Commute - Poem - Daniel Cartwright-Chaouki

There is a rat in the road

squished flat by rubber tyres

on repeat

being dragged

slowly

inch by inch

along a crude oil canvas

as the mid-morning traffic crawls

until a jackdaw

drops from somewhere overhead

to the tarmac

where the dead meat rests

and starts to go to work

Daniel Cartwright-Chaouki is a professional gardener from Birmingham, England. His poetry

is informed by a range of themes and ideas. In particular, he focuses on the intersection

between people, plants and landscape. His work has previously been published in Brand

Magazine and The Cannon’s Mouth.