Drunk, and trying to be quiet.

moving through the kitchen
like a boat in harbor,
drunk at 11pm
on wine, and a little beer afterward,
and trying your best
to be quiet. putting down bottles
by the backyard door
with a sound
like tanks
crushing houses in palestine.
then you turn
and knock a fork over. turn again
and pick it up. upstairs
someone turns over
in your bed
and snorts a sound
like cars crashing
and collapsing
mineshafts. you freeze. then move,
more freely now,
feeling a fool in your concern,
remembering
how heavily
she sleeps.

DS Maolalai has been nominated four times for Best of the Net and three times 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).