Scattering

on occasion
we’ve been known to tangle;
the road is a looping line
spiralled over countryside,
spotty with cars
like knots on a string or
beads on a necklace,
scattering
when you grab them
and pull hard. the night
rolls over
and hauls its the bedsheets.
it is warm, a great grey thing,
and comfortable,
the night. lights
spark up spots
on the landscape
like ants on white tile,
photographed
and flipped into negative. beside me
your head is asleep
on your shoulder, a little drool on your chin
catching glints
from occasional headlights. behind us
is everything
on folded down carseats; plastic bags full of clothes
and books, cooking pots,
stacked bedclothes and the guitar
which enters every flat I move to
and still is never played. we left without
the dog
and without some of your paintings, our radio
and some of my books. on occasion
we’ve been known
to tangle;
whip around the map
and drive in all directions,
the backseat packed with objects
stowed in blankets
and lashed together by rope, tangled badly
to keep all things secure,
and which we’ll have trouble
getting open
when eventually
we get there.

 

DS Maolalai is a poet from Ireland who has been writing and publishing poetry for almost 10 years. His first collection, Love is Breaking Plates in the Garden, was published in 2016 by the Encircle Press, and he has a second collection forthcoming from Turas Press in 2019. He has been nominated for Best of the Web and twice for the Pushcart Prize.

Luis Lázaro Tijerina was born in Salina, Kansas. Mr. Tijerina has a Master of Art degree in history, concentration being military history and diplomacy. He is a published author of military theory, short stories, essays and poetry. Mr. Tijerina resides in Vermont.