short forms 30th June 2017

mill pond
a woman drowned
because she was a witch,
or so the pastor accused her.
Affair

© Rachel Green 2017

bloody tears
scattered across the pavement
poppy petals

© Rachel Green 2017

he doesn't want
to know the reason
just that it's done
delegation can bring
unsolicited solutions

© Rachel Green 2017

a novel
I've started reading
seems familiar

I think I've written this plot
centred around Chloe
and the Mill House pool

Have I been zeitgeisted?

© Rachel Green 2017

she skips the gym for housecleaning

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 29th June 2017

title
run through my mind
a murder of ravens
yes, that's mixing collective nouns,
I know

© Rachel Green 2017

crocosmia stalks
hiding the origins of tall grasses
dying heathers

© Rachel Green 2017

lesson one
basic jiu-jitsu moves
base and upa
More things I've been doing wrong
for the last four years

© Rachel Green 2017

jiu-jitsu
is part of my life
more so than writing

I cannot fund a story
through its whole development
bad ideas

I'll never be any good

© Rachel Green 2017

whatever happened to my internet friend?

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 28th June 2017

she's trans
in her own way
a desire to be them;
a genderfluid disciple
of life

© Rachel Green 2017

overnight rain
against the deep lavender
flattened stalks

© Rachel Green 2017

bedroom clock
running slow
dead batteries
it's a wonder I'm never late
for a funeral

© Rachel Green 2017

I used to fight
upon being woken
by an unexpected touch

now I wake
and apologise for snoring,
breathing, existing

patterns developed by partners

© Rachel Green 2017

drooping eyes indicate tiredness (or stroke)

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 27th June 2017

journey
her dead brother
and the seven gates of Hell.
What else must she give of herself
to win?

© Rachel Green 2017

raspberries
rotting on the stems
last week's strawberries

© Rachel Green 2017

bad dreams
leave me fatigued
morning drowsiness
pranks played on adults
unexpected consequences

© Rachel Green 2017

bad dreams
stem from anxiety
and fear

I fall asleep again
in front of the computer
hands tucked to armpits

cold in June

© Rachel Green 2017

gas-lift chair. Her trapped finger.

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 26th June 2017

novel
due in three months
but I haven't started.
About time I managed a plot
at least

© Rachel Green 2017

midsummer heat
gives way to overcast chills
fledgling sparrow

© Rachel Green 2017

raised lump
on her index finger
may be a wart

the pain in her back
from a blocked sweat gland
constant

her pulled muscle makes walking painful

© Rachel Green 2017

content
to be sidelined
glossed over
A creature of past glories
all now forgotten

© Rachel Green 2017

vitamin tablets make her defecation runny

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 25th June 2017

knowledge
her stepmother
wasn't born a woman.
Did it affect the love she gave?
Who cares?

© Rachel Green 2017

lavender
fanciful sprays
overgrown lawn

© Rachel Green 2017

all you touch
can be reduced
ashes and dust
nothing is permanent
especially not you

© Rachel Green 2017

Jiu-jitsu
the realisation
finally comes

I'm not very good
and I never will be --
too old, too slow

but I love the game

© Rachel Green 2017

she's not young anymore. That's okay.

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 19th June 2017

gamers:
a confession
from FingerDigitThree
that they're not biologically
a boy

© Rachel Green 2017

evening fire
the heat of the day dies down
fleeting bats

© Rachel Green 2017

sent off a CV
about my writing career
looking for publication
I suspect I'm way too old
and too established a writer

© Rachel Green 2017

old friend
drunker than a box of weevils
spending the night

He becomes depressed again
drives home intoxicated
while all are asleep

I check the news feeds

© Rachel Green 2017

frogs. A whole box of them.

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 18th June 2017

deer, sheep, sunglasses

hard drive
wiped long ago
but never used since then.
The recovery of accounts
and nudes

© Rachel Green 2017

love hearts
spread out in the sun
strawberry-fat slugs

© Rachel Green 2017

pulled muscle
it really bugs me
that I can't walk
Jiu-jitsu, though?
work through the pain

© Rachel Green 2017

catfishing
between two minors
no prosecution

how was he to know
his online best friend
was a homophobe?

closed box

© Rachel Green 2017

Her spider egg a constant ache

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 17th June 2017

the texts
from a schoolfriend
why don't you kill yourself?
Ten years before the law caught up
with phones

© Rachel Green 2017

morning heat
two little girls raid the garden
strawberry theft

© Rachel Green 2017

Lu requests green tea
but we appear to be out
(apart from one ginger green bag)
I have failed in my duty
to stock the cupboards

© Rachel Green 2017

aching leg
a pulled muscle
after jiu-jitsu

It means I limp
and have trouble standing
or walking

I still do jiu-jitsu

© Rachel Green 2017

barrel-shaped dog. Abusive mother, me.

© Rachel Green 2017

poetry 2017 / 093

Third Fight

I don't remember

what our fight was about

dissatisfaction with the relationship

stagnation over the proximity

or the fact I was away all week

fingerbanging the girls from the art school

(or so you believed).

I recall we were in the park

(or maybe the cemetery)

a bench, anyway,

with you in your winter coat and scarf

and me in my motorcycle leathers.

You walked off,

home to your mother's

or to your friend Jude's.

I went back to Wolverhampton

where the parties went on all night

and smoked a joint on the tower block roof.

short forms 16th June 2017

Number 84 for sale again

chloe
seeking the men
who killed her young brother
by encouraging suicide
transman

© Rachel Green 2017

wood fire
extinguished by evening rain
full moon

© Rachel Green 2017

penguin books
looking for new authors
LGBT
Alas, I've just self published
the only manuscript I had...

© Rachel Green 2017

jiu-jitsu
improving slightly
sparring win

waiting  for an opportunity
flip guard and mount
triple attack

not such a failure...

© Rachel Green 2017

belly fat. She wobbles when walking.

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 15th Jine 2017

her death
seems a given
she's bleeding out -- a wound
in her stomach from a rebar
dialling

© Rachel Green 2017

dog barks
on the morning air
elderflowers

© Rachel Green 2017

evening fire
burning the old fish tank housing
end of an era
That tank was here when we bought the house
and now we're leaving

© Rachel Green 2017

working on defence
he takes that calf crush
yet again

he sets it up
from reverse cross chest
and a figure four hold

time to research the defence

© Rachel Green 2017

Her flabby stomach still dismays her

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 14th June 2017

a play
about two killers
who prey on anybody
they fine alone in the locale.
Teen boys

© Rachel Green 2017

runners
the strawberry plants shoot
for the open lawn

© Rachel Green 2017

popping by
on their way to Italy
family member
Trickster goes loopy
summer garden

© Rachel Green 2017

a few days away
I request local dojos
in Newcastle

lovely reply
welcoming me to a place
in the city centre

anticipatory smile

© Rachel Green 2017

her nervousness overrided by learning possibilities

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 13th June 2017

old guys
at the cafe
think they are discreet
but she can hear them quite clearly.
Nosy

© Rachel Green 2017

late aquilegia
rising above the strawberries
montbretia

© Rachel Green 2017

decision
I'll visit Newcastle
for a week
I wonder if any BJJ clubs
would welcome an interloper

© Rachel Green 2017

training
for muscle strength
and stamina

I can take bottom mount
but I can't escape it
blue belt fail

back to basics

© Rachel Green 2017

blue. The belt suits my mood

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 12th June 2017

I think the cushion is plotting something

three boys
killed her brother
bullied him to his death
on the tracks of the Glasgow train.
Revenge.

© Rachel Green 2017

lavender
a bee clings to the flowers
fighting the wind

© Rachel Green 2017

blind dog
cries for attention
needs to be fussed
a life of isolation
among his peers

© Rachel Green 2017

shifting targets
I rearrange my gym times
to fit DKs client

honestly,
what I really need
is more jiu-jitsu

sparring request

© Rachel Green 2017

fitful sleep. She wakes up exhausted.

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 11th June 2017

report:
fell on the tracks
of an oncoming train
The suspicious death of her gay
brother

© Rachel Green 2017

fungi
on the rain-soaked lawn
geranium petals

© Rachel Green 2017

shopping trip
the last of my cash
until next week
Chicken and beefburgers
salad for myself

© Rachel Green 2017

jiu-jitsu blues
my skills are finite
depressing

I used to be okay
now I'm adequate
barely able to defend

"Look! You can beat Rachel."

© Rachel Green 2017

Quiet night. Burning away the past.

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 10th June 2017

some hope
for happiness
should be allocated
Her future shouldn't be as bleak
as mine

© Rachel Green 2017

morning rain
strawberries with slug holes
wasted harvest

© Rachel Green 2017

jiu-jitsu trial
I realise I'm not very good
kidding myself
New guy at class
higher belt than me

© Rachel Green 2017

my life
seems pointless
I am unrequired

I could die tomorrow
and no-one would mourn
for more than a fortnight

even the dogs would forget

© Rachel Green 2017

excessive weight. Terrible voice. Useless life

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 9th June 2017

nightmares
she still can't drive
even after years
of psychotherapy and help.
broken

© Rachel Green 2017

morning sun
the reddening strawberries
eaten by slugs

© Rachel Green 2017

melancholia
fake being happy, young buddy
before it kills you
otherwise the route is
depression and suicide

© Rachel Green 2017

what now
for the fat girl?
not a lot

she wants to be better
but depression and poverty
defeat ambition

fat stomach wobbling

© Rachel Green 2017

sometime the end is welcome relief

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 8th June 2017

horror
as the car hits
her brother is thrown up
hits the street sign ten yards away.
Lifeless

© Rachel Green 2017

morning rain
the plump fruit of a strawberry
turning pink

© Rachel Green 2017

the cat
taking up residence
on DK's prayer pillow
She gives no fucks
about the rest of the room

© Rachel Green 2017

small products
received for evaluation
customer survey

some are useful
receive my endorsement
others less so

Soup maker, I'm looking at you

© Rachel Green 2017

jiu-jitsu. She was useless last night.

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 7th June 2017

child's death
hits the whole town
flowers at the roadside
small tokens of affection are
rain-soaked

© Rachel Green 2017

early sun
the degradation of trees
night wind

© Rachel Green 2017

remake
of an old film
amuses me
I seek out the original
for comparison

© Rachel Green 2017

leg day
I add in exercises
for jiu-jitsu

whatever he says
jiu-jitsu is about fitness
and mobility

training for the win

© Rachel Green 2017

still fat. Morning sit-up routine.

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 6th June 2017

sudden
her brother's death
everything slowed down
she can see his rib cage shatter
impact

© Rachel Green 2017

bin day
filling the street with litter
rain and high wind

© Rachel Green 2017

family night
all four of us out
cinema trip
Wonder woman was excellent
Gil Gadot, brilliant

© Rachel Green 2017

gym day
chest and shoulders
solo workout

to my delight
I discover I can flex
pec muscles

first time ever

© Rachel Green 2017

surgery required. Her over-large nose.

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 5th June 2017

lunch date
seeking revenge
on her brother's killer
She befriends the grown-up daughter
Promise

© Rachel Green 2017

morning rain
on fresh-cut grass
fledgling sparrows

© Rachel Green 2017

 emptying the compost bin
the first of four
to be disposed of
I offer it for a tenner
but nobody wants it

© Rachel Green 2017

the old fish tank
in a chipboard bureau
rotting

we take it apart
stagger with the tank
down the garden

end of an era

© Rachel Green 2017

She dreams of the DSS. Anxiety.

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 4th June 2017

new plot
revenge is mine,
says a man who befriends
chloe after her dad kills a
young boy

© Rachel Green 2017

tomato plants
potted in kitchen compost
foxgloves

© Rachel Green 2017

gumtree
just trying to sell shit
I no longer need
trying to reduce the stuff
I can do without

© Rachel Green 2017

a plan
to clean the fish tank
and remove it

the amount of stuff on top
beggars my belief
storage boxes required

maybe a rented garage

© Rachel Green 2017

why are drunk pirates heroic protagonists?

© Rachel Green 2017

Short Forms 3rd June 2017

grave site
not even a marker
for her deceased mother
just a common area for
ashes

© Rachel Green 2017

morning sun
obscured by clouds
lavender

© Rachel Green 2017

motorbike ride
to Sheffield and back
jiu-jitsu training
I'd have liked it better
if it wasn't raining

© Rachel Green 2017

UPA escape
practice practice practice
until it works

sometimes it's handy
to return to absolute basics
sloppy in experience

I'm really not very good

© Rachel Green 2017

her training won't reduce her stomach

© Rachel Green 2017

short forms 2nd June 2017

Samwise Bartholomew Trumperton: Cleaner of Skulls

grave site
the rough marker
where he buried her dog
to save the cost of cremation.
bare earth

© Rachel Green 2017

geraniums
bees examine the fresh flowers
overcast sky

© Rachel Green 2017

muggy day
the sweat makes my hair sticky
playing with boys
Afterwards my knees hurt so much
I skip my gym workout

© Rachel Green 2017

telephone call
selling Lu's Skoda
a bloke's promise

I'm on my way, he said
and I decline a cash offer
because it would be dishonourable.

He never turns up.

© Rachel Green 2017

her bruises will fade in time

© Rachel Green 2017