To end off our Short Stories unit in English 9 Honours, we were assigned to create a Black Out poem in relation to Ray Bradbury’s The Veldt. As The Veldt’s focal point is set on a dystopian reality of humanity’s overconsumption and obsession with technology, we were tasked to make the Black Out poem based on three themes; Abandonment, alienation, and excessive consumption. Below is my poem which is based on the theme of excessive consumption, issued from one of my favourite books, George Orwell’s 1984 (pg. 75).

My Black Out poem is about the consumerist ideology in Western culture. Our realities and goals have become so materialistic, so avaricious, that we consume anything advertised and everything branded. From the newest phone to Nike’s 900th sneaker launch, our rapacious desire to be “That Person”, is exhausting us of real human emotions. More so, I believe that as depicted in the veldt that technology will definitely prompt humanity to its downfall. What is a better way to get someone to buy yet another miniature phone to slap onto our wrist than through social media’s superior advertising? “Pride, money, foolishness.” (page 114) as Lydia put it, prompt us to destroy ourselves, and of course, the earth.

Concerning our screens, for they too are excessively consumed, I know that I have this yearning for entertainment, for I admit it; I’m easily bored. Here, the question arises- “Must we have such ease to get instant dopamine, right in our pockets, just a swipe away?”. In my poem, I metaphorically called our fanatic desire for more of everything that of an animal, for sometimes it feels like something inhuman is inside, something that I sometimes let take over. My screen time, amongst many others, is something we find ourselves slightly ashamed of. Yet every time we turn on our devices, we drink in the idea that we are actually making human connections, assimilated.