Don’t worry
I’ll be a professional wrestler one day
and we’ll squeeze ourselves into rental cars
and talk about the size of our thighs
and how daft John was throwing himself
off that balcony on to Pete(?)
and the way Jemima elbowed Claire’s neck
and the 68-strong audience in Albany
and the scent of death in the dressing room
and the little kid in the front row who had
your t-shirt on and no teeth and no parents
and was so convinced I was a bad guy
he flicked an M&M into my eye and asked me
how do I sleep at night hurting you every day.

Carl Burkitt 2024