My wallet has all sorts in it.
A receipt for a tube of Pringles,
a train ticket that died at Gatwick,
a business card from an escape room,
a Kolo Toure football sticker, 85p in silver,
a Post-It with ‘Charing Cross’ scribbled on it
and two first class stamps
I wish I could send to you.

© Carl Burkitt 2020

I thought you wanted a delicious morning treat
and you got a fucking banana?!
The words slipped off her tongue as easily
as the natural yellow wrapper would from
her boyfriend’s unexpectedly controversial snack.
His eyes told me that comment
was just the first one of his five a day.

© Carl Burkitt 2020

Eyelid skin is too thin for light.
A lamp in the morning
may as well be a midnight sunrise.
The veins in my hands are always visible.
It’s a good job they’re under the duvet
when my wife flicks the switch at 7am,
my blood gets a chance to lie in.
You can see my knuckle bones
when I clench my fists.
I try my best to wave.

© Carl Burkitt 2020

You know those speedily said sentences
at the end of chirpy radio adverts like,
Early-repayment-charges-apply-
lending-subject-to-status-and-criteria-
your-home-may-be-repossessed-
if-you-do-not-keep-up-with-
payments-on-your-mortgage?
I think that would be a great way
to say awkward things to friends.
Like, You’ve-got-something-in-your-teeth.
Or, Sorry-I-can’t-make-it-to-your-40th.
Or, Tonight-meant-more-to-me-than-
you’ll-know-I’m-gonna-miss-you.

© Carl Burkitt 2020

I once said Goodbye to a poo
when I flushed it down the toilet.
I was incredibly drunk.
Last week I said See ya
to my final mouthful of toast.
When I leave the house with my
nephew or nieces I tell them to
Say goodbye to the house.
They say Bye house!
Tonight I hugged a man in silence,
wishing I was drunk,
wishing he was a poo.

© Carl Burkitt 2020

I knew a man who had a face
like he was forever walking against the wind,
like he was always holding dog poo bags.
He had the face of someone perpetually stuck
in the middle of two sneezes.
The face of someone just waiting
for the Frisbee to hit the back of his head.
The kind of face you wish you chopped down
to read its rings when you had the chance.

© Carl Burkitt 2020

It’s hard not to think about
how many hands touch
the tongs and spoons
at an all you can eat buffet.
Parties of germs reserving
a space on plastic handles.
Fingerprints left behind on ladles,
longing for a familiar set of unique
swirls to come and join them.

© Carl Burkitt 2020

When things get difficult
I think about the DJ who once said
Sorry, that brings us to the end of time.
I think about the headline
People Are Absolutely Disgusted
By Gordon Ramsey’s Gravy.
I think about the man I saw
eating a lasagne with a spoon.
I think about mispronounced sayings,
small cheek bones and
the first slice of lemon drizzle cake.

© Carl Burkitt 2020

I’ve never been good at wearing watches.
Despite being right-handed, I struggle
to wrap a strap around my left wrist.
So if I do wear a watch,
I wear it on my right wrist
and that never feels comfortable
when using a pen or throwing stuff.
False imprisonment is my biggest fear
and never knowing the correct time makes me
hope I never witness a crime.

© Carl Burkitt 2020

What if those moments you jolt yourself awake –
you know the times you think you’re falling
and find yourself crashing landing in bed,
the moments that feel like you pulled your guard up
to defend yourself from subconscious danger –
what if those moments are in fact the ghost
of a loved one shaking you awake?
A loved one keen to see your eyes again
or desperate to urge you to write down that
idea you just had before sleep steals it forever.

© Carl Burkitt 2020