Loss of Control

The line supervisor tonight is Derek.
He controls the five tanks of colour,
the pumps and nozzle apparatus
and the bodies on the robotic jig.

In Shafi’s absence, it’s Dean who sees
the jaundice sickening the silver.
Somewhere between the inlet probe
and the nozzle’s micromesh, there’s a prob.

They pause the process, check the gauges.
Derek doesn’t understand. Dean suggests
a foreign body, or a hose that’s hampered.
Start it up again and see what happens.

The change occurs within ten seconds.
A purple the colour of maggoty berries
squirts from the sprayers onto every profile.
Not in this year’s range, says Dean.

Derek jabs the stubby shutdown button
but nothing happens. Worse—
everything that could go wrong
does...