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
If I wrote a poem about you
There would an asterisk at the end of every line
Each will shine like a tiny dark star at the edge of the universe
Each will lead you to a footnote explaining the ambiguity
of sadness from your absence
My poem can’t, won’t, will not stand on its own or be self-explanatory
Your questioning eyes will dart up and down the page
from asterisk to footnote:
Line-asterisk-footnote,
Line-asterisk-footnote,
Line-asterisk-footnote
Trying to make sense of it all
Until you reach the last line which wouldn’t need a footnote
Because by then you would understand
That you are gone, no longer here, unalive
And all that remains is this grief
And your unexplainable presence still kicking around
and footnoted in my life forever
First published in Live Encounters Poetry & Writing Vol 6, November-December 2025, edited by Mark Ulyseas.
