my father's advice:
"Always put a rubber on it."
suffocated husband.
© Rachel Green July 2026
Roasted Grounds
we do what we can
to conform to society's mores
but the ache in my belly
belies the nausea I feel.
I'm getting used to bad coffee
cheap creamer, budget brands;
no longer the espresso with a drop of cream
which makes my belly balloon.
Will I care so much
about appearances when I'm blind?
Or will physical strength and fitness
power me into the grave?
© Rachel Green July 2026
earwig on my arm
its belief in teleportation
when it's taken outside
© Rachel Green July 2026
On Not Passing
passing a bottle of country wine
to the brothers across the road
(a neighbourly gift)
and the one says 'thank you'
and the other: 'you're a gentleman'
I bloody hope not:
it was removed thirty years ago
and a pretty well certain
it doesn't grow back.
© Rachel Green July 2026
uploading
Amazon goods to loft space
heavy load
© Rachel Green July 2026
Kissing
Chatsworth car park
at two in the morning
kissing...
and more than kissing...
with a married woman
who sneaked out of her house
when dearest hubby was asleep;
and a sudden flurry of panicked activity
when the headlights of a police car
appears through the gate.
© Rachel Green July 2026
bumble bee
climbing across my fingers
looking for food
© Rachel Green July 2026
Hissing Gate
there was a kissing gate
between the Anglican St Lawrence's
and the long, overgrown walkway
to the Catholic St Mary's.
It was not for kissing:
no fornication on church grounds
because God is always watching
and probably filming, too.
Nor was it to stop livestock escaping
through carelessly open gates
for the dogs could slip through it
and the cows had a different god.
It was there because the Revd. James
was a spiteful old bugger
and installed it to stop Father Timothy
from cycling through the churchyard.
© Rachel Green July 2026
early training
but the academy is closed
Tesco shop
© Rachel Green July 2026
Drury Lane Motors
I don't know the Muffin man
but his phone number was in the book
This was the seventies
where phone numbers came in free tomes
that would start a year's fires.
I asked for four muffins
for my mother's birthday
and he told me to try the supermarket
because he was car mechanic.
© Rachel Green July 2026
Walton Dam
Dog walking with a friend
It seems I have one!
© Rachel Green July 2026
Romantic Frisson
night sky
awash with pinpricks of light
after the evening glow has faded
and a shower of streaking meteors
as the space station falls.
At seventeen minutes to midnight
a child comes into the world
under the zodiac sign of Starlink.
© Rachel Green July 2026
rewatching horror movies
after reading the explanation
quite rewarding
© Rachel Green July 2026
On Following the advice of Nursery Rhymes
who the fuck
sets a baby's cradle
at the top of a tree?
Oh! You thought it would send him to sleep?
It's blowing a fucking gale
no wonder he's crying.
And now there's some fucking Gremlin
sawing away at the branch
like it's lumberjack day at the funny farm.
Oh look! He's fallen
through the roof of the greenhouse
like a tiny Rod Hull.
At least the branch will give you planks
to make a tiny coffin.
I bet you're an antivaccer.
I'm calling Social Services
© Rachel Green July 2026
