Give me the confidence of the green
ACE Guttering van to my left,
rather than that of the blue
Mere Decorating Services van to my right.
Carl Burkitt 2024
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Category Archives: Poems
I will write you a poem one day
I will write you a poem one day
and it will be all about what happened
and how you could have done better
and how I could have done better
and it will have imagery
that other people don’t understand
and there will be a goblin with sharp teeth
and it will be brave, not hiding behind vague promises,
and be gloriously self-confident
and include one line of beauty
that will help what happened never happen.
Carl Burkitt 2024
The lads
The lads are playing lacrosse
in the field behind our new house.
Their shoulders are strong
like the floorboards beneath my sofa.
The coach’s fleece looks warm
like the cup of tea in my hands.
The window in my living room
told me someone just scored;
the leaves on my garden trees are falling
about in celebration.
Carl Burkitt 2024
Amateur archers
He likes watching the amateur archers
fling their arrows on the walk home from school.
He prefers it when they land
in the yellow bit in the centre,
but he’ll clap if it lands in the red and blue,
cheer for the outer black and white bits
and will ask if the squirrels will be OK
when the target gets missed completely.
Carl Burkitt 2024
Watercolour
A watercolour cottage
flanked by watercolour trees
beneath a watercolour sky
lit by a watercolour sun
sits on a watercolour wall
of a watercolour house
where a watercolour me
watched a watercolour you
never talk about the watercolour cottage
flanked by watercolour trees
beneath a watercolour sky
lit by a watercolour sun
brought to watercolour life
by your watercolour heart.
Carl Burkitt 2024
Getting back to sleep after an early morning wee
The distant lapping of waves of a main road tide.
The starlit jangling of nightshift neighbour keys.
The broken circle of the moon.
Ageing dog yawns swallowed by puppy yelps.
The lining up of an army of dew.
Carl Burkitt 2024
A poem to my 17 year old self
Be strong, big man.
Make the most of your lie ins.
Learn the names of stars.
Change can be safe.
Remember to
…oh what’s the point,
you wouldn’t be reading a bloody poem.
Carl Burkitt 2024
Both
The twins are playing badminton
in the leisure centre. They are just
as good (or as bad) as each other.
The one wearing black shorts is sweating,
the one wearing white shorts is sweating.
They are both laughing at the word ‘shuttlecock’.
Carl Burkitt 2024
Focus
They’re discussing
a PowerPoint presentation
about maximising output
in the workplace.
The train they’re sitting on
has no working toilets
and zero teabags.
Carl Burkitt 2024
Friendspotter
He sits in the pub window
spotting potential friends flying by.
There’s the Long-Bearded Dawdler
wearing wrestling T-shirts
strolling like a man
with everywhere and nowhere to go.
There’s the Rapid Forehead
using its pointed radar
moving as quickly as the smile
travels across his face.
There’s the Cold Weather Shorts Wearer,
his feathered chest plumped,
rocking in time with a strut
fit for a turkey in summer.
There’s the Timid Southerner
tripping over his accent,
pecking his beak down streets
looking for somewhere to land.
He sits in the pub window
spotting potential friends flying by.
Carl Burkitt 2024
Carl tells tales 