It was a train
you know the kind
fast and on tracks and seats
at about 6.45am
there was a bloke next to me
typing on a laptop
not next to me but across from me
wearing a navy blue suit
not across from me but above me
drinking a can of Monster
and for a second
he looked a bit like an owl
not a beak
not eating a mouse
his head rotated 360 degrees
four times and
oh forget it

Carl Burkitt 2025

Exulansis is a sense of frustration when you realise that you are talking about an important experience, but other people are unable to understand or relate to it, and so you give up talking about it.

ME: You look good.

ME: I know. You look good too.

ME: I know.

Carl Burkitt 2025

‘Jouska is a hypothetical conversation that you play out over and over in your head.’

Opia is the name given to the intense
feeling of invasive arousal that one feels
when engaging in mutual gaze.

Carl Burkitt 2025

His children will tell you
he spent his life in the garden
building their whims:
miniature golf courses,
dandelion farms,
a quick-cricket pitch,
Easter egg hunts,
a two-storey treehouse,
a picnic bench.
He will tell you
he wasn’t trying to ignore inside.

Carl Burkitt 2025

Excitement wakes at 5.30am
with a nose made up snot
and a mouth up for chocolate.
It cannot remember bad dreams
because daytime is real
and real is a chance to dance.

Carl Burkitt 2025

L’appel du vide is a French phrase
meaning “the call of the void.”
It’s used for intrusive thoughts,
like the sudden urge to jump from a high place,
but it can apply to social situations too –
like blurting something wildly inappropriate
just because you could.

Carl Burkitt 2025

If I had the guts to feel romantic
I would say you are an umbrella
in the boot of the car,
a shared handmade blanket
just covering my legs,
a bowl of cheesy chips and gravy
meticulously divided into 50:50 portions.
If I had the guts to feel romantic
I would say you are a Netflix-streamed fireplace,
a footstool in the middle of the sofa,
a pile of souvenir playing cards
from cities we’ve ever visited.
If I had the guts to feel romantic
I would look at you
and stop writing this po

Carl Burkitt 2025

‘Chrysalism is a sense of warmth, peace, and tranquility when you are warm and dry inside the house during an intense rainstorm.’

I wondered what would happen
if I put my finger up my nose
and pushed beyond the resistance.
So I did.
When I made it to my brain
I tickled memories of mistakes
I’ve made that lead to pain.
I prodded the dead.
I pointed at words
I’ve forgotten the meaning of
and scratched twice at déjà vu.
I stirred my finger like a wooden spoon
in the soup of my mind
until the lumps had gone
and I was ready to start again.

Carl Burkitt 2025

‘Brabant is the feeling of wondering “what would happen if…”’

It’s almost as if
the sky wants to be blue for me
the grass wants to grow for me
the trees want to stand strong for me
the broccoli wants to be good for me
the sea wants to wave for me
the eggs want to hatch for me
the moon wants to wait for me
the sun wants to dance for me
the stars want to stay alive for me

Carl Burkitt 2025

‘Pronoia is the strange, creeping feeling that everyone’s out to help you.’

Pirate Frank’s ship is a split-in-half tree
refusing to die. One Wellington boot
is a wooden leg designed to dig holes
in the mudbank island next to the river
behind our house. Both of his shoulders
host parrots because he can’t decide
which one he wants it to live on.
Neither hand is a hook because
he doesn’t want to hurt anyone.
His hat has skull with its tongue out
and dog bones. Treasure lies under
the filthy fingernails arranging twigs
into an X marks the spot.

Carl Burkitt 2025