"Pepper" by D.S. Maolalai

it's wet tomcat weather. the windows

are striped. drivers are turning

on wipers – toggling the lowest

two settings. it's weather that ruins

expensive suede jackets. makes vanity

duck into a cafes and order

black coffee. the streets

aren't plated, but are specked

with a freckle of water. at the bus stop

on eden quay, people are clustering

as if being close together 

will protect them from pepper from above. 

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