We’ve pulled up
next to a community football pitch
surrounded by a 20-foot cage
to keep the fun locked in.
You are covered in blueberries
and cheese that lived inside you
only one minute ago. We’re cleaning
your car seat, we’re taking you
out of your clothes, we’re sorting your hair.
You are pointing at the forensic team
in their PPE treading gently over evidence
behind police tape on a patch of tarmac.
A kid kicks a football into the metal wall,
you clap.

© Carl Burkitt 2022