You came out of the desert
Just South of Assa in Southern
Morocco
The police had arrested you in
a village near the border with
Western Sahara
You were making drawings of
buildings in pencil and crayon
The market place and mosque
The cops thought you were an
Israeli spy
So they locked you up for a couple
of weeks
No doubt they beat you – gave you
little food or water
Kept you awake at night until
they got sick of your crying
Then laughing they set you free
Sport over- stupid Englishman go
home
That’s when we found you coming
out of the night
Singing out aloud
‘hey diddly dee an actors life for me’..
In your hands a two litre plastic container of water..
Half empty
Madness had already set in your eyes
Your body was broken
And what was left of your mind was trampled down in sand
Back there on border
You said your name was Marcus and
you wanted to go home
When I asked why are you singing
that song Marcus?
You said ” it keeps the snakes away.
at night..”
We called the Consulate in Marrakech
and put you on a train..
I guess you got back to England OK
Esher was it?
I should imagine your parents visit
you every weekends and take you magazines
And they first thing they
hear when they come down the corridor leading to the sitting area is Marcus singing
” hey diddly dee it’s actor’s life for me”
Glass of water on the table next to the armchair
I should imagine what remains
of your mind has blown away with the desert wind.
Along with a billion grains of sand
But Marcus keeps singing
.
Malcolm Paul
Memories from 1973