DS Maolalai

The Maintenance Office

outside
cigarette ends
stick in rain
like cherry petals. cotton
crushes white
and tempts birds to landing
and the walls trap smoke
and keep it
like a key in your pocket.
men stand circles,
huddled for tired fives
and the yard smells of work-boots, sweat
and wet leather.

DS Maolalai has been nominated for Best of the Web 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)