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poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “song”

10 Aug 2024
2 Comments

Laredo


Please not one word of the man who had killed me
Don’t mention his name and his name will pass on
—Anonymous

I’ve been singing cowboy songs of late
or maybe they’re songs of enduring death
songs of resurrections

in this town you need to check in your guns
at the sheriff’s office
even the smallest infraction
like the one stashed inside your bootleg
could cost you your life

a few hundred yards south of here
you’ll find the markers
of those who broke one simple law
one intended to defer unnecessary death
some of them
riding off into the sunset
singing songs about the next verse


august two thousand twenty-four
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , ,
06 Jan 2023

american [teenage] idol

I never thought a career as a musician was possible
— Billie Eilish

she’s just a person born of this century
unable to describe herself with words

the songs come from out of nowhere
as if channeled by a diva born ages ago

being misunderstood is an understatement
the higher notes no longer intimidating

the synergy of courage & independence
brings forth new life and countless encores

once the lights fade & the curtain is drawn
she retreats to a world she barely knows





january two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
03 Dec 2022
4 Comments

forever your song


when I think of poetry
I think of song
the early morning bird
making sure
I think of you

curtains drawn
the interval begins
we awaken
and we start again

the end game
can never be known
but what happens
in the meantime
is forever yours





december two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
27 Oct 2022
2 Comments

underestimation


I’m a songbird
without a song
whispering sweet
nothings

there is sadness
in the silence
this much I know

I’m a songbird
without a song
listening for a clue
on a windless night

but there is only sadness
in the silence
this much I know

I’m a songbird
without a song
underestimated
and determined

turning sadness
into a melody
this much I know

practicing wetting
my whistle
until the morning light





october two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Poetry and tagged , , ,
15 Jul 2022

check out my melody


I’ve been waiting for a song
to come my way
one everyone sings along with
offering rhyming references
like kryptonite or doctor killjoy
offering messages I’d like
to understand but cannot
allowing the mind
to escape the body
if only for a few melodic minutes
or an entire lifetime





july two thousand twenty-two
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
16 May 2022

the tree replacement program


we’re planting trees & singing
this one’s for you honey
name it what you will

one by one
falling from the pickup’s bed
into the hands of a queen she’s goes
into the ground she goes
everyone singing
up on the hill
this one’s for you honey
name it what you will

one day they’re gone
and the next they’re replaced
at this pace
soon we’ll be singing
it’s a brand new world honey
name it what you will





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

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

for reasons I can’t explain


having been gone
I listen for my song
in faraway places
in my dreams I search
for days on end
upon awakening reality sets in
and I start another day
without my song

it’s as if I’m gradually
losing my sight
my peripheral vision
narrowing day by day
the song I once knew by heart
nowhere to be found
taken away from me
for reasons I can’t explain





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

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
13 Sep 2020

for hope is here to stay


sing child sing
rejoice with the rising sun
remove your mask
and smile for all to see

sing child sing
you are meant to learn
with the few & the many
your voice carrying
across virulent waves

sing child sing
let the world know
you are perfectly at ease
flying like the wind

sing child sing
lift up your innocence
open wide your arms
be true to yourself
for hope is here to stay




september two thousand twenty
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
06 Sep 2020
11 Comments

finding my song


when I tell them I want
to be a bird when I grow up
all I hear is laughter

not just any bird
I go on to say
but one in which I can paint
my own feathers
a different color every day
one in which I can sing
a new song until I find the one
sung directly from my heart

and when I die
my brightest of feathers
will surely fade away
but my song
oh my song
it will live forever




september two thousand twenty
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Birds, Poetry and tagged , ,
05 May 2020

imagining what’s on the other side


I’ve been working on a new song
combining rock & disco with a little bit of soul

it’s something I picked up
back in the late seventies
when nobody was doing their own thing

it’s like mashing ‘sexual healing’
with ‘seven nation army’
four-on-the-floor bass drum beating madly

if you give it more air & time
it may become a karaoke favorite
celebrated throughout the civilized world

what’s grooved on the b-side however
will forever be a work in progress
always skipping from one place to the next




may two thousand twenty
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
13 May 2019
2 Comments

as if it had the power


somehow the world’s lost
its song
gone in an instant
snatched away
like a pet or child
left unattended

tragic they call it
on the evening news
search parties gathering
spreading from county to county
and country to country
across fields and woods
bodies of water and coldwater streams
people from all places
holding vigils and praying
all for a song

how did it come to this
one song garnering such attention
such affection
such affiliation
as if it had the power
to tame the savage beast
and bring peace on earth





may two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
06 Jan 2019
5 Comments

a song for the dead


I keep telling myself I’m not afraid
repeating the phrase as if it’s my mantra
each letter embossed on my skin
images of hearts etched in my mind

I tell myself I’m no longer afraid
to fall asleep in the dead of night
grateful to have found my voice
relieved knowing I finally have a song




january two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Micropoetry, Poetry and tagged , ,
15 Dec 2017

winter migration


it may be the same song but
absolutely not the same dance

I’m not looking to tell a story
beneath downtown streetlamp
shining brightly on a particular corner
young hopeless couple
dancing to piped-in music and
big fat snowflakes
falling down at midnight

in mid december crows
grow in numbers along the river
where homeless often roam along
natural and artificial lights

sirens often interrupt airwaves
screaming across bridges
troopers and fire trucks and ambulances
chasing down their own stories

there is a small fire down below
keeping warm the cold
occasional small talk sometimes
turning angry
questioning the powers that be





december two thousand seventeen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
26 Oct 2016

dancing on white sand


there was a number
maybe there were two or three
that when put together
added up to something
like an old fashioned love song

half notes and quarter notes
bounce off amphitheater rooftops
drifting into the cloudless sky
slowly dissolving like helium
balloons and unbridled kites

spiders and bears and
little tea kettles crawl through
open backlit space
giving chase to new ideas
dying to be composed

they say the song lives on
riding falling stars
content with returning to earth
surfing atop ocean waves
seeking a brand new dance floor



october two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
13 Aug 2015

chorus practice


cicadas alive and loud
sounding off above and below
sunny treetops
sublimely casting wavelengths
across the heavy air
noisily rhythmical to anyone
subconsciously dreaming of
reaching faraway places




august two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Micropoetry, Nature, Poetry and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
26 Feb 2015
10 Comments

Somewhere Between the Lines


I

I’ve been trying to save myself
Long before I ever met you
I’m trying to understand
Why I feel so alive today
I found a message on the ‘net
That said you had gone away
So why do I keep searching
In a world that’s now unplugged

I don’t recall the last time
I walked on shallow water
There must be something in the air
That makes my eyes turn red
I looked much younger yesterday
When the sky was so much darker
I try to focus past the logic
But the clouds stand in the way

Flying solo used to be easy
When the birds kept in the trees
Hid behind camouflaged branches
Their songs were barely heard
But now the death of fall draws near
And they gather and form rainstorms
Is it any wonder I can’t find you
When my feet stay on the ground

II

I used to think I could find you hiding
But now I wonder when we’ll share
That moment in time together
Why does the sun always hide
When I walk between the lines

There’s a reason I keep looking
There’s a madness in my mind
I think maybe I should look elsewhere
Is it possible I will find you

III

It’s been a long long day
I’ve spent miles on this road
I’ve gone a long long way
Going to find my way back home





february two thousand fifteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Note: This poem was adapted from song lyrics I had written in 2003

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , ,

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