It is nighttime,
there is a row of red lights
shimmering like I’m squinting.
They sit below clouds
the black sky won’t let me see.
They sit on top of buildings
I have not been inside.
They sit in the middle of a city
I stand outside of in the day.
It is nighttime,
there is a row of red lights
and countless other things
I don’t have time to talk about.

© Carl Burkitt 2022

The cheesy chips sit
under thick gravy.
Nothing of consequence is
on the TV. A plastic Noah is
in my pocket, I can feel
his fake straw hat. I bet
he doesn’t worry
when his animals are sleeping.
Not everyone knows
when the floods are coming.

© Carl Burkitt 2022

I took a trip to the sock drawer
and let a few old friends talk
about drama I can’t even remember.
A dour grey number looked at me
and did its best to smile with no teeth.
It had fingerprints of hikes and puddles
and midnight train stations
and unfamiliar streets with names
that vaguely ring a bell
stained to its thin spine. I didn’t say anything,
because a fresh pack of unopened
running socks wouldn’t stop
calling me names.

© Carl Burkitt 2022

An oatmeal cookie-furred cat
runs into the local shoe shop.
Poor thing, says a stranger
with a smile as deep as a bath tub.
They have to pay twice as much as us.
The high street has a softness to it today.
Bakeries are giving away the smell of bread
for free, speed bumps are saying Thank you,
cafes are asking people how their nights went.
You’re in my arms eating raisins
oblivious to the fact you were a witness
to the greatest joke of all time.

© Carl Burkitt 2022

A child picks up
his frog-green bike helmet
and charges head first
into a concrete bollard
just to try something new.

© Carl Burkitt 2022

We’ve pulled up
next to a community football pitch
surrounded by a 20-foot cage
to keep the fun locked in.
You are covered in blueberries
and cheese that lived inside you
only one minute ago. We’re cleaning
your car seat, we’re taking you
out of your clothes, we’re sorting your hair.
You are pointing at the forensic team
in their PPE treading gently over evidence
behind police tape on a patch of tarmac.
A kid kicks a football into the metal wall,
you clap.

© Carl Burkitt 2022

He’s holding them with equal importance.
His shirt is the white of the spiral on his ice lolly,
the sun cream smudge on his nose,
the Ray-Ban tan line around his eyes.
He’s looking at the predictable river
as long as the tie tightening around his neck,
the fold in his cloud grey trousers,
the temptingly stiff black belt around his waist.
His head is the stuffed shut briefcase,
opening briefly for a Friday afternoon lick.

© Carl Burkitt 2022

He’s packing his bag with five T-shirts,
two pairs of trousers, a jumper, a flannel shirt,
five pairs of socks, five pairs of pants,
a few books he won’t read, some pens he’ll lose,
three pairs of emergency pants,
the aches in his back, concerns about big crowds,
the constant urge to open his stomach
and pack it with five T-shirts,
two pairs of trousers, a jumper, a flannel shirt,
five pairs of socks, five pairs of pants,
a few books he won’t read, some pens he’ll lose,
three pairs of emergency pants,
the aches in his back, concerns about big crowds.

© Carl Burkitt 2022

How many scalps
does a barber need to stare at
to get confident enough
to turn a customer’s head
to the perfect position
without saying a word?
My eyes are on a 30 degree angle,
they’re looking a plug socket
embarrassed it is painted
to look like the brown wooden
panelling it’s stuck to.
My eyes are straight again,
staring at a man unsure
when to say enough is enough.

© Carl Burkitt 2022