The floorboards above my head started creaking.
I couldn’t hear the couples on Married At First Sight
yelling so I turned the volume up on the television.
The floorboards started creaking louder. As loud
as they would when Dad climbed the stairs
when the first series of Big Brother began.
His mouth wouldn’t say a word but the house would
growl until his feet found his jigsaw puzzle,
carried it down to the kitchen for a cup of tea
and a chance to build a world of no arguing.

© Carl Burkitt 2023