Twenty-four hours after arriving,
We finally got out of the house,
Elisa was as usual slow,
In applying tights and make up,
After a lengthy enquiry with mamma,
After many layers were applied,
After banging my head against the wall,
Hallelujah Elisa is ready I cried,
So like in summer I told you,
That calabrian women yap yap yap,
We left home at 18.30,
After an hour we had not arrived,
Cousin after cousin brother and friend,
Elisa did a marathon of words,
Half friends who know all your news,
How the hell did they know that?
And Dalila was waiting in the shadows,
All alone outside the closed “centro musica”,
Is it her that little wrapped up girl?
Wahey, yahoo, come here Dalila,
Part 1 Elisa talked to Dalila,
Interrupted by cousins with large tongues,
Then along came a cousin of her father,
And in between them lots of “auguri”
Caterina came by and hugged Elisa,
And her sour faced parents muttered hello,
Cousin Miriam appeared with her laughing eyes,
That was only out laughed by her grin,
As the fog threatened to gulf this road,
And the temperature duly dropped,
I think it’s time for a beer I said,
And the Bar Roxy was the next stop.
Barman Rocco was his usual cheeky self,
Yes I know everybody is called Rocco here,
More auguri to everyone in the bar,
And finally I get to sip my beer.
Elisa finally got around to talking to Dalila,
Then arrived another cousin Pietro without Sophia,
We laughed at Elisas drunken cockups,
Even though she had not started to drink her beer,
After ninety minutes of yap yap,
Time was for another meal,
Dalila disappeared into the mist,
And Elisa could rest her jaw,
Back in the warmth again,
Sitting at the kitchen table,
Five types of meat and mash to eat,
And more wine to make me unstable.

©D.Hobson January 2014