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, you are not trapped on an island
And this is not an episode of Survivor
You are not a starved person awaiting a TV rescue
There are no coconuts and rocks to roll to spell
out S.O.S. for passing planes to spot
Nor a fire to feed to scare predators away
You are not alone, nor talking to a volleyball
as your only friend
Feel that–it isn’t sand
It’s just your salty tongue wrapped around the man
Every wrecked man, someday, washes up
on his own forgotten shore
Not recognizing the contours of his uncharted self
Landfall hits hardest those who never knew
their ships were always leaking
Who long ago buried the treasure of their trauma
in an unmarked grave
And turned every Friday into a repetitive attempt
at drowning
But there were always others–
who waited patiently for your return,
flinging messages out in emptied bottles
So you could one day find
your way back here
No, it isn’t home
Nor an island, it’s a peninsula
Connecting the disconnected
to an entire continent of healing
So you aren’t alone, you were never alone
Acceptance is the sea that brought you here
Be grateful for its discovery, your own recovery
And try this time to be nice to the natives
(Note: Seven years sober)
First published in the online literary journal Chewers by Masticadores, USA.
