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. He has been nominated for Best of the Web and twice for the Pushcart Prize.

The vegetables

rolled in the pot
like hippos
on Egyptian shores. the smell
rising to meet me; fresh earth
cut with spades
and moss-stuck. dawn,
the day
grown sweeter.
I’d been out
to get wine
for my dinner. eating alone
no reason
not to treat myself. 15 minutes
there and 15 back – plenty of time
for the spuds to get soft.
when I got in
I opened the bottle
and sat took a couple sips
while I got used to the steam.
I turned on the radio
and opened the window
to get some air in,
take the heat off the plate
and prevent the wet
from settling.