1984

The clock strikes 13

The world’s modern

But not green

What’s seeing is unseen.

 

The world’s just a dome

Where you’re always alone

The future, the past

Are together at last

In a shape-shifting present

Where yesterday’s

Tomorrow,

Both enemies,

And borrow

Sharing pens, swapping papers

And cheating their makers.

 

Pastures aren’t new

Just a queue to a zoo

Of scripted, blind creatures

No substance or features

The eye can rely on

Nor prove their existence.

 

Poisonous tethers

Are life’s little pleasures

Obscene and illegal

And momentary

Do not pick one up

Do not bring it back

Don’t make it a habit

And don’t even blab it

Not even to your children

Least your friends or your brethren

For the dome is the world

And the world is an office

Inter-connected

By networks of gossip.

Ask it no questions

It tells you no lies

Use only your eyes -

Be accepted.

 

Talk about nothing

Follow the crowd

Do not trust your neighbour

And don’t think aloud.

Be fed by machines

news, food and culture

Toxic to the vulture

That picks at the bones

Damaging to the lens

That examines too close

Fatal to the man who discovers

Too much

And knows his life

Is not real.

 

You’re permitted no memories

Not even your mother

Stands-up to Big Brother

For He is your lover

Your mentor, your guide

Your escort and consort

He is your Father

He sees you , He feeds you

He bleeds you

And breaks you.

 

He spells-out your sentence

By moulding your grammar

And channels your resentment

To a target you clamour

For blindness of hatred

Two minutes are slated

A frenzy then sated

And it’s back to the slammer.

 

Then all is the same again

Today is tomorrow

From yesterday borrowed

Nothing has changed

Black is white

Wrong is right

Same war and same foe

Though a short time ago

Its face had been different

Your mind now receives

What your eyes do not see

And may well disagree

But your soul has been sold

And what you are told

Is what you must know:

It is so.

 

To think straight

In a sense

Is an electric fence

Which fends-in unreality

And debars actuality

For that is a sin

And should you begin

Such a misguided venture

To follow that path

The clear aftermath

Of seeking discovery

And exploring alone

Is to stand on the tail

Of the Host-Devil’s body

Which will turn round

And bite you

And for all you may fight

You

Can never win

 

For you shout in the dark

And no one will come

And no one will like you

Nor thank you for showing

The fear that pervades them

Of breaking the mould

For what they’ve been told

And to what they’ve been sold.

 

For the whole world is mad

With constraint and normality

Imprisoned mentality

What they know:

It is so.

 

For you are the human

In a lifetime of vampires

That stalk, cloaked, each street

With the masses, the meat

That pack around campfires

And claim themselves Citizen

You may wish to be rid of them

But they’ll rid of you

 

For you are the dead

To them

They are the living

You’re the misgiving

Upon whom they’ll tread

You’re surrounded, confounded

Reform! and conform!

You are part of the body

The whole of the norm

Ours is your mind

And yours is our soul

We as one

Build the mantle

To which you are led

Where your mind will be white-washed

And your soul will be bled

And here comes a chopper

To chop off your head!

Reviews

[alesuriko]

Beautiful satire. I adore this so much. Great social statement... absolutely brilliant. I do have to say though, the end of the "To think straight" stanza... really didn't flow, especially compared to the rest of the poem. But this is truly an amazing poem with such great wording, vivid and explicit imagery, and such great references. Like the end, good Alice reference even if it wasn't purposeful. Also the lines "Reform! and conform! / You are part of the body / The whole of the norm" really reminded me of "V for Vendetta," with how England is the body, the eyes, the ears, the mouth, etc. Wonderfully written poem, extremely expressive and so blunt and hard hitting. You opened this poem so well by using 13. It gave the setting and atmosphere such life that ran throughout the rest of the poem without flaw. The rhyme and rhythm is also wonderful. Well done.

I'd also just like to add that my favorite stanzas were the fourth stanza "Poisonous tethers / Are life’s little pleasures" and the last stanza. Really great to read!

[sayandeep kundu]

I'm spellbound!

[Fran Marie]

Where your mind will be white-washed

And your soul will be bled

And here comes a chopper

To chop off your head!

The ending sums it all up quite nicely and carries the weight of this entire piece a great way to end it..

this is so well crafted with rhythm and cadence spot on for such & for the length of this piece rhyming was uncanny~ content very much in tune with today's sad state of affairs~ Big Bro is watching , the seeing is unseen, indeed
This reminds me of a lot of Sci-fi movies Soilient Green, Freejack, of course the book/1984 and Animal Farm,et al.. plus your part about the masses of meat , get in line~ the Our brains whitewashed~ our every move montiored by BB~ Great Stuff!!I could go on and on about this poem, indeed G.Orwell would be proud. you did a fantastic job on this ~ Kudos!

[just rose.]

"What’s seeing is unseen..." this intrigued me so much. And then as I read, I pictured this written on a handbill that was blowing down some postapocalyptic street, and wondered about the narrator, the doubt and paranoia and resignation that pervade the piece almost made me wonder if this, too, was created as a sort of propaganda to get the masses to conform. Then it shifted and I thought of it like an underground newspaper, or like Fahrenheit 451, and whether this were part of some subversive oral tradition that somehow got written down. There is no sense of hope in this poem; and yet, the counterpoint established by the jaded and (nearly-) omniscient narration suggests hope by its very existence. Regardless of its source, there is truth in this that passes muster, and that is felt on a level deeper than words. It is more than an indictment; it is a call to action where the action is not suggested, and that is the liberation - because it's all about what they're (or we're) being told to do.

[Crowley]

I don't know why, but besides 1984 this reminded me of Soilent Green. This had a mechanistic and industrial feel to it, could so see a miniseries come of this. It is very difficult to hold down a beat and a rhyme in pieces this long, you did a great job of it, I did not have to break my reading pattern but a couple times and most of those were my fault. The first stanza was a great scene setter, very good. I am catching hints of satire, but overall not a satirical piece in my estimation as much a a social comment on the mechanism of modernization and the rightful distrust of the institution. Maybe I am looking into it too much. Any way you look at it, this was balls out and I loved it. Especially Chapter 10.

[R.S. Wilder]

Sometimes you do such great work that I can't find anything to say. And that's a good thing. :)

[Ruth]

Anything to not become a part of that! lol
A great poem , one that chills the reader to read!
Makes you think how much an Orwelian state we are already in, wow!
Excellent piece Devons!
xx

[mope]

If only all rants were this good. This would be a mesmerising performance piece.

And I love the source material - the title is dated but the message isn't. As is the Labour Party version of Animal Farm.

[Ryan Falzon - Tymon]

"Ask it no questions
It tells you no lies
Use only your eyes -
Be accepted."

This poem is a goldmine of sayings you should keep in your head!
The poem ends quite humors yet a bit downing at the same time.
I think this poem is telling us that "they" are above us, they are watching us, they are controlling us. I also see that you should open your eyes and ears and attempt to absorb all of the information you can, but THAT information should be kept to yourself, for if you know something that you shouldn't it's to the chopper!

[Ashesh]

If George Orwell had decided to write a poem "1984" ... instead of a book. -> -> it would exactly look like what you have written above!!