MECHANICAL MESSI...

Mechanical Messi

Acquired:

Nine solid, wooden skittles,

Carved in antiquity,

Placed deviously, pugnaciously upon the ground,

Yet non-tactically.

Then, with baited breath

And measured stealth,

I position my Mechanical Messi,

The Dinky Dribbler,

A Clockwork Calamity

And wind the key

Slowly, albeit with alacrity;

Pausing, musing, pondering

The tightening sound…

And I let him go, marvelling at his tenacity…

Leaning, lolling,

Bobbing, ducking and weaving,

Rocking, rolling and whirring

He swivels and dodges between and against the pins,

So upright, quite unflappable,

Or deflects, ricochets,

Then rights himself, seeking an escaping hole

‘Tween blocks of solid, blackened oak,

Rushing on regardless, reckless,

Beyond the obstacles

And into goal…

Pete Ray

July 2014

Messi bundles through and into defences, sometimes successfully, often not, but he reminds me of a clockwork toy, wound up, ready to fashion a way through obstacles, with a winding, twisting gait…

Sad, I know...