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
Inside you is a red ocean –
Outside a green zig-zag of unenvious emotions
We see you – where you were scarred by the sun
Yet you persisted by sheer, thirst-trapping will
Like a wondrous womb you bloomed
Your seeds hungry to perpetuate your lineage
Come hither, you beckoned, a buxom temptress
And we were sucked in, and cracked you open
Your quenchy-crunch mesmerising,
we were slobbery slakers, dribbling chin-drippers
We even salted and sweetened you,
as if your sugary lushness was not enough
But you paid the price for this selfless sacrifice
We had our fill and never settled the bill
Your petite pips bore the indignity of spittle
A game, perhaps, you induced to pitch them
like pocket rockets afar
And you taught them to swim, traverse through
windy nethers to be expunged, booted and flushed
A relentless quest to find fresh earth
for your spunky progeny to root in
Always a generous giver, you kept us cool even in heat
like a regenerating promethean liver
Sliced to smile, you are our crimson cleanser,
our summery pink-of-health restorer
We are forever entwined, both mostly water–
made up of saccharine juices of the divine
Until we shuffle off these mortal rinds,
and return to the waters, the river,
that sea of brine
First published in The Marbled Sigh, USA.
