24th February 2026

 

living room opened

for Cookie's sofa bed

Widget steals walnuts

© Rachel Green February 2026

Organised Crime

 

When I was a kid

we used take glass bottles

back to the off-license window

of the Crown at Alvechurch Meadow

tuppence on the beer bottles

tenpence on the litre bottle

and when we needed extra cash

we'd nip around the back

and pilfer the empties from the crates

and buy a Family Bar of Old Jamaica.

The lady behind the counter

guessed what was occurring

and asked where the bottles came from

and I lied and said

we were clearing out the cellar

and has to confess to the priest

before Holy Communion.

Sut surely, I reasoned,

God wanted me to have the money

and offered the opportunity

but no,

It was a test, said the priest,

and you failed.

And now the local shops

lock alcohol behind plastic doors

and meat, and cheese,

and now chocolate;

because what we used to buy for ten pence

is now a fiver or more

and who can afford that?

© Rachel Green February 2026

Chocolate kept in anti-theft boxes as retailers warn it's being stolen to order - BBC News