toilet swimming fly
testing my respect of all life
I fail
© Rachel Green May 2026
Family Portrait
four figures depicted
but on the wall is a photo of their mum
recently dead from a ain aneurism
in the very room depicted.
The father on a wooden armchair
blue shirt, grey trousers, braces pulled down
a lit cigarette in one hand.
Elizabeth, the eldest daughter, named for the dead,
faces away from the camera,
staring at the father with obvious contempt
a pad of post-it notes in one hand.
A foot away, the second girl, Susan.
facing the camera, in shirt and riding boots
one hand protectively on her younger brother's shoulder.
and the lad himself, John,
dressed in school uniform, right arm at his side
tightly clutching a crucifix
which is cutting into his palm leaving a line of blood
all the way down one leg.
© Rachel Green May 2026
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