White wine.
I feel a little better
when the second glass
goes down. it's an open question
if I write better also,
but at least
I get freer –
more willing to hurt
the feelings of friends
and openly talk shit
about ex-
and current girlfriends.
A counterweight
rattle. tap tap tap.
I woke. 3am.
fingers in my ribs.
can't you hear?
my girlfriend asked –
the storm? I rolled over,
listened. heard. outside,
wind pushed trees
cracking like elbows
in a bicycle accident.
pulled down rooftiles
like hangnails.
in the room next to ours
we'd left a window open.
some laundry hanging
out – air in. it was banging
loose now – against the frame,
the frame: a rattle. tap tap tap.
we went together, all lights off
but curtains flapping open,
the warm salt of street-
lights shining, coming in.
I reached out, took the handle
like the leg of a bird
flying over. the gap
below me, courtyard
cobble some way down –
and then her hands
around my waist,
a counterweight of sorts.
I felt the wind, the warmth
of arms and belly on my back.
______________
DS Maolalai has been nominated nine times for Best of the Net and seven times for the Pushcart Prize. He has released two collections, "Love is Breaking Plates in the Garden" (Encircle Press, 2016) and "Sad Havoc Among the Birds" (Turas Press, 2019). His third collection, "Noble Rot" was released in April 2022
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