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
Hey Death!
When you come a-knocking, will you step out of the darkness and punch me in the face?
Or will you come from behind, tap me on the shoulder and say, Boo!?
Will you kindly whisper in my ear as I lay down to sleep?
Or will you drown me when I am in too deep?
Maybe I will see you coming in the distance, your long shadow growing shorter and shorter
And I will put my house in order and greet you at the door
Or maybe i will try to shut you out
And jump out a back window –
Perhaps, you will come as my breath grows shallow
Sucking the air from me at every deep pause
Maybe the grump in me will swallow up all my dry humour
And infect those around me like an angry tumour
Maybe you will chew me from the inside out
A slow, growing entity that would go unnoticed
Until it’s too late – and I collapse like a hollow, empty shell
An insidious inception into several levels of my own private hell
Hey Death!
When you do come – early or late
Just don’t bait me and let me wait
No prank calls, please. No creeping up on me!
No last-call dying disease tease!
I know I cannot change what’s already fated
But it’s never too late to exorcise and heal all this hatred
And Death, I have a bucket list now before I kick it
So let me go about my business and just fulfil it, ok?
I know I fear you not at this final, windy bend
As long as there’s some wit left at this twit’s end
Don’t curse me with any “sudden unforeseen circumstance”
Instead let the last twirl of this mortal coil be a whirling dervish dance!
First published in Spilling Cocoa, Editor: Robert Garnham, U.K.
