Erling Haaland shoved a bouquet of flowers
into an envelope and hand wrote
his mother’s name and address on it.
He had a big match against Liverpool
ahead of him and he promised her a goal
and a quirky celebration, perhaps a shoutout
in a post match interview to say
that he was thinking about her
for the entire 90 minutes and how she
craved chocolate first thing in the morning,
constructed excellent toy wooden train tracks
and would get lost in articles about serial killers.
He’d mention her resilience, her gentleness,
and bring up how she was a former heptathlete.

Carl Burkitt 2024