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
DOGS OF WAR
You see them at the park
Sizing up the competition
Barking, out of fear
Or warning
When they get close enough
They smell each other’s bums up
Such ardour in that odour sniffing
What glorious messages are they divining?.
Just like plotting co-conspirators
turning innocent patsies into assassins
Sussing out the next best depository window
Or the ideal grassy knoll, do you suppose?
Well, nothing to snipe about
We are all tethered in a way
Instead of a leash, a social media stream
It’s addiction to this algorithmed screens
Constant checking and oversharing
The dumbing down and doomscrolling
Stimulating pathways of dopamine
All in this together and yet, all so very alone
Come now poets throw them a bone!
Now is not the time for “thoughts and prayers”
Get to work! Don’t hold back your silent screams!
Share your screens, let your words be seen
Make every verse an anthem, a chorus,
let it reek of the shock and horrors
You and I know what’s coming: death and grief
and a million mothers’ sorrows
Voice out to save all of our children’s tomorrows
If every dog of war must have its day
Then every poet must yank their leashes now,
and have our own say
Be bold, be loud, conjure up your sublime lines
Let’s elevate this narrative to the divine!
First published in Embarquement Poétique Poetry Journal, France.
