the   knock    knock   of the rent man

all the sorry excuses not to pay

never enough

never enough

 

leaving in a hurry

things we left behind

the baby’s blue rabbit

things broken in transit

glasses    plates

the porcelain figurine

who lost her head

 

not sorry to see the back 

of thieving bastards

who stole jeans from washing lines

coupon milk off the front step

or the lad next door 

 

Friday night like clockwork

smashing the windows   

drunk as a skunk 

after his girlfriend locked him out

kids screaming    police car

blue light   wailing siren    

 

one time    I met the rent man again

at the Pot & Glass carvery job

sliding congealed beef onto his plate   

the old place    tumbling out like milk teeth

stuffed in a hole    behind the mantlepiece

Rachel Burns lives in County Durham. Her debut collection, My Last Address, Horses, Horses, Horses, is published with Broken Sleep Books. She was awarded a DYCP Arts Council Grant in 2023. She won the Classical Association Poetry Prize in 2026. She was placed second in The Julian Lennon Prize for Poetry 2021 and second in the Disabled Poets Prize 2024. Her poetry has been widely anthologised, including COAL Smith/Doorstop and North Country, Saraband. Rachel has facilitated poetry workshops for The Ginkgo Prize, Tees Women Poets, The Writing School and Creative Future. Her pamphlet, A Girl in a Blue Dress, is published by Vane Women Press.

Main image by John Lavin.