You promised you’d make it back
to Iowa where the fifth season
gives us time to enjoy the other four.
The photos from the Farmer’s Market
are fresh in my mind as I sit and wonder
if they made it all the way to Bagram.
I start the sleds in the shed every so often
knowing they’ll be ready for the trails
once you and the snow finally arrive.
june two thousand twelve
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
The water in his hands
was like a crystal ball,
replaying the recent
‘hand-to-hand’ past
with absolute clarity.
As he knelt, he dipped
his bloodied hands
into the stream,
lifting the reddish,
murky drink to his lips,
the images disintegrating
into his mouth.
The river rock underneath
his knees felt comforting
as he continued to dip
his cupped hands
into the creek
and up to his face,
the motion reminding him
of the ferris wheel
at the county fair.
may two thousand twelve
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
Prisoners walked the lily fields
in magnetic boots
picking up pieces of shrapnel
left from centuries of hatred
Misunderstandings on Earth
are as certain as battlefields
unnecessary as bleeding hearts
never truly loved
Children of all civilizations
were fed into the factory
placed in single file lines
and taught elastic freedoms
As the elders grew past death
they’d come to realize
peaceful starships could sail
beyond the sun and back
april, two thousand twelve
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
The old man whittled
while rocking in a wooden chair
on the front porch
all summer long.
We visited him daily
bringing along a beer or two
we stole from our folks,
watched as he turned pieces of cherry
into chessmen.
In the Spring
he had lost his son to the war;
but in the Summer
he just rocked away
carving and sipping,
providing all us boys the wherewithal
to win the game.
april two thousand twelve
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
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