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
100 years had passed.
Those of us who remained
were the last repositories of
human DNA left on a ravaged Earth.
We told the aliens of the decay,
the corruption, selfish governments,
untaxed billionaires,
unfettered profiteering,
the stripping of resources,
the extinction of species,
the death of diversity,
the pandemics.
the aliens were unimpressed
they said we lacked leadership
they said what we needed was
powerful people, strong figureheads,
men with backbones
and great visionaries.
they named Hitler and Stalin,
Kim Jong Un and Putin
We told them Noooooo!
Are you crazy?!
the aliens had no word for crazy
they did not understand dictatorships,
or genocide, or fascism,
or populism, or brainwashing,
or kleptocracy
they said they had the technology to revive them
All of them!? we muttered, unable to dissuade them.
yes, they replied, all of them
and since they landed in Washington, DC,
like all aliens are wont to do,
they would begin with reconstituting
Donald J. Trump
We guffawed, pulled off our masks,
and snapped on our red helmets and space suits.
You won’t need to, we said.
He’s still alive!
the aliens showed expression for the first time
their large, bulbous, emerald pupils dilated
their tentacles pressed again their ears
their misshapen mouths widened, agape
in a silent scream
how is that possible? they said
you don’t have the technology,
you’re still on windows and zoom, for crying out loud!
He was freed and re-elected in 2037, we said.
Then discovered reincarnation, the best reincarnation ever.
Changed the laws, built his wall, blew up China’s wall,
drained the swamp, drained the world.
He knew you were coming!
Has already sent the space army to your planet, Alpha,
right after you left.
It’s a beautiful planet, the most beautiful planet ever.
They should have landed and taken it over by now.
Vapourized all you puny Alphans, with your tiny, tiny tentacles.
You are the last of your kind! They left us here to eliminate you!
but but but we love Trumpppp…
No, not good enough!
You’re fired!
Make Alpha Great Again!
Goodbye!
(As the Alphans melted under the rayguns,
one whispered to the other, But our planet is dying too…)
First published in “Orange is Not a Colour: Poems Against Totalitarianism”, curated by editor Fin Hall, Scotland and available on Amazon, https://a.co/d/045dELh3
