Today I’m looking forward.
I’m not moving my head.
At all.
I’m locking my neck.
I’m locking my eyes.
I plan on doing this all day.
If you’re to my left, move right a bit.
If you’re to my right, move left a bit.
I mean it.
Today I’m looking forward.
© Carl Burkitt 2017
The day ran away from Matt.
It ran straight into the night.
A place it knew Matt would never follow.
© Carl Burkitt 2017
Verity felt great.
She loved the feel of her skin,
so instead of stepping out of the house
she spent the night in.
(So to speak.)
***
Andy bought plants
for everyone in his street
and decided to deliver them door-to-door.
Getting the cactus through
Cameron’s letterbox was tough,
but the bare-footed screams
were worth the wait.
***
Lee licked his lollipop and handed it to Leanne.
Leanne shoved it deep into her left eye
before the couple laughed
their way to Specsavers.
***
Eve ate Darren’s chips.
Darren ate Eve’s wafer.
Just like any other night.
***
Nick pressed play on his laptop
and left the door ajar.
***
Tony posted 75 selfies.
He liked number 36 the best.
It captured his worst side perfectly.
***
Iris eyed up Irene.
Irene returned the favour.
Iris offered Irene an ice cream.
Irene slipped her gnashers out and gobbled it whole.
Iris brushed Irene’s hair.
Irene purred.
Iris lay down.
Irene joined her.
Iris woke up.
Tears filled her eyes.
***
Nora received a homemade, heart-shaped card.
The intricate details of the atria and ventricles
made her vomit absolutely everywhere.
***
Eric was finally granted a date.
45 years.
45 years of hard graft it took.
So it’s safe to say
his sudden death
was a right pain in the arse.
***
Sue sued her dating agency
on the grounds “kinky, up for a laugh, male”
was far too related to her.
© Carl Burkitt 2017
The secret of change is to focus
all of your energy,
not on fighting the old
but on building the new.
Socrates said that.
A philosopher.
Therefore it must be true.
Right?
So I left my baggage at the door
and focused on unpacking our new.
I stripped away my anxieties
and gave up doubting myself.
I gave permission to make decisions
that bettered me and my mental health.
But that’s not always easy.
I was scared to break what we started.
The fear of pausing the vibrations
made me pause with hesitation but
Everything is energy
and that’s all there is to it.
Match the frequency
of the reality
you want
and you cannot help
but get that reality.
Einstein said that.
A scientist.
Therefore it must be true.
Right?
So I set my frequency to you.
Energy attracts similar energy
so I took to smiling like you do.
I flowed like you flowed
and tried to shine bright
as I did so.
I opened my eyes
and was hypnotised
with the energy you brought to my life.
© Carl Burkitt 2017
Brief by Rodean: “A poem about energy for my girlfriend. About how energy draws people together.”
This piece was written as a part of a fundraising project for Rethink Mental Illness, where I’m inviting people to set me any writing brief in exchange for donations.
Read all of the details here and if you’d like to get involved, email ca.burkitt@gmail.com or Tweet @CarlBurkitt!
You make my fingers dance.
They separate from my thoughts
and tap keys in an order I didn’t know existed.
They pick up pens and pencils
and draw lines from a
happy beginning to no end.
You make my fingers dance
to their own tune.
A tune for no one else.
The tune of you.
© Carl Burkitt 2017
‘I’ll write a poem about this one day,’
mused Harry.
‘Shut it!’ said the prison guard,
as he put the final boot in.
© Carl Burkitt 2017
The writer was stuck for ideas. He looked around the room for inspiration. In the corner was a man juggling three toddlers. A woman on a flaming moped crashed through the front door. The corpse of Elvis Presley played guitar on the armchair. A little girl turned the carpet into candyfloss. A chipmunk spoke some Spanish. The writer tutted as he put his pen lid back on and went to bed.
© Carl Burkitt 2017
He watched her pluck the strings.
The double drop down D sound
Knocked his heart to the ground
As the notes made a home in his chest.
It was a song he’d never heard
But he knew every word
While he imagined the tabs were his flesh.
© Carl Burkitt 2016
Simon was crying on his bed.
He’d just been dumped.
As he convinced himself it was
the worst thing to ever happen to him,
his CD cases began singing him a break up song.
It was awful.
© Carl Burkitt 2016
The tennis man
hit the ball
so bloody hard
he had to buy
a new racquet!
While he was at it
he bought three
more balls and a
12-bedroom house.
© Carl Burkitt 2016
