Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Cow. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Cow. Car. Car. Car. Car. Crisps. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Could I fit in that boot? Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car.Car. Car. Car. Car. Cow. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. I could fit in that boot. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. I don’t want to be in that boot. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Car. Crisps. Car. Carl. Car. Boot.

© Carl Burkitt 2021

standing in knight of the realm grey armour,
crooked neck, head like it’s always thinking,
in the middle of over grown trees and the-
it’s gone
and the rain is swallowing us
with its forever tarmac tongue.

© Carl Burkitt 2021

They gather at 6am to rehearse for the day
and pretend they’re catching up.
They’re sat on a metal pole
like they all did in the famous picture
where they pretended to be those workers
from the original famous picture
sat on a metal pole.
Lisa Kudrow, the one about half a foot
away from the other five, is singing loudly.
One of them won’t stop saying Joey
in a sort of coo-cooey kind of way.
Their immaculate feathers
make me feel like I don’t know
how to look after myself.
It’s hard to tell which on I find the funniest
now I’m tired all the time.

© Carl Burkitt 2021

I had a dream so big and loud
I jumped so high I touched the clouds,
they also say.
I woke up this morning
as if a water balloon had burst
on my forehead
because I couldn’t remember
if the lizard I’d found
underneath my wrist skin
the night before was real
or not.

© Carl Burkitt 2021

Curiosity has its own reason for existing.
I can’t remember who said that.
When I was having lunch in IKEA last week
I saw the high chair we own
and thought, They must’ve got that from IKEA.
I have a scar on my right arm
after a blonde curly boy sliced it
with the blade of a pencil sharpener
before football training.
He said, Stick your arm out, so I did.
When my wife left Timpson today
with two new keys after two minutes
I thought, Nice one.

© Carl Burkitt 2021

Do you ever not recognise your footprints?
Do you ever run your hands through your hair
and wonder when you put a hat on?
Do you ever catch yourself thinking hurtful things
you can’t believe you’re having about a stranger
and discover it’s you in a shop window?
I looked at my wrist for the time today
and I’ve not worn a watch for five years.
Sometimes my skin is on so tight
I wonder if I’m a vacuum packed ham
or waiting to be born.

© Carl Burkitt 2021

I’m watching a man
doing a handstand
on a set of dumbbells
through my mobile phone
and I can remember the day
the checkout guy at Argos
asked if I wanted to upgrade
to home delivery
when he saw me attempt
to carry the box of weights
I’d just purchased out of the shop
but I said no and now I have a son
and a bad back.

© Carl Burkitt 2021

Peppa Pig never says please.
She’s incredibly impatient
and believes jumping in puddles
is the only gender neutral game out there.
I’m watching Daddy Pig doing a fun run
with an orange flavoured ice lolly in his trotter.
He’s just eaten three bowls of spaghetti
and the whole town is laughing at him.
There’s been a mix up
with the white football tops and a little red dress
in the washing machine
and my son is staring out the window
at a skip filled with concrete.

© Carl Burkitt 2021

A hand-scribbled note
on the back of the door
is telling me to Never forget
and the second half
is too smudged to read
and my left forearm
has a golf ball sized bruise
that looks like a galaxy
if you squint
and no one knows
how it got there.

© Carl Burkitt 2021