Erling Haaland likes sitting in the corner of
his L-shape sofa with a baby-chick-yellow
cushion behind his Spider-Man PJ back
looking at the list of emojis on his mum’s phone.
His favourite is the poo one, obviously,
but he’s asking about the flags of the world.
He recognises some from the football on TV.
He smiles at the Turkey flag and asks when
he’ll get to have strawberry ice cream again
and the chance to jump into a warm pool.
He’s not bothered about the aubergine emoji,
he scrolls past it looking for a car or a red train.

Carl Burkitt 2024