“Consternation 3a” © Edward Michael Supranowicz

 

The housepainter

a friend sends a set
of some pdf’d poems
that he’s planning to publish
if he finds the right press.
well I say he’s a friend – he is more
an acquaintance, but he knows
I write poems; that I’ve published
in places he likes. I read them –
they’re fine – make a note
of some phrasing. and a theme
about race, about gender
and how they connect. I try
not to comment – the last thing
he needs now, I’m sure,
is some white dude’s opinion. I move
through his meter
like an engineer taking in
meadows; I have
some opinions,
but know that this isn’t
my field. I write free verse
poems, and always
on “DS Maolalai” –
not sonnets and villanelles
strung out in cerebral
form. I make some more notes
feeling like an imposter.
a journeyman housepainter
asked for his thoughts
on a portrait in the formalist school.

 

DS Maolalai has been described by an editor as “prolific to the point of incontinence”. 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)

Edward Michael Supranowicz has had artwork and poems published in the US and other countries. Both sides of his family worked in the coalmines and steel mills of Appalachia.