The Phoenix Park

by D.S. Maolalai

dusk in the spring in a park in the city.

I'm out on my bicycle,

just to feel air fill my coat.

there are deer here – it's something

you see sometimes happen –

these animals moving in herds

or in packs like an ash on the breeze.

and cars moving also, so carefully

sunlit – the dregs of the evening

commute. and this is the main road

to castleknock, out of the city.

there's traffic and peace about,

the long-shadowed yawn going home.

sky like the burning bright edge

of a frying pan. pawed hesitation

and I see a group up ahead

and kick pedals down toward it – a buck

and a doe and a car in an idling stand-off;

each waiting a turn for the other to pass.

these evenings are beautiful: sometimes

you see so much consideration

by people from offices of the wild life of animals,

bred tame to hand-feed and walking

the park, as they feel out their paths

and intentions.

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D.S. Maolalai has been nominated nine times for Best of the Net and seven times for the Pushcart Prize. He has released two collections, "Love is Breaking Plates in the Garden" (Encircle Press, 2016) and "Sad Havoc Among the Birds" (Turas Press, 2019). His third collection, "Noble Rot" was released in May 2022.