I think I live near a milkman.
There’s a float parked
outside our flat most nights
with the word Milkman on the side.
I forget that people have lives.
I forget that people boil eggs,
brush their teeth, cut their toenails.
I forget that people whistle.
I forget that people have skin.
I forget that people sleep
in beds next to people they love
or people they hate or people
they’ve just met or no one.
I forget that people are milkmen.

© Carl Burkitt 2022