Sky Wide
DS MAOLALAI
shade running jagged
on the south side of horizon. outside, the wicklow mountains buck blue under sunlight, like a final detail added to a painting of the country; a thumb scratching wet sky oil, and beyond blue movement gone white as paint run thin. above, white castles roll and tumble, behind them, to the north, more castles push forward. sky wide, open in boiling motion, like sets changing in an expensive theatre or an art-show; an 80-euro ticket and dinner for an anniversary. a night for your mother to put on a beautiful dress, for your sister and you to take her out, get her drunk on nice wine. sun to the south pricking and tightening; your showiest shirt, pulled out and ironed for an occasion. |
Mint
DS MAOLALAI
brushing your teeth
like biting sliced winter spitting out blood to slip in streaks on the porcelain wild rabbits running for cover shot dead in deep snow. |
DS Maolalai has been nominated three times for Best of the Net and twice for the Pushcart Prize. His poetry has been released in two collections, "Love is Breaking Plates in the Garden" (Encircle Press, 2016) and "Sad Havoc Among the Birds" (Turas Press, 2019).