by Patricia Carragon
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| AI-generated image by Canva for The New Verse News. |
When pens run dry
and keyboards break down.
When lips are sealed
and hands and feet turn numb.
When polarization hits all forms of intelligence
and emotions function only to exist.
Then we become data
to feed the mainframe’s program.
Each movement, thought pattern
monitored and regulated daily.
A program to be upgraded
by the whims of a certain elite.
The prophecies of Orwell, Atwood,
and Huxley—
1984 is now. We are The Handmaid’s Tale.
Welcome to your Brave New World.
and keyboards break down.
When lips are sealed
and hands and feet turn numb.
When polarization hits all forms of intelligence
and emotions function only to exist.
Then we become data
to feed the mainframe’s program.
Each movement, thought pattern
monitored and regulated daily.
A program to be upgraded
by the whims of a certain elite.
The prophecies of Orwell, Atwood,
and Huxley—
1984 is now. We are The Handmaid’s Tale.
Welcome to your Brave New World.
Patricia Carragon hosts Brownstone Poets and is the editor-in-chief of its annual anthology. She is the editor of the new online journal, Sense and Sensibility Haiku, and listed on the poet registry for The Haiku Foundation. She received a 2025 Best of the Net nomination for her haiku, “Cherry Blossoms” from Poets Wear Prada. Her latest novel is Angel Fire (Alien Buddha Press, 2020). Her books from Poets Wear Prada are Meowku (2019) and The Cupcake Chronicles (2017). Her book Innocence was published by Finishing Line Press (2017).
