I travelled fine, fine, solo. Carried in steelbird-belly of music shows.

I ate two passengers’ pudding twice.

Nibbled nothings nutty and chocolaty.

Sipped cool Cokes. Over mountain after mountain. Over different oceans. Over weird clouds, like snow hills, pillars, with trails of straggly shapes, drifting, searching. And strangers talked.

Germans going on big-fish hunt.

Italians to ride glass bottomed boat.

A Dane to do snorkelling. Then Mum I hopped from steelbird-belly, among roasted people of a palm tree place.

Welcome to Jamaica, voices said.

Whole family hugged me. I felt rain falling hot showers. I knew the exotic arrivals collected up would be on beaches, naked.

Steel bird stood there shining to carry on come-and-go migrations.

By James Berry

James Berry is a winner of the Signal Award for children’s poetry. Bloodaxe Books recently published Hot Earth, Cold Earth, his collection of poems for adults