if I were to start from scratch
I wouldn’t even know my mother
I would be a microbe
either in someone’s gut
or on the ocean floor
a mere figment
of an imagination
I can’t begin to comprehend
if I were to be reborn
what are the chances
I’d be back in the same womb
the one that nourished me
the first & last time
before exploding into this world
january two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
Dani wouldn’t be caught dead
marching in any damn parade
she had bigger dreams in mind
than floating down inner city streets
She wore black on the outside
painted her face so as not to be seen
but on the inside everything was green
There are so many ways
to break the cycle
so tell me what keeps you hiding
inside these temporary shadows
I knew you when you were but a child
how you used to chase sparrows
climbing trees and singing songs
pretending the world could do you no harm
Somewhere along the line
you are born again
awakening like grass among wildflowers
elbowing for space and praying to starlight
reaching out for the next sunrise
march two thousand eighteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
lying flat on the floor
first I bend my mind
then my body
from there I wonder
where my soul takes me next
temperatures rise
then fall to record lows
the crow flies due north
searching for something new
moving pictures
stored on the ground
and in the cloud
suddenly freeze
lying flat on my back
I close my eyes and
pretend I’m breathing
for the very first time
january two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
after falling down against my will
decades from the past
represented themselves
as colorful pixels
slowly dissolving
into near nothingness
in due time my consciousness
resurrected itself
as a beautiful child
and there was nothing
i wouldn’t do
to start walking again
january two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
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