Four Revolutions. Or technological progress, in a poem
Image: REUTERS/China Daily
Brian Bilston, the "unofficial poet laureate of twitter" is writing a series of poems on the theme of The Fourth Industrial Revolution. This is the fourth and final poem.
I
I wandered lonely as a clown
And climbed the steep slopes of a hill,
But as I started coming down
I saw a dark mechanic mill;
And a water wheel of such brute power,
Turning golden wheat to flour.
It filled the air with thunderous noise,
The earth it shook as if with fear.
The trees did tremble at its voice,
No creature dared to venture near.
I watched in awe the grain be ground,
The wheel of progress turning round.
Here are the wheels gliding over the track,
And this is the train heading forwards and back,
Snaking in slowly to each station stop
Where its doors slide open to cafes and shops,
Or to jobs in the city, starting at nine
(Twelve minutes late. There were leaves on the line).
And holidaymakers cram into carriages
With honeymoon couples from Whitsuntide marriages.
And there in the dark comes the rumbling freight,
Past ghostly platforms where not a soul waits,
Taking coal to the south or mail to the north,
Never pausing for breath, set firm on its course.
And elsewhere the cars, much lighter of load,
Speeding and coasting and crawling on roads,
Jostling with buses as they head into town,
Wary of lorries as they put their foot down,
And the wheels, all the wheels, on tarmac and track,
Taking us forwards, taking us back.
A web was spun,
and from it hangs
a hundred and one,
five thousand, ten million, more,
a googleplex
Will I
of bits of text,
and pics and flicks,
to browse, arouse, refer, reveal,
if it were not for
the spinning of this wheel.
Will I ever
What’s the quickest way to Marble Arch?
What are the eleven accepted species of larch?
What’s the chemical equation for photosynthesis?
Where can I buy some cheap Springsteen tickets?
Will I ever be
Behind this wheel
that makes me glower,
is the power
to save lives, win arguments,
entertain,
Will I ever be free
expand the contents
of our brains,
titillate, bemuse, corrupt,
put ourselves in touch
with others.
Will I ever be free of this
What is the best way to get rid of a wart?
How do I make a Napoleon torte?
What’s the life expectancy of a seal?
Which civilization invented the wheel?
What are the main causes of human suffering?
Will I
Will I ever
Will I ever be
Will I ever be free
Will I ever be free of this
Will I ever be free of this buffering?
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