the importance of a Marcus
a metaphor in support of Kneecap and Spartacus – that maybe it’s the Farmer who’s the instigator of the problem – not all of us animals
Marcus hasn’t been doing too well lately
his woman left him last week and two months before that
his mother died
so his performance stats, which are usually up in the high 90s
are down now in the middle 80s
so supervisor Glyn, who’s never been a big fan of Marcus
despite his 25 years of service and ridiculously good sick-note record
decides that this is the chance he’s been waiting for
goes over to him in the control room
and in front of everyone else
asks him aggressively what the fuck is up
why’re you continually running late on your scheduled jobs
haven’t you got enough couriers out there
or are you just not up to the job anymore
all of us wince
this is so out of place
and uncalled for
like if a striker for a football team
who’s been scoring 40 goals a season for years
suddenly goes 5 or 6 games
without scoring
then being given the hairdryer treatment
in front of everyone else in the team
just because the boss in the SS cap can
Marcus looks up at supervisor Glyn who’s standing over him
thinks for a moment
before deciding to launch himself up from his controller’s chair
directing his head so that it smacks right underneath supervisor Glyn’s chin
everyone can hear the crack
and see supervisor Glyn’s glasses fly off into the air
only to land in Antoine’s lap
Supervisor Glyn recoils in shock
before falling melodramatically to the floor
writhing about a bit like a snake
before slowly trying to get back up onto his hands and knees
holding his bloodied chin in his hands
unsure of what to do
he looks around to see where his glasses have gone
unable to find them he looks up at Marcus
who is now standing over him
and mutters up through the blood frothing with spit coming out of his mouth
that you’ve crossed over the line this time mate
that when head-supervisor Harry and HR get to hear about this
you’ll be out on the streets without a job
like the cocky twat you’ve always been deserves
and on my tube trip home that night I thought about how brave Marcus was
how he reminded me of Spartacus of Loverture of Eric Cantona before those William Hill adverts
of Bukowski before he could afford that lawn and an Olivetti
of those kamikaze pilots who’d fly their planes into US aircraft carriers
leaving behind women and children in Tokyo, Kyoto and Denver and Tampa
with no one left to pay the rent or feed them
just because their men found themselves in a war they didn’t start
of Raul Zarita
who poured acid into his eyes on the steps of that town hall
just because he couldn’t take seeing what Pinochet’s henchmen were doing to his people anymore
of Navalny
who even though he knew he would be imprisoned and slowly killed
flew from his safe nest in Berlin back to Moscow to take Putin on
how seeing Marcus go back at supervisor Glyn like that
for belittling him in front of all of his colleagues
was like listening to the music that rings out of an old Mississippi blues guitar
a banjo on the banks of a swamp
a trumpet in a London Underground station
a harmonica in the hands of a homeless man sitting in a Costa shop doorway
blowing out of his mouth Bob Dylan’s Hurricane for the thousandth time
the music the anger
that comes out of every man or woman’s heart
when they believe in something
but have been pushed too far too much to the brink to allow it to continue
without doing something
about it
the dog
they worked him hard like a dog
like a donkey
packed with rocks stuffed in bags attached to each of his hips
he put in for a day’s holiday
to go to the dentist
to get his teeth checked
to go to the chiropractor
to get his back checked
but they refused it
so he kept on going
through the pain
until his back broke
until his mouth stunk
until his wife wouldn’t kiss him anymore
then when more and more parts of him started to go wrong
they put him on report
documenting his time keeping
it was the first wedge
it always is
if you get there 10 minutes late
then you’re not committed enough
it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve stay behind after your shift
helping to clear things up
being there at the beginning is all that counts
it is the one measurable for them
so then they started to scratch away
at his performance stats
to see if there was anything else
a millimetre under the surface
that could be used against him
and the scent of blood
was suddenly in their nostrils
and the limp and decay
was suddenly all they could focus on
another one
getting closer to the edge of the cliff
the snarling jaws of the machine
then before anyone new it
on a Saturday afternoon
he died
on his own
in a Tesco’s car park in Watford
while waiting for his wife to bring back the next 2 day’s shopping
like something that had become
utterly useless
a strip of magnesium
burning bright
then suddenly disappearing
like part of an experiment in a science class
rather than something real
in the real world
sometimes life just slaughters you
you lose your wallet
with 80 quid in it
and your dead mother’s driving licence
you put diesel in your petrol tank
while drunk daydreaming about Helen of Troy
you lose a friend to the flu
because he’s 72 and has worked in a machine shop for decades
shearing and cutting sheets of metal
the filaments of which he has breathed in
and embedded themselves into his lungs
making them 1/8th of an inch less perfect than for survival
you slice your top lip open while shaving in a depressed rush
and the blood won’t stop flowing
the molar you chipped 5 years back
finally cracks on a Brazil nut
you didn’t want to eat in the first place
an unexpected EE bill comes in for £170
generated by one of the kids
you didn’t want in the first place
you cut your finger on a corkscrew
after splashing out £3 more on a bottle of wine from France
with a cork instead of a cap
then after the wine
you fall over in the shower and cut your head open
write 6 poems on the machine
and none of them are there in the morning
because you didn’t save them properly
then on Monday
when your friend’s being cremated 6 thousand miles away from your arms
you get a call from your lady while at work
telling you that the toilet’s blocked
and it’s either calling Pimlico Plumbers in at £130 an hour
or waiting a week for the council to come
and that was just 3 days
Martin Hayes
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