The monkey puzzle tree on the walk to school, the cracks in the tarmac that look like a crocodile’s mouth waiting to smile, the flecks of fun on our wall from the sun shining through the window onto our disco ball from your auntie who will always remind you to dance, every coconut product I will never eat, the high fives from strangers you breathe life into simply by walking past them, hope, loss, joy, grief, photos of noses on faces you won’t be able to put names to, a bucket of handmade blankets, glass Christmas decorations painted on your mum’s hen do, the faint smell of Dove deodorant in the armpits of a running coat that I hope will fit you the day after I die.

Carl Burkitt 2025