The Atoll

Paolo (cont.)
From gaping clams or mussels shell sharp edge
Miguel
Si rips and scratches are the perfect crime
They were prepared to ask for piles of cash
As ransom not kill us on coke high whim
That much I give to those ambitious thugs
Don Silvio and his capo Giacomo
Eduardo
I can assure you theyve been more than once
Around the block in tinted windows framed
Salvatore
The captain capo used a sliding scale
Of ransom fees to arbitrate whos who
He got our hostage valuations bang on
In my opinion he wont just leave off
Miguel
Has anyone seen my son? has he drowned?

The Atoll

Paolo
I nod and tick you whats in it for me?
Salvatore
A raft of newly minted medals could
Be pinned on your chest reward for services
A time in future marked of benefit
Paolo
Then I shall guard these isles against my foe
A civilisation lost far advanced
Its remnant aliens may inhabit caves
And wells and hollows under our bare feet
What guy fawkes like pranks lie in stall for us?
Gianni
Lead us as rearguard shunt us narrow filed
A moving target versus vicious foe
Miguel
Praise heavens there are more of us alive
Paolo
You look as if youve had a rushed close shave

The Atoll

Gianni
But for phlegmatic coughs inflecting laughs
Which sign him sea sick now Id slap his head
Salvatore
I took in water near drowned but the sun
Is steaming my lungs dry take heart from me
Paolo
I feel so tired as if my body has
Burnt off some muscle that I might survive
Gianni
We must remain alert and slink along
I sense a savage magic circles us
This neck of coral reef the zombies wade
Theyre stiff as small dolls gift shop souvenired
Im sure premonition seeks out my eyes
Salvatore
Ive had a vision featuring you propped
The puppet statesman mouthpiece whom I use

The Atoll

Salvatore
Punch drunk I look to land a lucky punch
On whoevers handy its a charming flaw
As goddess Venus plumped is my wet nurse
The dowry good as alimony banked
We chimps now follow up the money trail
Nod any vocal old degenerate
Theft sodomy and murder are in style
Paolo
As Im the only one who knows first aid
The bonobono good samaritan
I urge you alpha chimps to moderate
Your attitudes and think of who cleans up
You ape your peers loud alpha macho men
Who lose their wallets drunk crib taxis home
And so forth it starts looking less than fun
Salvatore
But no one makes you tag along Paolo

The Atoll

Paolo (cont.)
Hemp woven your teeth pirate eyepatch blacked
Gianni
Do tell me is the coral snippet here
Beneath an equal opportunity?
Salvatore
Why mortgages now double right across
The board to make chicks who work feel at home
Each pumice block and lava lump the gem
Did their mums ever live down right of way?
Gianni
You make me laugh philosophical chimp
Not as much as when booze is on the house
At crystal punchbowls posed you pack a punch
You pick a fight with any fruity gent
To catch the eye of dishy debutantes

The Atoll

Salvatore
Theres hardly anyone here few enough
To form a quorum bossed democracy
An all inclusive gang made crystalline
Thus any crony nominated odd
Might humbly deputise at any time
As prison warden copper or marine
Press into serving well community
Dealt handcuffs batons guns and pepper spray
What paradise where people live for love
Where marriage common law decides the bride
Defers to short straws drawn and dice cubes rolled
Gianni
It should be hydroponically fed
And decked with poppy hemp and coca plants
A dreamy picture postcard paradise
Paolo
Your medicine chest opium laced your smalls

The Atoll

Gianni
So here we are sunk luckily alive
Well sweat by day and freeze in sweat by night
Salvatore
The coral island were now standing on
Is ripped like sculpted abs or pecs or glutes
Its lean and hard like any muscleman
Gianni
If less is more Id rather hump the reef
Quench lady body builder her tight clam
I think her shaped lagoon millstone lifebouy
For petrified young castaways a mount
Paolo
Id gladly take back home the island salt
On my breast pocket starch thick honours badge
Of braille outline of cigarette steel case
To fob my papas ball and chain a stitch
A yoyo yarn which yanks a fall and rise

The Atoll

Gianni
Since her kings ransom wedding do were we
Not kidnapped just a bit too easily?
Is not our Dee conspicuously not here?
Salvatore
Why didnt she do well for her cute self
In marrying sideways skewed a billionaire
Industrialist her mother background checked?
Paolo
There we were guests at her huge opulent
Reception itemising tuxedos
And evening gowns and tippling bubbly wine
Our formalised concession being cravats
When boom we were coshed herded roughly gagged
By gangsters their heads balaclava clad
Rest catering firm uniform disguised

The Atoll

Salvatore
Soon well be sundried flaky tomatoes
In our own sweat cooked no preservatives
Gianni
Its blindingly clear weve got nought to do
Else but directly stare at blazing sun
Paolo
Our clothes embrace our bodies theyre sewn on
Gianni
Tight as a homosexuals just as wet
The cheeks invite the eyes like it or not
Paolo
I know the faghag heiress socialite
Dee very well from summer holidays
Intentional hurt is not her cruel vice
Shes joyous and generous and slightly naive
Salvatore
Since when was Dee a dildo visited?

The Atoll

Paolo
You cant hear your watch tick for crashing waves
Salvatore
Poor Paolo had his whole grand life mapped out
The diary down to seconds organised
Paolo
Two kitchen garden seagrass fathoms call
I could eat this salt peppered paradise
Salvatore
Look theres a horrid shadow passing through
A hammerhead shark prowling I would think
The knuckleheads sharp teeth and gristle else
No clouds in yon sky which is blue as blue
Joined seamlessly horizon free to sea
Paolo
Were promised rapid squat tsunami waves
As karmic payback due to shallowest lives

The Atoll

Paolo (cont.)
Catastrophes occur from time to time
Folk get through bad stuff end the stronger souls
Our submarine wreck unexceptional
Insurance sales staff paramedics writhe
Mortality in annual quota met
Where coastguard helicopters buzz intent
So count your blessings that youre still alive
Gianni
The little pep talks plainly overcooked
Salvatore
Crisp barbecue kebab hot air slow spin
Gianni
Hes chirpier than a wooden cuckoos clock
Salvatore
Theres spring in his hop time for his last tweet
Gianni
Hes clocked in but to swab the landscape blot
Salvatore
He stuck his neck out ever sticky beak

The Atoll

Angela chants (cont.)
It hurt me horrid you would surely think
Brain haemorrhage poor man some kind of clot
Of blood in his wise head a blown nerve link
I shied away from him and then got shot
Of his ingenious presence charming wink
In my wrecked ship the hammock loop and knot
I pluck a fan and sponges green and pink
The silversides and sardines swerve and roll
And a school of silver tarpon hurtles
And at them near flap forth two green turtles
On quarterdeck four crimson lobsters stroll
Moray eels love mad whove struck a jiggle
Green heart groove in grit it gets a giggle
Act 2 Scene 1
Paolo
Hey Gianni wise up now and quit your sighing

The Atoll

Plasma (cont.)
Lit up by dodgy deep sea angler fish
Bioluminescent compadres near swish
As deeds of darkness dont address one day
The hidden heart cant ever drive away
Hector
And yet I yearn for my home town at times
Plasma chants
On iron sand plonk your bare foot soles
Imprint no heel and ball deep holes
Waves flatten foam out lose their strength
Walk your unleashed greyhounds at length
The fighting bantam crows cheep cheep
And rainchecks fresh chicks from his coop
The fighting pit bull yelps woof woof
And rainchecks fresh pups from his troupe
Angela chants
The wizard called me stupid blinkered bot

The Atoll

Felix (cont.)
Kidnappers stuck in foolish argument
But wait a minute I know your face now
Wizard youre that distinguished scientist who
Went missing eight years past the daily rags
Got lots of mileage from your vanishing
Hector
In spirit I died earlier when my wife
Was diagnosed too late I felt helplessness
Now Angela was built in likeness true
And her kind will be plugged to equalise
Wherever women are outnumbered lots
And misery attends sterility
Angela
Its what she wouldve wanted she knew best
Plasma chants
One knot down stands your capo statue stiff
By lead belt weighted down as if no tiff

The Atoll

Hector (cont.)
For this wrecked submarine disheveled man
And simultaneously he strongly feels
A desperate void filled and not true love
Angela
Then it is love at first sight is it not?
Felix
If you say its enthralling I desire
More oxytocin less adrenalin
Hector
Kick me the weapon grab humanity
Place your head with ours up the giant head sac
And we shall go for one pleasant flight
In this innocuous jetpack jellyfish
Calamity casts me the chaperone
Felix
It skipped to me on swing of narco sub

The Atoll

Plasma (cont.)
Inelegant and blubber proud
Felix
The last dirge was entirely bittersweet
My godfather was accident prone just
Until mysteriously he passed away
To me he wasnt anything but old
Hector
Intruder freeze drop down on sand your gun
Do not encourage me to wave the wands
Angela
Dear he looks smaller skinnier met up close
Than scaled to life projections have allowed
Are you sure handsome he embodies threats?
Hector
Forbidden is that lane of ignorance
You are a prototype  of bio robot
The benchmark mould for many many more
I must dissect your basic motive dear
You feel enormous pity not true love

The Atoll

Hector (cont.)
I thank you Albin from huge depths of heart
And also providence whatever powers
Perhaps Atlantean guide my sacred scrolls
Act 1 Scene 4
Felix
I wonder where might that ethereal tune
Originate? If I veer left to right
Or right to left the pitch drops down to nought
My ear drums pop so painfully to goad
Me back on course two steps on one step back
Plasma chants
As mist glowing on the sparkling brine
The nanobots spy cutting fine
As parasol they circle one
So guard the wizard from the sun
Glass flasks are frosted by wave foam
Glass shards are blunted by wet loam
The elephant seal barks out loud

The Atoll

Albin (cont.)
Said twice and so want nought imagined else
I found you washed ashore one sunny day
As I combed beach the steeper reach of  strand
And circled anxiously till my calves ached
Tired I sat down on your chest to make a plan
At which a jellyfish popped from your mouth
And groans foamed out around your lips and teeth
I bound in shards of coral naked bones
With tattered old hemp fishing net pulled tight
Hector
That makeshift chalk shin cast for castaway
Dissolved and wed with my bare flesh and bone
As coral creatures phytoplankton loosed
Inside my tissues green luminescence

The Atoll

Hector (cont.)
She was mere arms and torso victim still
Your evil deed seen by spy nanobots
Albin
So which of these great beauties is she now?
Is she the bob the pigtails or the curls?
Hector
All beauties look alike and theyre alike
If you love symmetries as you love chaos
Her mystery is not available
Remember my old vow that Id restore
Your gentle diminished fraternal twin
Contingent on a good behaviour bond?
Albin
As you are some mosaic twin genes professed
That morsel is not true hypocrisy
Small thanks for saving your wretched life then
Meantime Ive grown accustomed love my lot

The Atoll

Albin (cont.)
Raised ocean levels inch high round the reefs
I want to renegotiate treaty terms
An inch above the low tide marks which ring
The coral island move with modern times
Hector
Well talk when you complete the punishment
Till youve clocked seven thousand hours hard slog
Community based service treadmill trapped
Your sentence served my ears are deaf to pleas
Albin
I was not caught in flagrante delicto
Hector
The felony of vandalism was judged
Concurrent evidence of circumstance
You smashed glass chamber number three to bits
Yourself thrust on the young unfinished clone
Both wholly drenched in green amniotic fluids

The Atoll

Hector (cont.)
How far with opportunity weve come
Albin
Sweet Angela my small organic patch
Has only been blessed by your presence once
Angela
Your easy going free range sea gull coop stinks
My eyes cant bear the sight of chick wings clipped
This time no thanks to your foul boiled chewing gum
My inner being mysteriously recoils
Albin
Youre such a fuss with foodstuffs Angela
Angela
In truth I only eat to be polite
Well I must leave you now for beauty sleep
Recharge of batteries depleted here
Albin
Wizard Hector as global warming has

The Atoll

Hector
Hes taking punishment all you need know
We need such vulgar puffed up entities
To test the bounds of our humanity
Define like framework neatly who we are
Albin
The gymnasium is tortuous punishment
When digging holes then filling them again
Is real mens work my carbon footprint small
Hector
Our last collaboration garden cove
Of hardy plants still thrives I trust Albin
Albin
Green is the only colour natural
To wild tomatoes carrots beans and peas
Hector
Tornadoes mainland sowed the stratosphere
Dropped our wild beachcombing eight treasured seeds

The Atoll

Plasma (cont.)
Round me if I woke countless moons ago
The world and moon were caught in civil war
Hector
I guessed you some spark off the old starman
Plasma
Stir crazy over aeons trapped I cant whinge
But wizard I do many chores as thanks
For your hard reality and waking dream
Hector
Go reconnoitre castaways again
How is our feral pal doing treading mill?
Angela
I dont like him much he gives idiot looks
Hector
You never liked his bulbous ugly looks
And now we see hes much more ugly due
To bodybuilding protein shakes and sweat
Angela
Theres something youre not telling me wizard

The Atoll

Plasma (cont.)
Alls ship shape sorted fresh come next high tide
Hector
Plasma youve grown indispensable here
And yet a day comes soon that we shall part
I feel it bode in my bones truthfully
Remember how I heard your moans and groans
From within that soft tufa slab and chipped
You loose and took care not to damage you
As if a sculptor safety margin inch
Plasma
I was from long incarceration freed
By you and this inch thick glass suits me flexed
The perfect weave of luck and legacy
Volcanic lava flowed abruptly hot

The Atoll

Hector (cont.)
My hearty will squirm out of sailors knots
Three days adrift inside the treacherous
Sargasso seas of  Bermuda triangle
Enough hard tack and rum to last three days
Angela
Its such a shame your cousins covetous
A proud megalomaniac envy rid
I better understand your strong mood swings
Scene 3
Plasma
The narco sub has beached a sorry wreck
Survivors now swim diversely ashore
I brought a straggler bubbling up the hatch
Of its small conning tower through waves to air
I healed the superstructure watertight
And fixed electro mechanical faults

The Atoll

Hector (cont.)
Adulterated to harmless dust
Or frozen isolated it might be
Ground off by teams of metal nanobots
But sadly money was his vital vice
He relegated labs to cut his costs
Short term and so soon fell behind his peers
In breakthroughs curative he damned us cranks
And touted cheap generic pills for all
Reluctant I agreed to meet with him
On downtown docks that we serve greater good
The ambush hit beneath container cranes
Without so much as sight of him and gagged
And bound and gunny sacking bagged I was
Shipped out to Carribean wild sea cast on
A decommissioned rudderless tug boat
Id heard my cousin cackle loud aye aye

The Atoll

Scene 2
Hector
Its nought my doing know this bio robot dear
Angela our mortal foe are aboard
The narco sub yet I have not destroyed
Them using my considerable powers
Gaze once more on our magic crystal bouy
Angela
They battle valiantly in your swim zone
And so youre proven negligent thus far
Hector
Whats self inflicted is their business
And not ours Id be no samaritan
In Urep we were friendly rivals once
And we believed the many problems faced
By the world quite surmountable sad things
And we supported one anothers work
A cancer might be dealt to many ways

The Atoll

Angela chants
Those hoods at sea in underworld they hark
To when their fish cold boss would feed on fear
Of late hes lost his dire predictive spark
Hes older dodders deep to death hes dear
Though metres long old tetchy tiger shark
Is sucked down by remora who cant bear
Their mentor more reduced an easier mark
And Neptune blunt them scuba divers spear
White ventrals grey blue dorsals too themselves
Now cobia pals of tiger shark deflate
With head butts their redundant hunting mate
A pilot fish now plugs gills closure delves
Sinking blindside by side yet well suited
Hes rock bottom bound the mood is muted

The Atoll

Silvio (cont.)
Then he and I will exit ramming her
Entirely from the conning tower awash
With his small trunk of balsa wood
Assuredly bouyant nine tenths stale hot air
Youll scramble up the steel rungs one by one
That is last one out is a rotten egg
Giacomo
You were coerced into taking hostages
By former paramilitary troops
Collateral for ransom swamped for bucks
You are a naive sad patsy don Silvio
Silvio
On deep reflection I do think as much
Till we meet once more adios amigos

The Atoll

Silvio (cont.)
Not one soul would miss any one of us
Giacomo
Ive swung the periscope full circle thrice
And factored out what look to be oil smears
A picture postcard is all I can see
Were at sea level stranded on some sort
Of coral island wrapped round its lagoon
Paolo
The splintered crates and fractured flasks slide on
Now washing from the hold our way in pools
We must abandon quick the narco sub
Silvio
Move pronto gracias down the nose cone end
First Giacomo undoes the batoned hatch
And lets the lady Gloria squeeze on past

The Atoll

Silvio (cont.)
The current crisis is hot stinking air
Giacomo
Dear governor you owe us some respect
Full amnesties should we escape alive
We couldve simply executed you
At safe arms length with switch blades else hemp noose
Miguel
Did you not see me nodding powerful words
From Gloria our state counsel? special pleas
By high placed bureaucrats to presidents
Would be unconstitutional at best
Eduardo
As mayor I wholly back the governor
My eyes and ears arent bought so easily
Silvio
Then your ear dirt cheap is a cauliflower
Though kick back spared puffed by steel blue knock back

The Atoll

Giacomo
A juvenile delinquent? thats not me
The government made me senorita
I still collect remand tithes here and there
As liaison officer no tithe no trial
Silvio
This is your final pistol whip enjoy
Giacomo
What it boils down to is youre ballast weight
Silvio
Climb up the conning tower and check the hatch
Senora know that ladies flush out first
Paolo
What Id give for any small high rise flat
Downtown with timeshare parking thrown in free
Miguel
The coral reef will be so slippery
Silvio
Youre thinking far too far ahead know all

The Atoll

Scene 1

Silvio
Reverse propellers were now scratching cross
A coral reef reverse grease monkey hard
Wait till I get my hands on the crook who
Sold me this narco sub seagoing what crap
Dive depth five metres such piss Ive got all
His alias names on this crinkled scrap
The laws of short term karma slam on him
Giacomo
That horrible shrill creaking noise pains me
Have we confused magnetic north again
With true north? weve leant on luck far too much
Computing latitude by longitude
By altitude with compass square and pen
Theyre no match versus under ocean quake

The Atoll

Silvio
Si Ive rubbed padded shoulders with the best
Bribe takers one could plant on payroll list
Though high society will not be name dropped
You yourself are that noble geriatric
A selfish spinster Ive admired in chaos
For counselling at least one civil war
And brokering fat fees yours all the same
Gloria
Backhanded is the compliment but facts
Are facts you wont escape the law so quick
Youre still young relatively Giacomo
Rehabilitation awaits your soul
The penitentiary would do you good
But Silvio can expect the supermax

The Atoll

Silvio
Amigo old or no he will be crushed
The fingerprints removed by surgery
In operating theatres situated
Right side of town arent slippery enough
Pals will avenge this misadventure fast
Giacomo
Silvio I must untie the gags and cords
Which bind our hostages to ransom notes
Silvio
Release the human ballast Giacomo
Giacomo
Theyre nodding furiously to proof of life
I think theyll get the drift of undertow
Silvio
The self absorbed senora Gloria first
Gloria
Do you know who this is youre dealing with?

The Atoll

Silvio
Surrender rudder wheel man periscope
Dumbkopf gringo wouldnt be read first time
A narco sub went missing all souls lost
In the Bermuda triangle just because
A map was held the wrong way round and wet
Giacomo
The shonky diesel motors spluttering
It smacks of Pedros cheapskate handiwork
Silvio
I know his signature we fenced bank safes
And salsa bar strongboxes when rash youths
Si even then he cribbed a metal gauge
By vernier pocketing a gram or two
Dino
Bog is showing through fresh painted fibreglass

The Atoll

Scene 1

Silvio
Reverse propellors were now scratching cross
A coral reef reverse grease monkey hard
Wait till I get my hands on the crook who
Sold me this narco sub seagoing what crap
Dive depth five metres such piss Ive got all
His alias names on this crinkled scrap
The laws of short term karma slam on him
Giacomo
That horrible shrill creaking noise pains me
Have we confused magnetic north again
With true north? weve leant on luck far too much
Computing latitude by longitude
By altitude with compass square and pen
Theyre no match versus under ocean quake

The Atoll

Prologue chant

Angela
Perhaps I ought to strike out on my own
As my poor wizard surely knows it all
Or somehow feels obliged to lilt high flown
In talking large he squashes me down small
Although hes mostly lost in thoughts unknown
The zero population growth dire pall
Allows him luxury of his self clone
Myself infertile I could boldly bawl
In eerie peace beneath surf waves that pound
Lie treasure troves all types of wrecks
This astrolabe that traverse board I found
Embossed with detritus in punctured decks
The wizard minds a museum hails the hoard
Of artefacts that tax payers cant afford

characters

The Atoll

by KQJ

Characters
Miguel - governor of a state
Felix - son of the governor
Hector - disappeared wizard
Salvatore - young man about town
Gianni - young man about town
Dino - scab narco sub engineer
Silvio - boss of a coke cartel
Giacomo - captain in a coke cartel
Paolo - socialite heir
Eduardo - mayor of a borough
Gloria - centeganarian counsel to mayor
Angela - prototype bio-robot
Plasma - a scrap of starman
Europa and friends - mermaid and merman robots from
the icy moons of Saturn and Jupiter
Albin - vitiligo afflicted diminished twins

An interactive movie comedy in 220 emails set in the Bermuda triangle