The moon is none of your business.
It is not a mirror for you to stare into.
It is not a surprise coin in your old coat
waiting to make your day.
The moon is not your ex or a friend
you’re desperate to catch up with.
It is not the garden of your new house
or the dog walking past your front door
or the hatch in your unopened loft.
The moon is not for you to write about.
It is not a new day or an old dream.
The moon is not the nail on your right thumb
circling around a scab on your left knee
waiting to pounce.

Carl Burkitt 2024

Give me the confidence of the green
ACE Guttering van to my left,
rather than that of the blue
Mere Decorating Services van to my right.

Carl Burkitt 2024

The lads are playing lacrosse
in the field behind our new house.
Their shoulders are strong
like the floorboards beneath my sofa.
The coach’s fleece looks warm
like the cup of tea in my hands.
The window in my living room
told me someone just scored;
the leaves on my garden trees are falling
about in celebration.

Carl Burkitt 2024

He likes watching the amateur archers
fling their arrows on the walk home from school.
He prefers it when they land
in the yellow bit in the centre,
but he’ll clap if it lands in the red and blue,
cheer for the outer black and white bits
and will ask if the squirrels will be OK
when the target gets missed completely.

Carl Burkitt 2024

A watercolour cottage
flanked by watercolour trees
beneath a watercolour sky
lit by a watercolour sun
sits on a watercolour wall
of a watercolour house
where a watercolour me
watched a watercolour you
never talk about the watercolour cottage
flanked by watercolour trees
beneath a watercolour sky
lit by a watercolour sun
brought to watercolour life
by your watercolour heart.

Carl Burkitt 2024

The distant lapping of waves of a main road tide.
The starlit jangling of nightshift neighbour keys.
The broken circle of the moon.
Ageing dog yawns swallowed by puppy yelps.
The lining up of an army of dew.

Carl Burkitt 2024

Be strong, big man.
Make the most of your lie ins.
Learn the names of stars.
Change can be safe.
Remember to
…oh what’s the point,
you wouldn’t be reading a bloody poem.

Carl Burkitt 2024

The twins are playing badminton
in the leisure centre. They are just
as good (or as bad) as each other.
The one wearing black shorts is sweating,
the one wearing white shorts is sweating.
They are both laughing at the word ‘shuttlecock’.

Carl Burkitt 2024

They’re discussing
a PowerPoint presentation
about maximising output
in the workplace.
The train they’re sitting on
has no working toilets
and zero teabags.

Carl Burkitt 2024