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
No, I will not burn for you!
There are no flames inside me
that can be equated to amóre
Fire is a limiting metaphor
You really can’t set fire to the rain
Who in the throes of love – or loss – would even try?
And no, this girl is not on fire!
Terms of endearment shouldn’t sound like an inquisition
Let’s get real, calling anyone hot
or smokin’ is such an old, tired cliche
and, frankly, diminishing
Passion isn’t a blaze, a fiery outburst, an incandescence
That’s too brief, short-lived, transitory
You are not a candle in the wind,
in the window, or even in the dark
And you can’t incinerate yourself from both ends
Love isn’t a burning, it’s a flexible churning
It’s gravity and energy multiplied by time
It’s holding space, making space, and growing
It tolerates flare-ups and meltdowns
It steps up during flame-outs and burnouts
Love isn’t an arsonist!
It may spark warmth, light up an affection,
fuel a desire, but ultimately it bears witness,
it sits and listens, it has two sturdy – yet weary – shoulders:
one for compassion, the other for kindness
Love isn’t a verb, a verse, or any such verbiage either
It feeds on memory, barters with give-and-take,
trades on authenticity, grace, truth
When all the fires of loss die out,
love still holds out a hand and says:
Come with me, let’s go out, catch some rays.
Here’s some sunscreen, though.
You don’t wanna get burnt.
Again.
No. Never again.
First published in Chewers by Masticadores, USA
