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poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “Poetry”

17 May 2021

changing stations


there’s a monster
feeding on the airwaves
sublimely consuming reflections
lazily drifting its way

they keep saying
don’t go there
keep your thoughts to yourself
or the monster will consume them
& pull you further in

in the airwaves there are roses
of every living colour
tempting you with their temporary beauty
while the monster
panting like a panther
pounces on your every lost thought




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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
16 May 2021

into the garage


it doesn’t take long
to move things around
trashing all the obvious objects
leaf-blowing the floor
from one corner to the next
one time two times three
lastly valeting the vehicles
out onto the street

the love van backs up
contents emptying themselves
into the garage
anything needing power plugged in
keyboards & guitars
drums & cymbals all assembled
neighborhood curiosos
beckoned from their comfort zones




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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
15 May 2021

celebrating another year of peace


it was her birthday the other day
so I sent her some feathers
it wasn’t exactly an inside joke
but she was most appreciative

we were supposed to hang low
instead took a trip elsewhere
two tickets to nowhere
though we were far from alone

I kept having to make changes
turning feathers into stones
stones into double roses
with hardly a place to grow

there was water everywhere
inside this landlocked nation
cleansing all the feathers & stones
continually accumulating




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

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , | Leave a comment
14 May 2021
2 Comments

the resident alien next door


it’s been twenty-three years now
imagining the mice
stirring out back
once the fireball is nearly extinguished

everything changes once the cat
is let out of the bag
the great horned owl looking on
stealthily
contemplating who may stay
& who must go

it’s scarier in late october
than early may
but only by a fraction

there are many things buried
in & around this place
some of them stone cold dead
& others still quite alive




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

Posted in Aliens, Poetry and tagged , ,
13 May 2021

the quiet one in the corner


I try to remember
the lost dreams from childhood
baseball & butterflies
how the lady in the shoe
in the kitchen
screamed at all her children
(but I was not one of them)
all of us pretending
knowing exactly
where we came from

it was the fifteenth
maybe fourteenth century
and mother was making mead
in the cellar
me as a toddler shadowing
her every move
quietly asking where on earth
I could have come from
and ever since
never asking again




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

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
12 May 2021

leather gloves


those lines in the palms
of your hands
know everything
be careful who sees them
lest you become
exposed for all the world to see
past actions predicting
future events
by any ordinary reader




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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
11 May 2021
2 Comments

before or after midterms


we’ve not decided who should stay
and who needs to go

there’s much politicking going on
in the backroom &
the alleyways
while deep inside
the singers & the dancers
relentlessly work their magic

the strategists were called away
hours ago just as the
local brewery rolled in
another dozen kegs

word has it nobody is really
calling the shots anymore
while white men in the map room
throw axes & hatchets at
larger than life bullseyes




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

Posted in Poetry and tagged ,
10 May 2021

sounds of the earth & of the wind


the lightning abandoned the night
giving way to ashes falling like snow
white covering a fading darkness
like a shadow losing its life

there is no memory of yesterday
only the clarity of today
of tomato bisque & baked cod
served in the center free of charge

lines kept getting longer
in this ever complicated nation
interconnected with the underground
& all things afloat or suspended

lifted from grief & whisked away
consciousness evolved
into a perennial sunflower
its seeds grounded in the multiverse




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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
09 May 2021

an angel in critical need of repair


I dreamt I had wings
its feathers in various
shades of grey
stretching them to the limit
as I stood tall atop
the empire state building

in the dream I sprung
from the ledge in a swan dive
crashing back to earth
in slow motion
the eyes behind my head
madly moving rapidly





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

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
08 May 2021

how far are the stars


give me a burst of energy
so I may repair your smile

I will unroll the red carpet
and hold out my hand

taking your photograph
as you approach

one step at a time
neither quickly nor slowly

how it seems the whole world
is watching & wondering

imprecisely how far
are the stars from here




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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
07 May 2021

all on its own accord


I lost you in the fray
breaking away like a lake trout
flying above the surface
& freeing herself from the hook

I felt how you kept looking for me
even though I was gone
having been swept away by the tide
ten or twenty moons ago

as far as the unfinished work
is concerned
pay it no nevermind
for eventually
it is likely
to resolve itself




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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , | Leave a comment
06 May 2021

a good place to die


the fever has been reaching
a pitch

cotton swabs collecting
samples

secured inside test tubes

the university hospital
has witnessed
so much turnover

I apply for a job

three credit checks later
I’m tossing lime tablets
inside toilets

some keep smoking
cigarettes
just outside the premises

I volunteer to pick them up
but I’m finding
there is no place to hide

I’m finding all I know
this is a decent
enough place to die




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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
05 May 2021
2 Comments

Jacob’s Ladder


The sky was deep purple
making it very easy
to see the white kite with
its white tail
darting like a sailboat
on the high seas

Purple turned to violet
turned to lavender
quelling the violence
having bubbled
on the surface
easing toward the firmament

A million angels
parachuted from the sky
a rescue mission
for all the ages
notably all the children
grasping the taut string




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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
04 May 2021

countdown at daybreak


it was nearing midnight
& this field mouse was winning at
playing hide-and-go-seek

I followed him into the kitchen
where I shrewdly threw
some shredded cheddar cheese
into a time capsule

by doing so I thought
I would win favor with the little chap
whom had told me [in so
many words]
how he enlisted himself to
commandeer my next moon flight




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

Posted in Animals, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
03 May 2021

deterioration


oh I can imagine
of all the warnings you’ve
diabolically disclosed
I wonder what
& why I’ve done what I’ve done
whether silencing
or perpetuating the species

the metal bucket
rusts away
continues to hold water
you bring it out every may
admiring its battle
against deterioration

one day you’ll buy a cane
second or third hand
wood darkly stained
notches here & there
old stories told to you
by way of dream
and when you awaken
it helps you to your feet




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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
02 May 2021

the end is near


the road was long
an all day affair
we had no other way
than by foot
so we started before daybreak
not saying a word
keeping a good pace
and reading each other’s minds
[on occasion]
the previous night’s dreams
the passion of the fruit
the destination
well within reach
as we neared the setting sun




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

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

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