McDonald's ad
"Great tasting coffee*"
*three spoons of sugar
© Rachel Green September 2026
Lucy
"It's weird," she said,
"that you can be an app
that's popular world-wide
and there's someone you know;
someone you've seen walking about;
so I just thought I'd say hello."
It made my day, this little interaction,
and strangers are just friends
who are waiting in the wings.
© Rachel Green August 2026
treacherous;
the apples taste delicious.
Whoops! diarrhoea
© Rachel Green September 2026
Ascension
From the top deck of the bus
I saw a man dressed as an angel
and carrying a trumpet;
not the 'he must play jazz' kind
but the sort in Biblical tales
where the walls tumble down
because the note covered the sound
of saboteurs tunnelling beneath;
and my heart felt a chill
because maybe Revelations had been right,
and the Seven Seals were about to be broken,
but ten I realised we were passing the BBC
and the guy was just an extra.
© Rachel Green August 2026
asked if I had
some facial work done in France:
wearing tight leather pants
© Rachel Green September 2026
Classified Ad
educated spirit
seeks body of a young boy
for immediate possession.
Bathe in the reflected glory
of a young protégé
despite his inadequacies of intellect.
Give up on your child now
and offer his soul in trade.
Conduct a séance now
and chant this box number three times.
Alas! An ableist demon advertising
for I read the small print:
preference to Caucasian, first world,
able-bodied first-born male
with divorced but wealthy parents.
© Rachel Green August 2026
off to Morrisons
with a jar of warm urine
cancelled Doc's appointment
© Rachel Green September 2026
Mr Frost
took the road less travelled
and it made all the difference to him.
I took the road less travelled
and it led to victimisation,
oppression and a loss of my job
along with the hatred of the right wing pundits.
The road less travelled
is good only for cis, het men;
but the road more popular
there might still be work available.
© Rachel Green August 2026
Slow PC
time to bite the bullet
windows reinstall
© Rachel Green September 2026
Shadows and Light
Take away my Fear
that I might understand freedom.
Take away False Hope
that I must face consequence.
Take away Obedience
that I understand free will.
Take away Certainty
that I experience doubt.
Take away Righteousness
that I can take responsibility.
Insist on Compassion
that I might be human.
© Rachel Green August 2026
weight gain
from depression eating
makes me depressed
© Rachel Green September 2026
Streetside Beauty
wedding dress
made of recycled plastics
and the bride doing laundry
outside the supermarket
skirts blowing in the wind
an enticing glimpse of stocking top
for the half-price breakfasteers
© Rachel Green September 2026
"Rat's Moon"
my seminal work from 1989
reproduced
© Rachel Green September 2026
No Smiling By Order
Chesterfield; so named
from the Roman 'Cesterfeld'
or 'Field by the Fort'
where the men are utterly miserable
without a pint of beer and a cigarette
and the women sulk past
with pramfuls of sour faces
and nary a smile between them.
But there's me
with my smiles and 'good mornings'
and my insufferable air
of happiness to exist
on a sunny September day
© Rachel Green September 2026
