Self-Service

By Michael McGill

Mr Popinjay clouds my vision with pale

anecdotes and punchlines.

On his mantelpiece, he has a photograph

of himself with the Queen.

After our fuck, he strokes my chest hair

and says, “I have to go to Tesco.”

I think of him at the self-service checkout

as I walk home, feeling like a rent boy.

Michael McGill is a poet from Edinburgh, Scotland who has recently had work published by FEED, 24 Unread Messages, The Cabinet of Heed and detritus. His overheard comments and photopoems regularly appear on Twitter and Instagram. He has also performed his work on the Lies, Dreaming podcast.