Introducing a new series of poems by Julian Matthews. Julian is a writer and Pushcart-nominated poet published in The American Journal of Poetry, Autumn Sky Poetry Daily, Borderless Journal, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Dream Catcher Magazine, Live Encounters Magazine, Lothlorien Poetry Journal and The New Verse News, among others. He is a mixed-race minority from Malaysia and lived in Ipoh for seven years. Currently based in Petaling Jaya, he is a media trainer and consultant for senior management of multinationals on Effective Media Relations, Social Media and Crisis Communications. He was formerly a journalist with The Star and Nikkei Business Publications Inc
Link: https://linktr.ee/julianmatthews
By Julian Matthews
It’s hard to be your friend
You are leaky and the goldfish
of anxiety is about to flop out
gasping for air
I don’t have the patience to
refloat it every time you have
an attack
I am a walking trigger warning
and never know when or what
I say will puncture your plastic,
aquatic world
I cannot tread on shells
all day to prevent your splattering
It’s too much legwork for so little
breathing space
This could never ever go very far
And you are too near, too raw
I couldn’t fake-swallow your goldfish
when I had my own to deal with
You are the new enlightened barbie
You see through un-tinted lenses
I am half-empty, half-fulfilled,
ever-needy
Yearning for the stability of the glass
that never shatters, even when tipped over
by my own doing
Let this transparent boundary
keep us apart for now
So we can both stay dry
and breathe, even when all teared out
First published in Poetry for Mental Health Book Series: Anxiety and Depression, published by Robin Barratt, UK, and available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FCXQ5K2S
