THE SKY'S GONE OUT :: I DON'T RECALL WHEN I FIRST NOTICED IT, I SUPPOSE IT WASN'T SUDDEN, MORE OF A SLOW DECLINE. INDUSTRIALISATION, THE PROGRESSION OF MANS DESIRE TO CONQUER THE EARTH, NATURE AND WELL... EVERYTHING. WHAT MAKES ME LAUGH IS THAT IT WAS PROBABLY SEEN AS THE OPPOSITE, PROGRESS THEY CALL IT. WHAT IS IT THAT INSTILLS THIS DESIRE TO OVERPOWER THE FORCES THAT KEEP US ALIVE? HOPE HAS BEEN FORGOTTON. IT'S BEEN DESTROYED, POLLUTED AND RIDICULED. THERE'S NOTHING LEFT AND THE MEMORY LAPSE SUGGESTS IT NEVER EXISTED. THE CITY IS KING, RULER OF THE INDUSTRIAL EMPIRE. A DICTATORSHIP WITH NO DICTATOR, THE BLIND WILLINGLY LEADING THE BLIND. WHERE DOES THIS GOAL LEAD US, WHEN WE THINK OF INDUSTRIALISATION AND THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, WE THINK OF FACTORIES, BUILDINGS, MACHINES AND STRUCTURES... SELFISHLY SEARCHING FOR ENLIGHTENMENT. THEY WON'T FIND IT. DOES IS END THERE? WE ALSO HAVE THE DRIVE TO OUT DO ONE ANOTHER, WAR, POWER, INFORMATION, THESE ARE ALL PRODUCTS. YOU CAN STILL SEE IT, BUT THE SKY DOESN'T SUGGEST HOPE AND WONDER THE WAY IT ONCE DID. ITS BECOMING THE CONQUERED, SLABS OF CONCRETE AND SHARDS OF METAL PIERCING THE ONCE UNKNOWN. EVERYTHING IS SLOWLY BECOMING FRACTURED. THE MORE SELECTIVE OF US RUMMAGE FOR SOLUTION, BUT DROWN IN THE MASSES COLLECTIVE BLINDNESS. BIGGER, BETTER, NEW AND IMPROVED. ALWAYS A SALES ANGLE, TELLING US, THIS WILL IMPROVE OUR EXISTENCE, OUR REASON FOR BEING, WE NEED THIS. WE STRIVE TO BUILD AND CREATE, BUT A TIME HAS COME WHERE WE NOW SIMPLY CONSUME, OUR CREATIVE ACTS HAVE BECOME JUST THAT. WE'RE ALL SO MANY ADDICTS WITH THE LIGHTS ON AND THE CURTAINS DRAWN, WE LIVE IN ISOLATION IN THE CONCRETE JUNGLE. THE INDIVIDUAL IS RIDICULED, OSTROSICED AND KEPT OUT IN THE DARK TO WITHER AND DIE. THE MACHINES OF TIME ARE RELENTLESS AS THE CLOUDS THAT CAN SELDOMLY BE SEEN. THE GEARS GRIND IN MOTION LIKE OUR WARY BONES TAKING THEIR FINAL STEPS. A LITTLE OIL IS ALL WE NEED, BUT THE WELLS HAVE RUN DRY. IN TRUTH, IT'S THE OUTSIDER THAT WE SHOULD ALL LOOK TO FOR THE ANSWERS. WE'RE DECAYING FROM ABOVE AND BELOW. SOCIETIES PROBLEM IS THAT IT NO LONGER HOLD ANY VALUE IN THE QUESTIONS, ALL IS FORGOTTON, WHAT WAS ONCE IS NO LONGER. THIS WORLD IS A CRUSHING DISSAPOINTMENT TO MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO EXPECTATION, NO AMBISION, NO GOAL, NO PURPOSE. WE REFUSE TO EXCEPT OUR FATE, NOT AN ENTIRELY A SELFISH ACT. OUR FUTURE WAS ONCE BRIGHT WE WERE TOLD, COULD WE NOT MAKE IT SO AGAIN? IF A PATH CAN BE LEFT, CAN IT NOT BE REJOINED? MENDING THE BREAK, AND INDUSTRIOUS REPAIR. CHILDREN ARE BORN ADULTS AND ADULTS ARE NOTHING MORE. I LONG FOR RELEASE, BUT WHAT WILL PROVIDE IT? NOTHING THAT I KNOW OF, THE PROMISE OF SOMETHING NEW BEING DASHED LIKE SMOKE I A BREEZE. MEDIOCRITY IS CELEBRATED AND THE TV GENERATION IS IN POWER. TIME WILL SAVE ME, TIME IS PRECIOUS, TIME ISN'T REAL, TIME IS ALL I HAVE. I REMEMBER VIVIDLY THE SIMPLICITY OF CHILDHOOD, WE ALL DO IF WE THINK HARD ENOUGH. SMALL ISSUES THAT NOW HARDLY SEEM TO MATTER, BUT ISSUES ALL THE SAME. WE ARE THE PREVERBIAL SHEEP AND THERE IS NO SHEPERD. ARE WE BUILT THIS WAY? NOT THAT THAT HAS ANY BEARING, THE END RESULT IS ALWAYS THE SAME, A SEEMINGLY UNAVOIDABLE LOSS OF IDENTITY. AN UNDERBELLY OF HOPE STILL EXISTS, BURIED DEEP WITHIN, PERHAPS US ALL. WHAT WAS ONCE A PURE IDEA HAS NOW BECOME MADNESS, QUITE UNLIKE ANY OTHER IN HISTORY. GLIMPSES FLASH THROUGH THE EYE FROM TIME TO TIME, OFFERING THE PROMISE. WE KNOW NOT WHAT WE STRIVE FOR, BUT WE PUSH FOR IT EVERMORE. THE FABRIC IS UNWEAVING, BUT THE ALTERATIONS GO UNNOTICED. PLEASURE, RICHES, ACKNOWLEDGEMEMT, POSITIVES MADE NEGATIVE, A REVERSAL OF THE TERMINALS. THE PROMISE THAT MAYBE ONE DAY ALL THIS WILL BE DESTROYED, THAT WE CAN RETURN TO A LEVEL OF PURITY, A LEVEL OF HUMANITY, A LEVEL OF PEACE. THE SKY'S WERE SOUGHT FOR ANSWERS, THE EXPANSE OF HOPE AND PROMISE, BUT WE FORGOT HOW TO LISTEN, TURNING UP THE VOLUME ON OR WORTHLESS LIVES. OUR PERSONAL SPACE ARE SPACES FOR NO PERSON, PACKED IN LIKE SHEEP IN A SOULESS CRUSHING MACHINE. WITH NO ONE TO ENGAGE, THE SKY'S WITHERED, TURNED DARK AND SPOKE NO MORE. HE WALKED THESE STREETS AND SHE PLANTED THE SEED, BUT WITH THE HOPE, NEITHER WOULD FLOURISH. AN ASSUMPTION THAT IT WILL BE OK, NO ASSISTANCE REQUIRED. THE MISTAKE OF A PRE-PACKED SOCIETY. THAT THE MACHINES HUM SHALL BE SILENCE, THE MOTOR NO LONGER RUNS, THE RIVERS BREAK THE DAMS. NATURE AND IT'S ELEMENTS CEASING TO EXIST. AND ALL CAN BE SEEN THROUGH A HAZE OF BEAUTY. INDUSTRIAL REPLICANTS TAKING THEIR PLACE. PLASTIC MADE PERFECTION, SOULLESS AND DEVOID OF DIVINITY. MAN MADE AND MAN KNOWS BEST, A BLINKERED THOUGHT IN A WORLD WITH NO LIGHT. HURRY OFFER MUST END SOON. I CLOSE MY EYES AND SEE A NEW LIFE, A RENEWED CHANCE OF UNDERSTANDING. AN OLD LIFE STILL ABLE TO RIGHT THE WORLDS WRONGS, THE BOUNDARIES AS BLURRED AS THE SKYSCRAPERS REACHING THE HEAVENS. THE HIGHER CALLING, THE BETS ARE IN. THE SKY'S GONE OUT. WORDS BY GARETH CROOK. COPYRIGHT GRAPHICQUARTER 2008. RETURN > WWW.GRAPHICQUARTER.COM