Home From Another Home

1. First, memorise the difference.

Not the number-

the feeling of it.

Learn which hours belong to which people.

2. Stay up late on purpose.

Tell yourself it's temporary.

Tell yourself you are just adjusting.

Let the clock glow like a small apology.

3. Call home when your body is begging to rest.

Listen to laughter arrive eight hours late.

Pretend this is normal.

Pretend you are not borrowing tomorrow.

4. Learn the sound of voices through the night.

How they soften when the day is ending there

and beginning nowhere you recognise.

5. Love the country best when it is unreachable.

When it is dark.

When it cannot answer you back.

6. Let sleep become a negotiation.

One more message.

One more story.

One more reminder that you still exist there.

7. Eventually, hang up.

Lie down in a different hemisphere.

Stare at the ceiling and feel the earth turning

without asking if you are ready.

8. Fall asleep knowing

that somewhere else,

morning is already practicing your name.

~Mpowerusleeza~