lost in the crowd
I am afloat in a nameless sea
the lesser part of a wave
reaching for an orangish moon
nobody sees me
as I weave & bob & jettison
sinking & resurfacing time & again
as if manipulated by a line
the cycle is unbeaten
at will forces catching & releasing
faces becoming whitecaps
rolling forward & diving deep
november two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
nobody knows what comes next
that is the beauty of it all
whether for better or worse
there you find yourself
at the end of the plank
afloat in the center of a deep dark sea
pistols & rapiers commanding you
to decide your own fate
what follows next
is of no consequence
for just as you had no choice
entering a strange new world
full of contradictory rhyme & reason
you are left with no option
but to plunge back into a vastness
as mysterious as the deep dark sea
november two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
zero to twenty
seemingly a lifetime
long ago microfilmed
now locked away
in a seashell vault
footprints on reflective beach
washed away ages ago
moon phase
after moon phase
erasing whatever proof
there may have been
out in the deep blue sea
young sailors
become old men in a single season
long off course
and desperately sober
stuffing farewell messages
inside empty beer bottles
january two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
sunrises come and go
climbing and dropping like clockwork
turning pale skin to red
and correcting failing vision
inside you is this acumen
as powerful as the midday sun
dying to expose itself
for all the world to see
heartbeats ebb and flow
like half moon across midnight green
at mercy with the tides
and hoping not to die
june two thousand eighteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
they spoke to one another by way of make-believe telephone lines
not at all like two tin cans connected by a piece of string
stretching from easter island to omnipresent moon
blessed is she who shakes off advances and terms of endearment
instead recognizing all the misfits on the receiving end
reinventing children’s games with wild abandon
and of course with wild abandon comes boisterous laughter
speeding faster than sound through those make-believe lines
the ones stretched from sea to belly of waning gibbous
october two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
I knew once my skin had broken
things would be changing quickly
I quietly ducked down below
to retrieve a sweater
arriving back on deck I felt quite
comfortable beneath endless starlight
in my mind I was witnessing a new
moon rising half-way across the world
july two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
children played in the sand
building empires bound to fail
if not by the morning rain
then by a bloated gibbous
sinking into the sea
they boarded a starship
and set sail into the unknown
praying to their gods
for divine guidance
during years of hardship
starting anew in an alien world
they gravitate back
where sand meets the sea
where sweet memories linger
in unfamiliar air
their curious children learning
to build their own castles
june two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
sitting cross-legged on the floor
my mind shut the door
and i was left alone
in the dark
with a candle and a match
i closed my eyes and focused
on a fire burning in the belly
of a giant fish that swallowed me whole
delivering me to unfathomable depths
where indescribable creatures
ruled an invisible world
as ocean waves crashed on top of me
the door violently swung open
and the room became drenched
with natural light
my hand still holding
the unlit match
the candle
nowhere to be found
january two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
i opened my eyes
to a world full of ice
beautifully blue
and frozen in time
ages ago i called
out your name
chipping the surface
to find you again
with a little magic
i bent the tides
hoping tomorrow
you’d resurface alive
january two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
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