For Sale: The Earth – 100% Off
Singapore
2022, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
i. opening day
the brown floor glows and
the blue windows shine
silken soft love
the walls are green.
SECTION A:
birds flock the shelves
and the flowers bloom with
reds and yellows and oranges
lining the aisles;
peer into the stacks and see
the chirps the tweets
the harmony and
synthesis stacks superlative
thereof in the emporium.
SECTION B:
the smell of salt dances delightfully,
trifling toys, swimming of
utmost use and necessity
entertainment.
ii. for sale
radiating red
SALE signs
the store bursts brightly,
SALE lights
the store is on fire,
SALEsmen
the store is burning.
FAST!
hands snatch
feet start
rushing as engines do
to take all.
SALE:
take all that you want!
anything that
brings you pleasure!
flying toys
cheap entertainment!
green, blue, brown,
the colors call
they speak,
they beg.
so extinguish them all!
iii. ALL HAS GONE
the light in the store fades gradually
growing darkness
filling the store
as water would engulf land;
the shelves lay bare
the sign reads of
SALE 100% OFF
and 100% off has gone.
iv. closing day
bleached flowers
or colorless corals
rusted toys
or lifeless animals
dissonance endears darkly
all is taken;
the brown floor dulls and
the blue windows are broken and stained
exuding loathing detest
the walls have crumbled
as the doors to the world close.
Reflection
It is a sad irony, funny in a depressing way, that while some of the population have the chance and ability to enjoy their lives happily, the planet perpetually suffers. As I learn more about humans wasting materials and where these items end up, I understand more about the threat of consumerism. Products purchased from stores—be it clothing, water bottles, toys, or household items—almost always inevitably end up in landfills, which cause more damage to the Earth, yet consumers hardly realize these consequences, being more focused on the short-term needs that these items serve.