Valentine’s Day, 2016
The red-eye was delayed three times. On the third I told them
my father had died and I had to get home. I was given yesterday’s paper.
My mobile rang: a woman wanted to change her contract. I told her
my father had died. She knew exactly how I felt, had been there herself,
wanted to make the change. I told her my father died this morning.
She would drop me an email to read when I was feeling better, maybe tomorrow.
At Belfast Airport, I leant against a Tayto machine and waited for my brother.
My head resonated and the air was cold. I remembered everything and nothing,
alternate shafts of sunlight.
Nikki Robson is originally from Northern Ireland and currently lives in Scotland. She has had poems in journals and anthologies in print and online including Poetry Scotland, Acumen, Northwords Now, Under the Radar, the Lake and Scotia Extremis.</em