Poetry by DS Maolalai

planting both ankles
like some root 
of a dandelion,
she moves arms encircled
as if winding the day. she is
old machinery, 
careful as hour-hands, 
as exact and stiffly moving
as an elderly basset 
hound. near the park
this blue crystal morning,
vans pause deliveries. 
men swing sideways
from van cabs and check, 
on their cargos, dashing 
cigarette ash 
on newly baked loaves.

DS Maolalai has received nine nominations for Best of the Net and seven for the Pushcart Prize. His poetry has been released in three collections, Love is Breaking Plates in the Garden (Encircle Press, 2016), Sad Havoc Among the Birds (Turas Press, 2019) and Noble Rot (Turas Press, 2022)

Photo by Natalia Luchanko on Unsplash