She orders them click and collect,
twelve stone men, heads tipped back,
loaded by the Saturday boy and his boss
palmprints on the concrete shoulders,
half-an-hour in her parking spot.
Drives them to her two-bed bungalow
where the second is a room full of books,
and the first is almost the second
if it wasn’t for the spilling nest.
Drags each one from the flatbed in turn,
stands them in two rows of six,
pants as she rolls out the last,
crushes her tulips in the border,
leaves his robes smeared red.
Then she finds the wood axe,
with the popper button sheath.
Names the first Athena The Bitch
and shoulders a swing from her hips
feels the handle judder, spit splinters
fill her palm with blood the colour gold.
Swears by all that is no longer holy,
by the bitch’s face and her perfect smile,
the catgut stiches in her throat.
Drops her broken axe to grass,
turns to ask his beautiful face,
what on earth makes it so easy
when he lifted his blade
and brought it down on her neck.

Carol J Forrester’s has had poems published on ‘Ink, Sweat & Tears’, ‘The Drabble’, and ‘Eyes Plus Words’. Her debut collection ‘It’s All In The Blood’ came out in November 2019, where she shameless exploits her family, their farming background, and random deities from myth. Samples of her work can be found on her website http://www.caroljforrester.com