Wednesday 8 June 2016

LIONEL 'MECHANICAL' MESSI...

Barcelona’s Lionel 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…


Mechanical Messi

I acquire
Nine solid, wooden skittles,
Carved in antiquity
And place them irregularly upon the ground,
If rather deviously:


Then, with baited breath
And measured stealth,
I position the Mechanical Messi,
The Dynamic Dribbler,
The Clockwork Calamity,
And wind the key
Slowly, albeit with alacrity;
Pausing, musing, pondering
That tightening, strained sound;
And finally I release him, 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 he deflects, ricochets,
Then rights himself, seeking an escaping hole
‘Tween blocks of solid, blackened oak,
Rushing on regardless, reckless,
Beyond the obstacles
And towards his goal…

Pete Ray



Maybe a clockwork Messi could be designed and sold with skittles to deflect off or pass by, with a ball attached to his shins…


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