2 poems from Fevers of the Mind Anthologies by J Matthew Waters

Say You'll Haunt Me

Inside this cage I hear you sing
your personal psalms
songs of woe and joy
and everything in between

during your darkest moments
supernovas shine high above

though not in your line of sight
they keep you off guard and hopeful

your face is patterned
vertical lines channeling emotions
streaming from your eyes

out in the yard shadows cast
familiar symmetrical smiles

some nights you are unprepared
to fall asleep in my arms

one day a miracle will open the door
leaving you with new ideas
either spiraling yourself far away
or forever haunting my days

The Wounded Marionette

it was hard to see the strings
stuffed inside his rucksack
as he rode the train from one town
to the next
all slumped over and needing
a miracle or two
to bring him back to his former self

they stopped the bleeding
back on the battlefield
stitched him up as best they could
sending him on his merry way
cross bar and all

staring out at the countryside
he went in and
out of consciousness
the landscape as desolate as his thoughts
leading him to wonder if the good doctor
would be able to save
his most precious possessions



Bio from 2019:
J Matthew Waters was born in Rock Island, Illinois in 1961, and grew up across the Mississippi in Davenport, IA. He graduated from the University of Iowa in 1984 with a B.A. in English. His first collection of poetry "Five Hundred Pieces," was published in 1997. His second collection, "In the Middle of Somewhere," was released as a Kindle edition in 2011. In 2013, he published "101 Chances," in both Kindle and paperback editions. His latest collection entitled "Forty-Five Revolutions per Minute" was released in December, 2015. He currently resides in Cedar Rapids, IA where he works and plays and writes.