Travelling in a Big Ship (44)

“Go for it. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you Bob Marley (tribute act) reciting his poem ‘The Slave Ship.’” There was hesitant applause. Since the Bob Marley was highly medicated he recited his poem:

African Slave Journey

Travelling in a big ship

Lying chained down with strangers

But how much more strange is the man with the whip

Who squeeze us together to make space?

To place tribe-man on top of other tribe man

Does he know this agony Does he know pain!

What when I vomit or shit on my friend or my enemy

Must we eat it or live in it worse than animals.

The cries of my neighbour, the groans of my neighbour, the smell of my neighbour................

How do I turn from side to side and when weary on my belly lie?

Family, security is all gone.  Where is my hut my wife, my child?

The pain, the pain, the pain the pain.........

Where is the heart of this brutish warrior man with whip please let me die now! Now!

Here we are confined by our minds. With drugs I sleep,

With drugs I eat, with drugs no sex in my mind,

My limbs wither; my breasts grow like a woman.

As a man I suffer pain and humiliation and more pain and humiliation and more pain.

Slave Ship sinks for me.”

The audience were still awaiting more exhortations of pain and violence. Someone in the audience started to cry. A slow hand-clap commenced until it turned into stable applause. Bob Marley’s poem had touched a chord of pain.

The dusky skinned female inmate flipped her head backwards as she stood on the parquet floor, with a fluid motion she rolled her eyes as though presenting some hidden delight with an alluring warm smile. The images played freely throughout the mind of Leroy.

Delight, ecstasy and animation shivered throughout the doctors body as he stood, stone faced in his pin striped blue suit and black brogues. If this is madness give me more he thought. The young woman approached the horizontal cane calm but determined.  She shuffled her bare feet with extenuating toes clinging to the wooden floor as they crabbed their way towards the cane.  The prison guards gathered round for the entertainment they had been awaiting. The woman’s arms flowed like a kite in the wind to embrace a doctor.  Her toes worked their way to the doctor’s brogues her light arms wrapped round and through his body. He had melted. I made my escape to break away from this comforting enclosed world. Limbo was no longer fashionable ever since the feminist movement took effect. It’s strange how fads come and go.

To the total surprise of the warders one minute they were all there having a party the next minute or 2 hours they had all gone. They only found the tape deck playing over and over some reggae songs. On closer inspection of the tape it had been rethreaded and looped.

“Ingenious little bastards, who would have thought they would have done a thing like that.......” said the guard as he closely inspected the cassette.

The original psychiatric report had awarded them all the classification of dangerous. Even so their close companionship had seemed to render them harmless. It was thought that together they had diluted any aspect of danger.

“And I thought they were all happy here” said the guard as raised the alarm.

“I bet it’s that bloody professor Streaky, he was always a weird one,” said one guard to the next as the panic button was pressed to inform the local police of the break out.

After being routinely turned down by the prison review board they had enough. Madness was their ideal cover.  Each had a multiple of assignments. Their objectives were to stay mad, be mad and glad. Their motto: “was-mad-bad-glad-to-be-free.”

To the total surprise of the warders one minute they were all there having a party the next minute or 2 hours they had all gone. They only found the tape deck playing over and over some reggae songs. On closer inspection of the tape it had been rethreaded and looped.

“Ingenious little bastards, who would have thought they would have done a thing like that...” said the guard as he closely inspected the cassette.

You don't turn yourself like that to me Leroy let me go.