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poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “Poetry”

27 Sep 2021

looking out the third floor window


of course I’ve done this before
adjusting the past like some light
that only wants to flicker

the more you adjust the rearview
the less the picture fails to change
sunsets sounding like analog sirens
serious misdemeanors like grave sins

I’ve been seeing red again
random spots in a field of cotton
perhaps cast by a surveillance drone
sent to uncover the mystery of
crop circles & all things unexplained





september two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Aliens, Poetry and tagged , | Leave a comment
26 Sep 2021

none of this will ever end


check your resting heart rate
that watch should tell you

nobody knows how accurate it really is
I mean isn’t that true about everything

it takes ten thousand steps
to get from me to you
and I’d do it thousands of times
if I truly had to

how long had we been lost in the woods
and how much longer did it take
before finding our way out

I still remember that time when I said
none of this will ever end





september two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
25 Sep 2021

hello my name is principal


there are toys spread out
from one room to the next
I’m almost fearful of them
this time around

I’m not used to being this alone
all the while so many eyes
obviously spying on me
as if they’ve nothing else to do

hello my name is principal
and I need more time
deciding who should die
& who should replace me

I’ve been back from war
for what seems like centuries
the world I left & the one
I now live indistinguishable





september two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , | Leave a comment
24 Sep 2021
2 Comments

making amends


where I grew up the mississippi
flowed from east to west
and if you were a visitor
you’re bearings would be tested

for some reason i can’t cross the river
my curiosity extinguished
at lock & dam thirteen
where sun dogs gather and lie

you said you’d meet me there
once every other lifetime
as if you understood
dying tonight is impossible





september two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged ,
23 Sep 2021

while supper slowly cooks in the kitchen


it’s thursday night & the cocktail making
is in full-force in the basement
men & women & children
participating in the assembly line
loosely following handed-down recipes
remarking how they’ve circulated
over the past century from country
to country & continent to continent

local & social media continue to remind
anyone who may be interested
that the charity run starts
eight o’clock sharp on saturday morning

and all those down below
agree they’ll easily be ready by then





september two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , | Leave a comment
22 Sep 2021
2 Comments

angels in my peripheral


I kept believing in my peripheral
but there was nothing there
rural mailbox not a hitchhiker
yellow utility pole not a giraffe

three angels work in the east room
validating dice & drawing straws

you said it was a good place
to unlock & unload
& so away I went to converse
with the sounds inside the woods

once inside I doubted my return
two or three angels in my peripheral





september two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , ,
21 Sep 2021

daily commute


sitting on a ledge with switchblade
in hand
either lost in thought or ultra-focused
asking questions below &
expecting answers from above
this is how life & death decisions
are made

the world is on edge
billions living on the fringe
a number too large to comprehend
especially when sitting on a ledge
with a good book in hand
making life & death decisions
without any outside help

outside looking in
this is how it will be in the end
sitting alone on the edge
waiting for the last train





september two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
19 Sep 2021

rediscovering launch code road


buried beneath the rubble
a new city was being born
based on a model never before seen

I thought I had jotted down some words
turns out they were mere numbers
buried inside some bureaucratic rathole

I hadn’t realized how far deep I was in
until eventually recalling
what the numbers used to mean





september two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , | Leave a comment
18 Sep 2021

one-room schoolhouse


the entire classroom was lost in thought

wrens were bouncing off the window
as if the outside world
had become scarier than usual

the children were reading solzhenitsyn
as the substitute teacher paced
back & forth along the blackboard
questioning every line

one by one the wrens went away
only to be replaced by morning doves
forming a simple line on the ledge

later there was a debate
exactly what year it was
unable to come to an agreement
they decided to move on to salinger

there would be no recess
due to the ongoing conditions
the kids tired of math & science & dead birds
all they wanted to do was read books
like ‘one flew over the cuckoo’s nest’





september two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Poetry and tagged , | Leave a comment
17 Sep 2021
2 Comments

ancient mariners


the clock strikes seven
an arc of fire in the sky
someone shoots at the moon
& arrows fly from nation
to nation to nation

nobody is to be spared
that’s the beauty of it all
men & women off to war
near zero to lose
& everything to gain

ancient ambitions
remain well stitched within
a strand of hope if you will
the clans reunited
refocusing on the stars





september two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , ,
16 Sep 2021
2 Comments

in the land of plastic immortals


there was this piece of land
where all the plastic aliens lived
exiled for no apparent crime
other than the color of their skin

they wore red & white or purple & black
or various shades of pink & brown
standing anywhere from three feet short
to ten feet tall
all of them speaking different dialects
of the same language
every single one of them misunderstood

beneath the surface
below all the various shades of plastic colors
there were no vital organs
no hearts to love
no lungs to breathe
no eyes to lock onto
no lips to kiss

without ever procreating
their numbers increased every time
the tide came in
the mortality rate on their piece of land
an absolute zero





september two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Aliens, Poetry and tagged , ,
15 Sep 2021

circa seventeen seventy-six


there is hammering on the rooftops
in the not so distant past
fading from the west
echoing in a rhythmic pattern
like an ode on a grecian urn

autumn appears on the horizon
& hell not far behind
communications
arriving from all directions
be it by wind or bird or plane

I’ve yet decided what century
I shall waste the next
thirteen hundred dreams
lost in the city of brotherly love
pretending to be mere mortal





september two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
14 Sep 2021

surviving the night


dating with time
the forever young man
dances with the ancient princess
gray-haired & lithe

the night could not
possibly last forever
or so she whispers in his ear
seducing a smile

but of course he has
countless memories
having survived the rise & fall
of many an empire





september two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
13 Sep 2021

finding water on the moon


the world is on edge
or has it always been
& I’m just starting to notice

what year have you got
I got a quarter past apocalypse

somehow I managed
to maintain all of my limbs
drifting along with the walking dead
talking to angels who once had wings

word has it major prophets
are being born this year
destined to redefine mother earth
[& her satellite]
twenty-some years from now





september two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dogma, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
12 Sep 2021
2 Comments

Eureka


Slow things down my friend
before you burn out before
the morning light

Experiments are taking place
in the least expected places
kitchens & garages & wineries
roadside parks & inground pools

Secret recipes pass
by way of blood or bribery
the open market buying & selling
the sweeter the better

Burning the midnight oil
most often backfires
but when it doesn’t
oh but when it doesn’t





september two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
11 Sep 2021
2 Comments

nothing else matters


be careful baby your wishes
tend to be dangerous
now that you find yourself
far from the shelf you once held
your most precious secrets

from start to finish you’ve
always been your own girl
your own soulful voice
teaching me to sing
as you lay yourself to sleep





september two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,

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