Graffiti Wall

 

Whizz Goes The Alphabet

all over the wall

in Hieroglyphics

only certain people know

those who are in on it,

you know, on the whole damn thing,

who can read the tag,

see what it says.

Foe, or friend,

it doesn't seem to depend.

A confluence of terms?

just get it done!

“Yeah, we’re friends, what of it?”

“All of you, as a community?”

“I wouldn’t say that, but some of the guys and I are mates.”

“So, you all know each other?”

“Kind of.”

“You know who everyone is, you know, in the town?”

“I know their tags more than I know their faces.”

“But, you’re mates, the guys who make up the community?”

“I don’t think you know how many taggers there are,” says Microbe.

“It’s hard to know everyone…” says Dondi.

“You know, personally,” says Microbe.

“Oh okay, so it is more of a disparate group?”

“Nobody is desperate here, mate.”

“Disparate, I said disparate.”

“Dunno,” says Microbe.

“What he means, is he doesn’t know what that means,” says Dondi.

Microbe punches Dondi for his honesty. “Nah, what he said.”

“All different.”

“Yeah, sure,” says Microbe.

“We’re all individuals,” says Dondi.

“We’re all different.”

"That's what the tags mean."

Damage 2000,

Deface Universe,

Trash Boy,

Base Unit,

Shepard,

Dondi,

Lady Black,

Future K,

Goose,

Microbe,

Archer,

Side Winder 01,

Killer K,

Yikes 123,

Halo,

Is it information passed on? is it directions to the next tag-a-thon? Is that what they call it. Is it just simply saying I was here? The equivalent of toddlers banging their chests through the perceived lack of attention. Is it mindless scribble over everyone’s world because those with the spray cans, Archer, and Arse Pounder, have no discernible talent to speak of, except for a propensity to scribble all over all of our lives?

Is it a continuing conversation? You know, the next instalment of what came before this? Microbe and Killer have some of their, they call them tags, I call it their shit tattooed to their faces as if continued property destruction just wasn’t quite enough for them, they had to go in for personal desecration

There was that unfortunate business about Percy The Seal and GooseNeck going to jail for 6 months for what he did.

There was the protest of mass tagging after that in camaraderie for a fallen tagger mate.

“All the guys went out the following nights.”

“All the guys?”

“Girls too. Girls are guys in the collective.”

"They all went out?"

"They all went out and hit whatever they could."

"With Graffiti?"

"Tags."

"Tags."

"It was, I guess you'd call it, a revenge attack, for what they perceived as unfair treatment of GooseNeck.

Microbe and Dondi met on the top of the big hill in the suburb in which they both lived just as the sun was coming up the day after GooseNeck’s sentence.

“Did you hear what happened to Goose?”

“Yeah.”

“It fucken sucks.”

Yeah.”

“They can’t do that?”

“It’s not right.”

“Next time it could be me, or you.”

“Well, yeah it could be, we know that.”

“Yes, of course, but jail, 6 months in jail.”

“That sucks.”

“It’s too much, what is this, a police state.”

“Well, yeah, again, we know that.”

“Fuck ‘em!”

“Yeah, fuck ‘em!”

“I’m angry, you should be angry, we all should be angry.”

“I’m gonna hit the court house.

“I’m gonna hit the town hall.”

“I’m gonna hit the cop shop too.”

Microbe threw his skateboard onto the road and skated away. Dondi did the same and skated after Microbe down the long sweeping hill in the fresh morning light. 

Microbe let out a whoop! Doni yelled out too.

Dondi holds his arms out to balance himself. Microbe crouches down and skates squatting.

Archer and Halo and Shepard joined them tagging the court house. Microbe drawing his beetle. Dondi tagging his face. Archer tagged big A’s. Halo tagged circles. Shepard tagged what looked like sheep all over the façade of the old court house.

Lady Black and Martha joined the guys at the town hall where they tagged also.

Justice is not a judge with a grudge, said one wall.

Eat the judiciary! said another wall.