I gave being a lumberjack a go.
I’d grown the beard years earlier
to hide the gentleness of my cheek skin
and my wardrobe was already stuffed
with checked shirts because a guy in a pub
once said I suited them. I bought a trucker
style cap with ‘Lumberjacked’ embroidered
on the front and a massive axe
from a massive axe shop. The bloke serving me
had a chest built for getting lost in and he taught me
how to swing without being afraid.
Once I’d put my new steel toe cap boots on
I walked into the woods with my axe
over my shoulder. I sang songs about meat
and biceps and chopped a dead tree
down to the size of my torso. I yanked
a heart-sized lump of wood off it and shoved
it in my satchel to remember my weekend.

Carl Burkitt 2024

Written while listening to ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ by Luke Combs.