The inevitable day finally came; the removal of the long pipe from the pool and its associated pontoons. The vessel with which Albright and Wilson and Rhodia poured out their toxic Trinity Street rubbish, and the fountain with which birds were poisoned by its milky chalice wrath.
Napoleon and Bonaparte worked in unison to reel in the metal leviathan from the murky depths and began the deconstruction of its constituent parts.
Each time a piece of pipe or pontoon was clasped aloft, it was quickly hosed down by an additional new boy at the site, I’ll name it “The Burntwood Noo Noo.”
Systematically the metal parts were stacked like a set of giant toxic laced lego on the bankside. As the PPE clad posse busied themselves with the task, the unprotected birds watched their roosting perch/nest building site of days past slowly disappearing over the course of the afternoon. A young swan unfortunately flew in, we will wait to see what happens there, but there was no attempt by Rhodia to chase it off.
The swan and toxic barrel
And so to the last piece. A moorhen clinged to the upturned pontoon, like a survivor from a Titanic form that had met its fate.
And then a bizarre image caught my eye. From the foreground the mast of Thunderbird 4 juxtaposed with the pontoon, the shape of a cross and a bird clinging to salvation. Was this a message from beyond the grave from old Arthur Albright? Turning to walk away after I had garnered a medley of useful footage, I decided that this must be a sign of some sought. Was a new Pope and white smoke, symbolic of the phosphorus pentoxide that had been seen from the lagoon earlier? And The Archbishop of Canterbury’s gig today? Was the date of relevance? 21/3/13?
I decided to do a bit of bible bashing, not particularly my favourite epistle. The Gideon red one that they dish out at schools got burned years ago. I pondered and turned to book 21 Ecclesiastes (The Preacher). Chapter 3. I didn’t get to verse 13 as I got goosebumps from the passage I recognised. Somehow divine intervention must be taking place here!
To Everything There is a Season
1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
The Excellence in God’s Works
9What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? 10I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
11He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
12I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. 13And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. 14I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. 15That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
From Dust to Dust
16And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. 17I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. 18I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. 19For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. 20All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. 21Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? 22Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?”
And so it was that on the 21st day of the 3rd month, old pipey met its end. During the second World War Lord Haw Haw, (the traitor?) was reported to have said of the phosphorus stack which was demolished in case it became a bombing landmark “Albright and Wilson, you can take down your big stack, but we will still find you.”
Today “Rhodia and Albright and Wilson, you can take out your big pipe, but we will still find you.”
I don’t do forgiveness!!!!!
“UP YOURS MONSIEURS- THEY DON’T LIKE IT UP EM!”