jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “songs”

25 Aug 2013
8 Comments

making conversation


what’s your favorite song
I asked her
as we sat atop the bluff
overlooking the mississippi river
the white sails below looking like
a paint-by-number watercolor

she took a sip of her arnie palmer
and lowered her sunglasses
exposing sinister eyes
straight into mine
then pushed them back
and returned to her sunbathing

what was that look for
I asked her
picking up a rock and rubbing it
with my thumb and fingers

you know what my favorite song is
you silly man
she whispered above the happy birds
why don’t you go ahead
and sing it for me


august two thousand thirteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , ,
19 Nov 2012
2 Comments

Big Time in Reno


I made my way to Reno by accident
with a woman much older than her age.
She said she knew a married man there
who seemed to have a ton of money.

It didn’t take long before she left me
for a drifter with some blow, so I decided
Reno was as good a spot as any
where I could work on my old acoustic.

By day I had a gig dealing twenty-one
at Fitzgeralds; earned enough in tips
to keep my lungs full of Old Golds
and my lips wet with whiskey or rye.

I kept telling myself I’m gonna make it big
in Nashville one day, but until then
I just kept singing my railroad songs
for the cockroaches in the rafters.


november two thousand twelve
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
09 Sep 2012
6 Comments

rocket man


there’s something about the color red
that makes everything go so fast
as fast as jack rabbits
launched into space
using supersonic wrist rockets

red rockets launch into orbit
from the back yard
blasted by homemade boosters
consigned to corral space junk
circling the planet
for what seems like a millennium

old-time rocket man rocks
on the front porch
cloaked in his red suit
and plucking his guitar
reminiscing outlandishly
about space cowboys


september two thousand twelve
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , , , , ,

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