Poetry – I am a Number – A poem for our consumer society

I am a Number

I was always enthralled by the Patrick McGoohan TV Series – The Prisoner. Roy Harper did his brilliant McGoohan’s Blues about it.

We do not know how much we are controlled by the State and society. We seem to be a gullible race. George Orwell in 1984 presented a chilling picture. I think it’s subtle but invasive.

If you rebel life gets a lot harder. It’s easy to go with the flow, consume like a good boy/girl, and not think about where it is all heading.

I am a number but I hope to evolve into a letter one day! Then, if we all got together we could make words that spelt out a warning!

 

I am a Number

I am a number

I do not know what I think;

Fed with all my preferences

And narcotised with drink.

 

I am a statistic

Analysed in the think-tank,

A consumer with no purpose –

To put figures in their bank.

 

My needs are measured

As I am fed with dreams,

Thoughts and aspirations.

Nothing is as it seems.

 

A plastic universe

Surrounds me in full 3D.

A ring in my nose

Dances to its melody.

 

What I feel

And who I am is guided

By a group of businessmen

Who have decided:

 

They know best.

 

What if everyone was free?

To think and do as they might

Wish?

Who would know what products?

To stream through their satellite

Dish?

 

It’s best that someone thinks for me –

Keeps me happy,

With a head full of air,

Entertained

And distracted,

So I don’t have to care.

 

I am merely a number;

I do not do what I would dare!

 

Opher 16.8.2015