what you see is what you think you see
the colour wheel of popular democracy
makes an illusion of communal harmony
surreptitiously framed by the bourgeoisie
freedom is the brilliant colour of humanity
squeezed out on palette of social justice
mixes all sorts of liberty and opportunity
to paint some semblance forging equality
intricate brushstrokes by the bureaucracy
makes you see what it wants you to see
the art of fooling the naked eye with glee
same as tricking the brain to let things be
yellow and blue makes you see greenery
all the freshness, progress and prosperity
can also be greed, sickness and jealousy
maybe the olive drab of a warring country
mix red with some white appeals to many
visualize attractive colour of luscious pink
think of love, nurture and cancer therapy
then eroticism on pages of pornography
mixing blue and red gives a purple quality
may be used to signify piety or spirituality
perhaps the symbol of wealth and nobility
if not decadence, corruption or morbidity
II
what you see is what you think you see
colour coding life all wrapped in publicity
masterpieces are on display of profligacy
various tones bring shades of duplicity
post-modernist desires in bleeping skies
fornication billboards in all corners arise
all media transfixion in perfumed paradise
suffocates sensibilities of struggling lives
city of adversity concealed in walls of lies
barricaded by perversity around lifestyles
sky’s the limit in infrastructure of high-rise
upscale propertied class rights prioritized
the center of all things city dwellers realize
is not man who breathes, bleeds and dies
profit has no conscience nor pity for cries
money’s everything that comes with price
discerning eye blinded by image distortion
creativity losing sight of human dimension
scenes of dystopia lumped in abstraction
needless antics in sheer commodification
propaganda engineers dwell in institution
masking racialism, bigotry, discrimination
obscuring entropy in platforms and vision
manufacturing consensus fares in election
III
what you see is what you think you see
colour blindness is rare in seeking justice
accountability is obfuscated by currency
culpability enshrouded in utter hypocrisy
gatekeeper blocks inquiry out into oblivion
truth erased from all evidence of corruption
statism horns sharpened with cold precision
power gorges at heart of civic participation
constituents befuddled by state’s provision
legality muddled by twisting interpretation
might is right as in every rule of domination
the rest run around in circles of stagnation
states of mind besieged by manipulation
counterfactual conditionals in proliferation
moral compass on verge of disintegration
rights of individuals trampled in desolation
mountain is grey
the colour of intellect
eroded by forces
pasture is green
the colour of growth
razed by asphalt
soil is brown
the colour of fertility
ravaged by construction
fruit is orange
the colour of spirituality
dropped as herbicide
crude oil is black
the colour of power
coveted by plunderers
sun is yellow
the colour of joy
racialized as peril
ocean is blue
the colour of peace
polluted by industries
blood is red
the colour of love
tainted with poison
light is white
the colour of purity
emitted with bombs
what you see is
what you think you see
justice, freedom, equality
the colour wheel of democracy
makes an illusion of harmony
you see
As the world plunges deeply into uncertainty and havoc, our minds scurry for clues in order to search the panacea for this impending doom. The constant barrage of unnerving images that roll up in our midst are deliberately targeting the clarity of our perception. We subject ourselves to extraneous factors that we do not implore. We hinge our optimism on finding reprieve that would calm our senses, only to suffer even more.
With the recurrent imprudence of other human beings gorging the world in despair while smoke-screening their vile actions, they keep pounding our sanity in the midst of these catastrophes. The atrocious maneuvering of oligarchs to indoctrinate everyone’s mind with deception inevitably escalates into a somber future. Ultimately, the proliferation of artificial intelligence catapults the menacing domination of indiscriminate powers.
In the meantime, we still configure how to cease the round-the-clock onslaught of these visual pandemonium that invades our privacy. We are now subsisting on caution to decipher truth from fiction and unravel illusion from reality. With or without our acquiescence, these disconcerting visual repercussions will steadily demolish the world, leading us to its inevitable devolution.
The protracted hostility between territories has already hauled the whole world into disunity, distrust, and skepticism. The contradiction of ideologies has since spiralled into irreparable proportion. Wherever this perennial animosity leads to, our own cognizance and understanding will fundamentally reclaim the right judgment. ####
