I find myself out of touch
with the god within
an entity I thought
I knew so well
maybe he’s evolved
into someone else
or reverted back
to a former self
I’ve long forgotten
whatever the case
I feel compelled
to remove him
from my head
before he decides
to take over my body
september two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
I’ve been reading Camus & Sartre of late
thinking of the things that
should have been
the people I should not have lost for no
good reason
the sights I swore I would see
I tell myself I’ve seen the Acropolis
in another lifetime
long before it’s great deterioration
and my own tragic death
I’ve been listening to the likes
of Beethoven & McCartney
knowing full well it wasn’t the first time
they were performing at their peak
It’s true I once had a pretty face
but that was before the accident
before the jagged edges
and the separation
detached from another past
circling headlong into the next
january two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
I had this idea in my head
and I had to repeat it over & over again
so I wouldn’t lose it
and then someone died
on the highway
and I was there
to stand witness
waited until the ambulance
left with the body
making me realize the original idea
had gone away with the lights
there was a time when we
were inseparable
how easy it was to get things done
inspiration set on autopilot
creations unfolding
one after the other
long before that fatal crash
before the forces
that are always at work
decided tonight would be the night
and tomorrow would be no more
december two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
you kept things from us
for so many years
since the day you were born
I undoubtedly suppose
crafty and full of light
mysterious and joyously dark
constantly stashing away things
bits and pieces of yourself
you knew would one day be found
all these years having since passed
and still I’m filling the box
you made me with
not-so-accidental artifacts
periodically found in the most
unexpected places
leaving me to imagine
whether or not
you ever left us in the first place
january two thousand twenty
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
it’s after eight o’clock
and you’ve yet to call
my mind drifting
heart barely beating
the weekend it seems
never really existed
was merely reality
wrapped in a dream
all the miles recorded
by air and land and sea
play back repeatedly
like a silent movie
perhaps I forgot to say
I’ll be home by monday
or perhaps never said
exactly where I’d be
june two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
sweetly your song presents
promises
and stays forever in tune
like a prayer
in my mind I hear nothing
but a repeated melody
that is never tiring and
always alive in my dreams
there is an inescapable part of
young love
never lost between inception and death
somehow living on above reality
alone thirty stories high
I endure my lowest hour
mindful all is equal between young lovers
oh cruel world
thank you for delivering unto me
your irony
for without it
I would have given up long ago
I would not give up the world
for anything except you
would not allow myself
to be alienated from your
yesterday or today
would always be near you
wherever you may be
first kiss so true
oh so vivid in our minds
first love at first sight
beauty appears out of nowhere
shuts off the lights and
turns on our lives
anywhere but here
thirty stories tall
how I’d fall off the edge
to be with you right now
originally written circa nineteen eighty-five
rewrite published on ArtiPeeps earlier this year
recital recorded october two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
the trains have all left
this dusty little town
and I’m left on the trackside
without even a dime
to buy a little more time
as my woman sits in coach
destination saint somewhere
may two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
jdubqca 