Bubbles float in pool water
in front of laboured breast strokes.
Each breath a reminder he is alive,
each pop a reminder for how long.

Carl Burkitt 2024

The food delivery app just told me it misses me.
We’ve never really talked, so I was surprised.
But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t flattered
to be thought about. In the few times we have
interacted I have been angry – my fingertips hot
from hunger and indecision. Looking up at
my face in those moments cannot be nice.
It makes me think about my son wanting
nothing more than to make me a pretend slice
of toast topped with squid slime and apple cores
while my brain is squashed by matters
that don’t matter in the blink of my lifetime.
I see his shoulders slump to my distraction,
drafting future email subject lines
that will catch my attention.

Carl Burkitt 2024

The self help book-sized pigeon don’t care
about blocked bathroom plugs. It don’t care
about
bean stains on favourite white t-shirts,
to do lists written in half broken pens,
a nagging sense of never being fulfilled,
a creaking floorboard, a nagging sense.
It cares about the inch of warm park grass
below its feet; the promise of a fresh picnic.

Carl Burkitt 2024

Thomas the tank engine pulls
into Ramsbottom train station.
His carriages rock
to the chuckles of children inside
at the destination name.
Diesel moans at the joy.
His face scowls as he’s attached
to the back of the train
charged with hauling it back home
and huffs at the voices
singing ‘Thomas, number 1!’

Carl Burkitt 2024

Everyone meets in here,
their insides unafraid to mingle
and share stories of the daal they recommend
and the bubble waffle stand with thick Nutella.
Together they dance
in each other’s late night fries,
warm ales and packing-up-tomorrow-anxiety.
Memories of bands from the night before
and morning eggs congeal in this faecal sauna,
this unexpected sanctuary from the sun
and midweek responsibilities in the backs of brains.

Carl Burkitt 2024

Former international footballer
Jill Scott does not like my socks.
She says they’re too short to be ‘normal’ socks
and too long to be ‘trainer’ socks.
She does not like how they sit
just above the ankle. Her colleagues,
Ian Wright and Roy Keane, agree.
I am Gary Neville
raising my foot to the camera, laughing,
pretending not to choke
on my second croissant of the morning.

Carl Burkitt 2024

She nestles
into the stomach of her mum
three years after she left it.
She’s worried about the musician
on stage playing music for sad people.
Her eyes are an open grey cloud.
She picks up a pack of blue,
red, yellow and green crayons
and struggles to draw a full rainbow.

Carl Burkitt 2024

Earwig on your friend
making up a bedtime story
to appreciate their true brain
and your child’s natural manners.

Carl Burkitt 2024

The man in the pub’s mouth is talking about retiring. Grey stubble sits on a chin that’s taken plenty of knocks and his slip-on shoes have decided to get a taxi home safely tonight. His smile is a blank sheet of paper. His blue eyes catch mine and I’m 14 years old warming up for 90 minutes at centre back wondering if a girl will ever kiss my lips. He thanks me for keeping him company this afternoon and we exchange names. He says he’s never met a Carl with a C before and I decide to smile and not to tell him how he’s got your name but not your dead body.

Carl Burkitt 2024

Erling Haaland is fed up
with shooting practice
and has decided to cut the grass
with a plastic lawnmower.
His knuckles are tight
around the handle bars.
His blonde hair is proud
to move in the slight breeze
while his feet feel free.
The grass is grateful
for the fake blades.
Erling Haaland stops for
a drink of water, before returning
to making a difference.

Carl Burkitt 2024