jdubqca

poetry by j matthew waters

Archive for the tag “violence”

25 Apr 2023

rolling back the future


having the right to remain silent
perhaps is exactly what
the powers that be
actually want

here in america
the silent majority is stocking up
while the insane minority
continues rampaging
on an ongoing basis

the rise in inflation
is not slowing down sales
of smith & wessons
neither is it preventing the poor
from getting poorer

here in america
human rights
& civil rights
have taken a back seat
to electric vehicles
the gas-powered ones
converted into mobile homes
or turreted weapons





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

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
04 Apr 2023
2 Comments

pistols at dawn


plastic or aluminum
in any shape or form
the various guns
these little ones carry
are temporarily bulletless
[at least for the moment]
like a thumb & forefinger
positioned & poised
in some stylish manner

—they later find
themselves safely abed
curled into the fetal position
warmly dreaming of
pistols at dawn





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , ,
28 Feb 2023
2 Comments

same as the old boss


the weather outside is frightful
like political destruction
taking out pristinely bountiful fields
& architecturally stunning cities

unheard of humans stirring up
a boiling pot of take this
machine gun tornadoes
nuclear-powered hurricanes
trigger finger earthquakes

destroy & rebuild
displace & replace
mass murders
mass graves
what kind of economy is this
what kind of human history is this
to keep handing down





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

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , ,
21 Feb 2023
2 Comments

the end is near


the man on the street
carries a sign reading
the end is near
his hair past his shoulders
his beard twice as long
he is the living & breathing
symbol of the apocalypse
advertising what everyone knows
another mugging gone wrong
another massacre in a makeshift church
another death row inmate executed
by way of lethal injection
all examples actually disproving
what the canvassing prophet believes





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

Posted in Dogma, In the City, Poetry and tagged , , ,
20 Feb 2023

the firing squad


we are awful villains
and we know it
—animal instincts
as brutal as any
species on earth

kill and conquer
all along the way
rock & roll blaring
only to enhance
the effectiveness

new genres sprout
generationally
giving a voice
to the those silenced
by inhumane ways





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

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
04 Feb 2023

chasing down a dream


there is a disconnect
between sublime living
and the reality of the day
so much so
even the planes
and helicopters overhead
produce background music

execution style killings
by thugs & gangs
are just as commonplace
as walks in the park
mother & daughter & child
enjoying the sunshine
unsuspectedly

in the marketplace
a man sells as is avocados
turning pennies into dollars
cross-training his
only surviving child
working & maintaining
chasing down their dream





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

Posted in Dreams, In the City, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
24 Dec 2022

The Great Failure


I fail to understand how I sleep at night

Where have you been dear sanity
and why do you evade my
quietest moments

This talking to someone
I fear whom may or may not exist
has been weighing

Heavily on the wrong side
of conscious thought
insistent on killing the enemy

Likely existing from within
a simple & delicate psyche
(in)capable of triggering

This insistence of wielding
instruments of creation
over the inevitable





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

Posted in Dreams, Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
26 Jul 2022
2 Comments

repeating history


the problem with the world today
we’re living in the past
like a smoker who can’t kick the habit
we’re unable to quit killing
whether sanctioned by allegedly legitimate
power brokers
or straight up civilian violence

when I was a kid we played
cowboys & indians
cops & robbers
doctor & nurse
role playing because we were left
to our devices
and our parents bought us weaponry
and any kind of idol we would ask for

on sundays we were reminded how evil
we truly were
and twice or maybe three times a year
we were forgiven all our sins

come monday however
we were right back at it
perpetuating the only thing that made sense





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

Posted in History, In the City, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , ,
30 May 2022

otherwise you’d still be alive today


I thought I had something
but when I looked back
nothing was there

how do you keep yourself
together
when we all know
what happens in the end

the story can be anything
you want it to be
as long as you’re open
to interpretation

building confidence
is the hardest part
it takes time & patience
rare traits for brilliant minds

now trust is another matter
altogether

you never should have
told me your plan
otherwise you’d still
be alive today

maybe





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
29 Apr 2022
2 Comments

it was supposed to be a romantic comedy


on the spaghetti western set
the director directed
the fill in cowboys
to keep their smartphones
in their holsters

handguns were banned
but all the hotshots were adept
at concealment
though lacked commitment
in relation to their lines

the critics complained
about too many fist fights
and not enough
shoot yourself in the foot
kind of scenes

to me the whole thing
was nothing but a parody
on the american condition
old school shootouts
redefined by a new reality





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , , ,
11 Apr 2022
4 Comments

I wonder about her


on an early sunday morning
at a nightclub downtown
two are dead & ten wounded

the police chief proclaims
it’s a peaceful city

but this is the twenty-first century
& anything is possible

the flattening of architecture
            the eradication of human groups
the barbarity         of technology
      the weaponization of
                                                outer space
hours later
church bells ring loud in all
the downtown churches
huge doors opening & shutting
the fat lady singing from the balcony

yellow tape & chalk outlines
I look & listen for some sort of sign
and wonder about her





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

Posted in In the City, Poetry and tagged , ,
05 Apr 2022

addicted to the madness


shots fired in the tourist district
a stampede in the streets
just past midnight

the eyes of children fearless & furious
peer through casement windows

though brighter than the morning light
they dare not stare too long
lest they go blind

sirens & flashing lights & gunshots
feet running & cars screaming

confusion reigns & becomes supreme
bodies pretend to sleep
just past midnight

the eyes of children fearless & furious
regaining count of all the sheep

refuge & solace sought after
who will offer comfort
in this chaos

as if thrown into a make-believe mob
they act without instruction

moonshine barely noticeable
spotting bullet casings
just past midnight

the eyes of children fearless & furious
rewinding & replaying





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

Posted in In the City, Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , | Leave a comment
05 Jan 2022

heaven on earth


don’t let current events get you down
the world has always been this violent

most of the time we pretend to be safe
in our homes behind locked doors

in the summer windows wide open
curtains waltzing freely
          and in the winter
we keep them shut
feline asleep on the narrow sill
basking in the sun

out of control wildfires
fueled by straight line winds
and hundreds of dream homes
alter the landscape and complicate
the notion of heaven on earth





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

Posted in Nature, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
31 Oct 2021

The art of disturbing the peace


The world has never been
a safe place
not in 1969 or the roaring nineties
whether in Sandwich Illinois
or half a world away

Past revolutions & world wars
at times take a back seat
to today’s atrocities
perpetuated by lone wolves
or governments (seemingly)
legitimate or otherwise

As the writer Baldwin
once eloquently illustrated
security is but an illusion
created by society
uniquely necessary
for reasons inexplicable





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

Posted in Poetry, War Poems and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
23 Jul 2021
2 Comments

Summer of violence


Lennon once sang about happiness
being a warm gun
an ironic musing in the final analysis
and something that always
struck me as très bizarre

Where I’m going here is nowhere
over forty years later
hundreds of Lennon’s killed per day
(by way of a warm gun)
in these Violent States of America





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

Posted in Poetry and tagged , ,
10 Sep 2019
8 Comments

I’ve got a little boat and she’s seaworthy


somehow I continue to live here
expansive and dangerous
stretching from ocean to ocean
long after the continents
lost its interconnectedness

we make music out of trees
and jewelry out of oysters
how is it we can’t make peace
out of the most basic tenets
all religions seem to practice

elections and appointments
aren’t working any better
than heritage or privilege
ordinary people standing up
and speaking out perilously

change is at hand and the end
is near continue to play out
like a broken historical record
replaying sunday hangings
and friday crucifixions




september two thousand nineteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry and tagged , , ,

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