It’s Halloween, so for this entry of our Spoken Word section we’re going to need a poem that’ll keep us up in bed tonight. Thankfully, the always talented Jodie Langford has sent us a poem entitled, ‘New China’ that could do just that.
I had a dream the world was ending
People standing skin to skin
In shock of the state they were leaving in
It wasn’t what you see on a cinema screen
No love and embracing
Just thieves and fiends
A colourless sky cast over pale faces
Lining up to escape their home places
Demolished by greed and spite
Sent to outer space
It’s a New China they say
Children crushed by swarms of man
All in a rush to find solace
From the planet they tortured for centuries
Broken people left lying on street corners
Crying to be carried to the land of the future
Instead they’ll crumble like the memory of earth
At this time nobody has a worth
Businesses abandoned
People painted in a thick red rain
Oozing into pools in driving lanes
There are savages on the street
They used to be your friends
Your professors
Your police officers
The end has turned their brains to spoiled fruit
OFFICER PLEASE HELP MY SISTER
SHE’S BEEN STABBED IN THE CHEST BY A TROUBLED MISTER
THEY SAY NEW CHINA HAS LIFE SAVING MEDICINE
PLEASE HELP ME CARRY HER THROUGH THIS CROWD
The uniform face turns away
To grab his gun and point and say
We don’t have room for a dying race
Turning to her sister she cries into her cheek
I had a dream the world was ending
Man-unkind and unsettling
Fistfuls of tickets to board a scrap metal bird
Flying to a cosmic realm
The land beneath the immense aircraft
Plunging into darkness
A sickened society with a switched off machine
The biggest birth the galaxy has seen
Watercolour trees and palettes of green
New carpets to the trembling feet
People falling to their knees
Rubbing their eyes in disbelief
Mouths kissing the mud under their palms
Sky-scraping jungles and cities of farms
Now all linking arms
Voices soft and warm
A figure from the bushes outstretches it hands
The people stare in wonder
Of the giant alien form.
Jodie Langford is a young poet who lives in Hull. Writing became her outlet of expression as a young teen, and like most- stumbled into the world of poetry by accident. Since then she has become a social & confident individual who has collaborated with industry professionals, and is currently developing new material. Performing, writing, and public speaking is her passion and Jodie hopes to continue experimenting with and exploring her creative energy
Feel like sending in some spooky Spoken Word? As always we’re eager for any contributions for any budding writers out there.
Contact: Andrew at spheremag dot co uk
Thanks for reading and happy Halloween!
Reminds me of Mad Max and HG Wells ‘rout of civilisation’.