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poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “Poetry”

27 Oct 2022
2 Comments

underestimation


I’m a songbird
without a song
whispering sweet
nothings

there is sadness
in the silence
this much I know

I’m a songbird
without a song
listening for a clue
on a windless night

but there is only sadness
in the silence
this much I know

I’m a songbird
without a song
underestimated
and determined

turning sadness
into a melody
this much I know

practicing wetting
my whistle
until the morning light





october two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Poetry and tagged , , ,
26 Oct 2022

stumping for no good reason


no arms       no legs
I’ve become even more
animated than I
ever was with them
—lecturing & reciting
separating fact from fiction
[& occasionally portending]
passing along good
news w/the bad
—eyes in the crowd agaze
transfixed in ways
causing me to ponder
what good
may I possibly be doing





october two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
25 Oct 2022
3 Comments

kicked on down the road


I’ve been failing at making
up words
keeping my pursuit of achievement
in good working order

I’ve been at it a few weeks now
talking to myself whilst
walking
(re)cycling
sitting in the dark
giving up multiple vices
and beckoning the god
of the spoken word
the god of voice

instead of adding to the pot
I’ve been losing
consonants
mainly by changing them to vowels
rearranging for no other reason
than to amuse myself
—kicking them down the road
like a tin can
or an igneous rock

it’s been like a whirlwind
inside my makeshift laboratory
letters on magnets
flying through the air
splatting onto anything metal





october two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , ,
24 Oct 2022

on this once chromatic planet


the sun is mine again
having wrestled it back
from faceless thieves
who had robbed me at gunpoint
along the lonely road to redemption

they carried with them
countless possessions
items undoubtedly dug up
on moonlit nights
from fields where lilies & poppies
flourish exponentially

no longer traveling alone
my companion is my guide
taking me to places
unimaginable
a journey free from the absurdities
of an all too fleeting life
on this once chromatic planet





october two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
23 Oct 2022

internal prisoner [of war]


I’ve not yet started living
having been bogged down
in a dissident quagmire
wishing incessantly to be
drugged & tortured
by a make-believe enemy

[instead I am held
against my will
charged w/imaginary crimes
against humanity]

again I plea
I’ve not engaged in any sort
of alleged insanity
—and if you would be so kind
to free me from these chains
I will set out on foot
with neither contraband
nor weaponry
in a direction opposite
from my mother’s love
with nary a thought
to kill again





october two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
22 Oct 2022
3 Comments

this is all I know


this is all I know
concealed in a poem
like an eternal idea
or a waxing moon
forever drifting further
from mother earth

the eternal idea
residing in a poem
the seas calm
on a moonless night
thoughts drifting
past the firelight

seas remain calm
catamarans adrift
the idea of a poem
turned into dust
chasing a comet’s tail
on a moonless night





october two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , ,
21 Oct 2022
2 Comments

your next iteration


even with all of the advances
we remain virtually the same
our emotions controlling our actions
be it falling in love or waging war
in nondescript places

habits seem impossible to break
be it religion or sleeping in
night owls constantly devising
early birds wreaking havoc
on your best laid plans

so there you go making room
for the new & maybe improved you
running into newfound friends
[and sworn enemies]
in virtually all the same places





october two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , ,
20 Oct 2022
2 Comments

the insider


at the end and beginning of a constant
     forward motion ~ tectonic plates

invisible to the naked eye
     one day you imagine you’ll see

how they work in real-time
     a front row seat so to speak

keeping the planet’s wheels
     spinning literally and figuratively

throwing stones at the sinner
     and launching aerials into space

you wish you had bought a ticket
     instead burying bodies

not too far from the future

—the insider

          the end and beginning

               literally
                              and figuratively

     [back to] the future





october two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
19 Oct 2022

radioactive heartbeats


the dynasties today
enjoy the technologies
bestowed upon them
—and those bent on ruling
by a clenched fist
turn their pseudo-citizens into
radioactive matter

it matters not what you
can do for your country
now that we’ve become
walking timebombs
repopulating the planet
[by way of decree]
two to three babies at a time





october two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , | Leave a comment
18 Oct 2022
2 Comments

but what do the prophets say


this united we stand business
has long gone by the wayside
factions splitting & dividing
by way of simple arithmetic or
asexual science [depending
how you see things]

hypochondriacs are either
mentally and/or physically unwell
incapable of fending themselves
against any creature great or small

extremists resorting to threats
on any given day
more than willing to follow through with them

capitalists & politicians & criminals
work in concert in the background
spawning one conspiracy theory
after the next
worshiping fanatics & lunatics
shoving them into the limelight

all this
as the artists expressively create
interpreting what they care to see
while the historians
sit & wait
for the next piece to fall





october two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in History, Poetry and tagged , , ,
17 Oct 2022

caller unknown


I clear my throat
but am unable to speak
for the words which were meant for you
have grown silent

I try not to wonder where you are
or why you’ve chosen
not to appear in the places
where you are known to gather
try not to put much stock in the fact
that you could be in harm’s way
or in the arms of a lover

every now & then the phone will ring
but I’ve grown accustomed
not to answering it
—it’s just a number I say to myself
and highly unlikely
one of a few I used to know





october two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
16 Oct 2022

intermediary


I was reading poetry featuring angels
in one form or another

for some reason
they don’t appear to be
as relevant as they used to
whether embedded in the spoken word
or manifested in the latest
and greatest artistry on canvas

spotting one on the street
can be tricky
their divine light & birdlike wings
most likely kept under wraps
whether trailing someone
at the grocery store
or sitting patiently at the local tavern
monitoring a lost soul crying in their beer





october two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dogma, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
15 Oct 2022
1 Comment

remaining silent


I’ve been receiving
messages
that you’re terrified
& you don’t know why

I’ve got this idea
about said messages
& why they come to me
unwittingly

of course
since you’ve been gone
I imagined
you were anything
but terrified
having escaped
one internal war
after another

this idea has to do
with the receiver
that maybe something
is wrong with it
& instead of terrified
you’re actually ecstatic
a newfound constancy
[going on ad nauseum]
ever since electing
to remain silent





october two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
14 Oct 2022
2 Comments

disorder in the house


just because
you’re seeing things
doesn’t mean bad things
are in the offing

the phone rings
& nobody’s there
a reminder of the time
you called a dead man

his voice haunts
you to this day
a larger than life
kind of barreling bravado
daring you sublimely
to leave a message

you tell yourself
what you’re seeing now
has nothing to do
with that voice
& everything to do
with somehow putting
your house in order





october two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
13 Oct 2022
1 Comment

little rainbows deep inside the forest


we were in the forest
walking on eggshells
fingers pointing at all the
colorful edibles
off limits this time of the year
decreed by the queen herself

the forest wasn’t petrified
instead shrinking
year over year over year
sand & sea by east
strawberry fields by west
both advancing
slowly but deliberately
—lured by the magical mushrooms
deep inside the forest





october two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , ,
12 Oct 2022
2 Comments

on the peninsula


in the great wide open
cinnamon & rose-colored horses
gather near a natural pier
murmuring to one another
about rebellion

they realize they’re wild
but not free
not like the prevailing winds
which seem to commandeer
the next tempest

subsequent to each run
the herd becomes thinner
the law of attrition
taking its toll
the natural order of things
galloping at high speeds
long past rising
and now in a freefall





october two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

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

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