By DS Maolalai
spelling my name out
on the phone to Americans.
Irish – it’s frankly
unfortunate. vowels
with the wild growth
of grass along verges
and consonants coming
together like lawnmower
chains against rocks.
mh making v. bh – v
in a different way. cars starting
with splutters and driving
up gravel to corners. and famously
lilting voices – willows on river-
sides, sunlight etc. we have to though –
accents like moss upon
brickwork. anything to render
these hard words more soft.
—
DS Maolalai has been described by one editor as “a cosmopolitan poet” and another as “prolific, bordering on incontinent.” His work has been nominated thirteen times for BOTN, ten for the Pushcart and once for the Forward Prize, and 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).