I woke up
to Swindon Town Football Club
signing a 21-year-old goalkeeper on loan.
The tarmac on my morning run was choking
on the fallen green eyelashes
of every Christmas tree I’ve ever owned.
The goalkeeper is called Mark.
At the T-junction
by the closed down butchers
a funeral hearse slowed to a stop
and let me run past
in guilty trainers.
The photo of Mark in his goalkeeper kit
suggests he has big, but gentle hands.

© Carl Burkitt 2021