27th May 2022

 

hormonal dog

picks a fight with Moos

my bleeding hand

© Rachel Green May 2022

it seems indicative

of a sorry state of affairs

when the American Right

have a standard form tweet

for use after school shootings.

I am

[HORRIFIED, HEARTBROKEN]

at the senseless tragedy in

[LOCATION] today.

We are

[LIFTING THEM UP IN PRAYER, PRAYING FOR THEM]

and thank the heroic efforts of

[POLICE, FIRST RESPONDERS]

on the scene.

That seems to be enough for them;

prayers are better than gun reform

and blame the shooting on Leftist propaganda.

Call them transgender

or Black, or Muslim

or an illegal immigrant;

anything to obfuscate the true problem:

bullets are the number one cause of death

for kids in America.

© Rachel Green May 2022

Republicans Send Identical Tweets After 21 Killed at School (gizmodo.com)

26th May 2022

 

chillier
on a cold breeze
red roses

© Rachel Green May 2022

if it is true
that every breath of air
contains a molecule once breathed
by every human ever
then with every breath
I am Ghengis Khan, Adolf Hitler,
Elizabeth Bathory, Vladimir Putin
and worst of all,
the child killers of the NRA.

© Rachel Green May 2022

25th May 2022

 

light breeze
picking up the sunshine
oriental poppies

© Rachel Green May 2022

when I was eight
I went happily to school
without fear of being killed.
Guns are restricted here
unlike Texas,
where ownership is mandatory
"for personal protection"
and to murder children
if you're having a bad day.

© Rachel Green May 2022

24th May 2022

early sunshine
occluded by clouds
barking chorus

© Rachel Green May 2022

he can tell her mood
by her morning song
as whatever resides in her head
creeps out to greet the day.
Sometimes she is happy, joyful;
some sixties brit-pop to break the silence
but most days she is mournful
gutter-deep notes
reverberating along the pipes

© Rachel Green May 2022
 

23rd May 2022

 

early morning
as the sun hits the circle
trickling water

© Rachel Green May 2022

Don't look for me
just listen to my song
in the soughing of the trees
and the trickle of water
from a broken rooftile

© Rachel Green May 2022

22nd May 2022

 

overcast
aquilegias jostle for position
overgrown

© Rachel Green May 2022

my father's mornings were a wife-beater vest;
his braces down, framing his buttocks
in company-issued trousers.
Electric shaver (wet shave on Sundays)
and a pint of tea in an oversized mug.
Best to avoid the downstairs loo for an hour
but he was an amiable soul
as long as he had his cigarettes
and a bacon butty fried in the pan
that was never washed.
Radio two, and the back door open
whatever the weather,
his airdales mooching about
waiting for a saucer of tea.

© Rachel Green May 2022

21st May 2022

 

nighttime rowdiness
a midnight group of shoolleavers
"Bye, Courtney"

© Rachel Green May 2022

I can't help but wonder
if Marjorie Taylor Green;
Loreen Bobbit and Joanna Rowling
would have anything to say
if they were compelled to tell the truth?
What if they had to back up their claims
with scientific evidence?
What if we extended that to everyone
with influence on the public?
Where would Clown Boris be
if he had to tell the truth?
Politicians and policemen
and all those religious leaders
who peddle wishful thinking to bigots.

© Rachel Green May 2022