I’ve always opened satsumas
in a way that leaves the skin
shaped like a penis and testicles.
It’s easy and very fun to do.
It doesn’t matter where I am –
at work, at a picnic with my son,
at the wake of a funeral.
I sometimes imagine my skin
being as shiny and orange as a satsuma.
I imagine the job I’d have, the way
my son would look at me,
whose funeral I’d be crying in.
I imagine being held by a concerned hand,
being pierced by two thumbs,
my skin peeled into a shape
to make you smile.

© Carl Burkitt 2023