My identity card, freshly
Laminated, makes my palm sweat,
Eyes and fingers laser printed
‘Turn to the side now’,
The bureaucrat said,
– flash, blink –
‘It is for official
Purposes only,'
I observe that they like the word:
Official,
Everything is always quite official,
There are leaflets
With answers
For everything,
'If it can’t be answered
It shouldn’t have been asked!'
Ran one flyer that rained down
One day from the skies,
'Please place all books and newspapers
In the amnesty depository'
Demanded another,
All I need to know is provided
In the weekly newsletter,
Or on bulletin screens that belch
Out propaganda and information,
Notice
After
Notice
Try not to notice anything,
Attend appropriate group
For age and gender,
Night classes,
Education is under
Reconstruction
By the Curriculum
Directive
Review
Committee,
'Please see policy boards
For social reopening updates,
if you could read this booklet on language
And appropriate terminology too,
It wouldn’t go amiss,
I must admit the way you are speaking to me
Makes me nervous,
I don’t like all these questions you’re asking,'
The bureaucrat said,
'It’s all in the details,
We just need your details,
It’s official,
There are no handouts here,
All able bodied men must work,
Visit the Labour for the Masses Bureau,
What do you want a seat for?
That’s what you have feet for,
Health checks, yes, cough, please,
A little more blood,
Sorry, a formality,
The President’s favourite number is four,
IQ 365,
High?
Yes, I know,
Star sign: Scorpio,
Acquaint yourselves with the Knowledge
In Formal Education Booklet 254, there are
Tests,
You know,
Later,
Human sacrifice? Scapegoats?
These words don’t exist!
Criminals are displayed
On posters here, hoardings –
Everyone knows who they are,
There are no altars
With throbbing hearts held high,
No pagans here, no heads on poles,
There are hygiene by-laws
Against that sort of thing,
And no monsters,
Anyone would think…'
'Listen, I don’t like your attitude,'
The bureaucrat said,
'Look, there’s nowhere to run,
Perhaps you need interrogating
Under Illegal Communication Code 45,
I refer you to State channel 650
For further explanation and elucidation,
Our official officers
May need to pay you a home visit,
Be prepared,
Wear your state clothing,'
'It itches,' I say,
'It itches, you say?
Get used to it,
Show some gratitude,
You are a client,
This is a service,
There is no alternative,
no decision,
no choice,
no need to know
Anything at all.
You are catered for,
From the outside in,
What’s the problem?
Divest yourself,
Pass your card
Through the scanner
On your way out,
Join queue 12,
You are initiated,
You are free,'
In the street the faces look the same,
The pavements look just as they did,
All the buildings are still standing,
My identity card, freshly
Laminated, sweats in my palm.
Comments
LawOfTheOne | March 27, 2008 - 01:21
Great idea. The formal writing and style added to the "big brother" vibe I got from this.
I loved "You are catered for, from the outside in."
Strong, as always.
Ewan | March 27, 2008 - 06:43
Mmmm, they are watching you, I am sure.
Very good, your double speak is accurate, although we shouldn't carp at old Eric too much as he was pretty close with everything else.
Looking from the outside in, the UK seems hell bent on becoming like this. Remarkably like communist East Germany was, that is.
I like the repetition, which these characters are so fond of: look out for politicians, spokespeople for PCTs, Education departments and the whole slippery horde of them answering interview questions in the meeja with
'Which is why....' followed by the latest initiative festooned with buzzwords.
This is of your usual very high standard, I reckon it'll wear a cherry.
Sooz006 | March 27, 2008 - 18:27
Very, very good, witty and cleverly done. Anybody who has read the book will automatically make comparissions, that's inevitable .. but I think you hit just the right tone with it. Loved the, what do you want a seat for, lines.
Doeslittle | March 27, 2008 - 20:25
Thanks for all the comments. I intended it to invite the comparison, no avoiding it. Glad you liked that line though Sooz, I wondered if throwing in a rhyme like that would read oddly sitting with the other lines, but still...
blackjack-davey | March 27, 2008 - 21:43
This is way over my crinkled bat-ear radar... It's not succinct. I don't think it is a poem, it is prose that parodies official voices. It does that well. I'm also missing that moment of insight which you do so well in other postings...
Doeslittle | March 27, 2008 - 21:50
Thanks, as usual, I will think it over. I found it very awkward to avoid the 'prosiness' of it though. I found it very awkward all round. I see that comes across!
I don't suppose there's such a word as 'prosiness'...
keleph | March 28, 2008 - 17:55
i think its very well written, and anyway who decides what constitutes a poem and what doesn't. but i just feel it lacks another dimension. it feels like your saying 'i dont like this' (in great language) but never saying Why such a society is wrong.
Doeslittle | March 28, 2008 - 20:31
To be fair, blackjack-davey had a point, I've changed it since he commented. He was also quite right to say that it was a parody that lacked some sense of my voice in it and I tried to remedy that. It also needed editing because it was too rambling and I had sentimentally left lines in that I knew I should have cut and it didn't work in places. I don't know for sure that it works ok as a poem totally now, hence my 'hmmmm' whrn I first posted it, but I think it works better than it did.
However, as to another dimension...to saying why - I disagree - I think it does implicitly. I think that parody or being sardonic says that very clearly without having to spell it out. I don't like things to be just laid out for me and don't like to do it for others. The 'why' is there I think.
nametaken | March 29, 2008 - 01:57
That sums up my feelings very well. Still, since I don't have any choice in the matter, I'll play along and try not let things get to me.
Anyway, it's very, very good. And now I'm going to have a strong drink in protest.