Wot?
What's for dinner? Dad calls
flooring bulgy briefcase…
we holler all we're worth
Wot's for dinner, Dad!
his forehead puzzles up
that's what I'd like to know!
by now we're giggling so hard
we nearly wet our pants
three shrieky wriggle-sacks
he scoops to covered basket
tears off ant-hill hat
look! spongy pancake splashed
with knuckle-squirts of stew
and staring eggs, long sticktooth
shreds of goat, gooey
angel peas and half-bean kikwot
Dad prissies at our fists
tearing food apart
looks on scandal-browed
out, forks! out, schooly Englishness!
we trill, loading our strips
of injera with bombs of
senafich and slither-chicken
drop them on our tongues
three, two, one….. blast-off!!!
then wave our gluey hands
straight up like gum-trees
Asfaw marching in
with bowls and towels, sprays us
in a froth of tut-tuts, scruba-
dubs all reeky colours back to pink
…bar little nubs of black
tucked under our nails
like shrapnel
in the chattery corpse
of our freckle-potato fingers
wot: wot and injera is the Ethiopian national dish, eaten with the fingers. Wot is a hot spicy stew made with chicken, beef, eggs, tripe. Strips of injera are used to scoop up the wot
kikwot: half-bean stew
senafich: mustard
