Pre flight sleepover
Hot choco, carrot cake and ጓል ዓንዳት Gual Andat’s Himbasha
(Ma’akor of course)
The wheels on the suitcases gleefully glid as they finally serve their purpose
Clothes upon clothes
snickers upon snickers
and not to forget that raggedy netsela
Murmours of laughter, gossip and joy through the night
lasting to dawn’s road ahead
Fast forward,
Last morning – tea and tearless toast
“London tomorrow, London tomorrow, London tomorrow…”
Coco cola hat & black JVC (coincidently) left in the wild
Belts off, stringless tracksuits
for we’re coming home
Butterflies – not the pasta
off to the warmish grey
with Reebok, Carlsberg and a giddy smile
6 weeks was the limit
Our guinness world record
to be met and matched beyond
But the reward?
The embrace
Sprinting out of the car with Reebok’s help,
pass the corner and into the streets centre
like the end of The Truman Show a little before
The warmth of a slide tackle or a rugby tackle in a group hug
Now slightly taller, stretching the chub
for the reward
Onto the next spot
Gual Andat’s hub
and half the herd
to the latest gossip of the century’s first summer
Main rooms domination of its rightful owners
to MJs songs
explanation of Big Brother (not sister)
and missed fights over the now cold kuluwa
Thank God for the stringless trackies
Zara Tewolde-Berhan 