exception to the rule
to which you have seemed
to execute to perfection

I’ve chased down
many a dream with no end
only to pick things back up
exactly where you left them

you leap from tree to
tree with relative ease
repeating in my mind like a
hand-made picture show

I toss it aside
carefully behind a bush
thinking there’s a good chance
I want to retrieve it

I always tell myself
you should have told me
to stop swinging for the fences
a long long time ago





june two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , ,
10 Jun 2017
9 Comments

only dreaming


I showed up with plenty of time to spare
so I ordered myself a beer

nothing was really happening and I began
to wonder what brought me here

perhaps we had met in a previous lifetime
and me being here
was nothing more than a memory

or perhaps I’m still alive and only daydreaming





june two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , ,
09 Jun 2017

listen for them


I’m still looking for unbridled trust
be it friend or foe or souped up chevrolet

it’s always been out there
or so I’ve been told
and you’ll know it when you find it
as they say

for far too many it remains elusive
much fainter than a distant shadow
further away from the mind than
sunrises of sunsets or death itself

there are many conversations taking place
but there are few too many words spoken

meanwhile
new words are being born by the minute





june two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
08 Jun 2017

decoding the killer gene


though knocking loudly at the gate
the brilliant sunrise could not get through

jesus freaks sat outside the borders
healing the other side without lifting a hand
absolving self-inflicted wounds

somewhere in a basement in america
a new code is creating itself
concocted by a lost soul
again reborn

folklore and chronicles and atrocities
fuel an already hungry mind
manufacturing new ambitions by
discovering anti-killing algorithms





june two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dogma, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
07 Jun 2017
4 Comments

too young to be taken away


they said she was dying
and so she was
and so she did
pass away amongst nondescript
fanfare

time passed
and so everyone else living
(or everything else living at that)
continued on with time
some continuing to live in the moment
and others not so much

every so often her name comes up
in casual conversation
perhaps at a coffee shop
or walking past third street windows
pondering and wagering how many angels
were required to sail her away





june two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dogma, Poetry and tagged , ,
06 Jun 2017

the next rainbow


water-colored clouds fill the sky
painted bird flexing her wings
sitting atop chalkboard line

everywhere there is repetition
right down to nanocreatures
living and dying in nanoseconds
catching wave after wave after wave

clouds give way to a super sun
washing out the painted bird
taken to flight and searching again





june two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
05 Jun 2017
2 Comments

like a crow on a sign post


there is an intangible stirring somewhere
perhaps in the clouds or in the water
in the ground or in the fire
it doesn’t matter ‘where’ really
it could be in the economy or in the wars
lying dormant in a billion dreams
it could be current events or
your everyday laissez-faire
but it is most definitely there
designed to reassure
true change is inevitable





june two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , ,
04 Jun 2017
2 Comments

this time I’m playing to win


it wasn’t my move and I was pretty sure
I could grab a guinness and call it a night

there was no place to go so I recalled some
old photographs
which only reminded me
she doesn’t love you anymore

I sequestered myself on my own terms
but at least I didn’t turn into a hermit
but I’ve been growing out my hair
and chanting in between fastings

I wasn’t supposed to win
but my dream will tell me otherwise





june two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
03 Jun 2017
3 Comments

Internet of things


the Internet is close to breaking
out of its shell
releasing a super new version
that is bound to blow your mind

how far this Internet of things
can take us all
is limited only by our imagination
whether it be reaching new worlds
or blowing up this one
as we know it





june two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
02 Jun 2017
3 Comments

Twilight Zone


I’ve always wondered what would happen
if I drew back the red curtain
would there really be a stage for me
to embrace and be myself
or would it just be a wall
rusty red and falling apart

but that’s another story to be told some day
when the last thing you care to know
is how the messenger had been cheated

there are no bullets to be found anywhere
but the gun is still warm
talk is cheap but there is plenty of it
perpetuating rumors of manslaughter

police helicopters pretend to be beacons
but night is already day and they are useless
easy targets for anyone from the madhouse
to take them down one by one





june two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved


Author’s Note:
This poem is loosely based on the
song of the same name by Golden Earring

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged ,
01 Jun 2017
6 Comments

it’s never too late


I’ve found myself so many times
it’s hard imagining finding myself again

in the garden everyone feasts
the bird
the butterfly
the rodent and the worm
insects and felines and canines
stamens and pistils
day lilies and night owls
tree limbs and branches hanging fruit
angels and devils and humans
shoving shovels into the ground
stirring and spawning new life

meanwhile the sun and moon
(and the season known as spring)
continue to operate like a heartbeat





june two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , ,

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