I like combing my beard and thinking about
what historic bearded men thought about
when combing theirs. I imagine Abraham Lincoln
pulling out in-growing hairs and pondering
tomorrow’s breakfast; Karl Marx wiping milk
off his moustache, struggling to remember if he
locked the front door; Charles Darwin playing with
his sideburns and wondering if a newborn baby
will remember accidentally being sworn at;
Leonardo de Vinci separating split ends and bringing
you back to life in the mirror; Sophocles fiddling
with his goatee trying to work out the difference
between a clementine and a tangerine.

© Carl Burkitt 2020