NIGHT VISION

a jet of scarlet fluid
spurts out of the pig's neck
as the swine emits a blood-curdling high-pitched scream
an unrepentant knife glints momentarily in mid-arc
the machinery clanks and throbs
greasy cogs and pistons turn and push
as the conveyor belt carrying davey dream
ascends steadily through the filth and the stench of the factory floor
cows hanging acrobatically upside-down from hooks
leer horribly
their faces contorted into grotesque death masks
faeces splattered everywhere
suffocating every surface with a stinking brown film
abruptly the conveyor belt reaches its apex
then roller-coasts downwards
in gut-wrenching freefall
tossing davey dream into a cauldron of boiling liquid
a shrill sound pierces his terrified ears
as his limbs flail in frantic spasms
and the outer layers of his skin peel away
he watches aghast as his flesh turns a ghastly orange
a huge pair of tongs bring him out gasping for oxygen
and deposit him on an enormous lettuce leaf
meanwhile
across a barren featureless plain
millions of sunken-eyed refugees
survey the sky
awaiting the rotor-blade thud-thud
of the helicopter
a father cradling a dead child in his arms
scansthe far horizons
and falls to his knees
bowing to the parched earth in supplication
the helicopter swoops low
and heaves away its load of heavy grain bags
as the hollow-faced people scramble in the dust
davey dream sits up bolt upright
drenched in a cold pale sweat
and shivering in the chill halflight of his room
blinks silently
as he faces the dawn