DS Maolalai

every time you have a cold i think it’s cancer

every time you have a cold
I think it's cancer. every time
you have a stomach-ache
or you’re cramping especially bad.
start to plan what I will do
when your insurance
pays the mortgage.
to start I'll get a lower
paying job. the dog will miss you.
I will too. I'll smoke full time
instead of only sometimes.
become a proper alcoholic:
people will understand.
I'll move my office to your
office. change some
of the paintings. every time
you have a cold I think
it's cancer. maybe I’ll rent
out the storeroom. dying
is the only way
I can imagine you not here.

DS Maolalai has been described by one editor as "a cosmopolitan poet" and another as "prolific, bordering on incontinent". His work has been nominated fourteen 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)

DS wrote this about his poem: