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…