(A label: A kind of tag attached to something so as to identify the object or its contents)
 
I am becoming an Alien
I feel lost on this planet. I no longer recognise human beings.
Once they were individuals with texture, interest, individuality.
Now Designer Labels, Nike Logos, matching shell suits are all I see.
 
Why do people strive to disappear as individuals, and reappear as part of a fashion? Retreating from their true selves.
Striving to look like someone else, someone with more Money, Media visibility, or Star Status
Is it simply lack of self esteem?
 
The world seems now preoccupied with images of reality,
The superficial. The Glitz the Gloss.
The first micron depth of someone’s personality.
Less than a millionth of who we really are.
No illumination within. And do we care?

Is TV and cinema to blame?
Were we so insecure in the days of radio?
Did we play the same game
When we were young, so long ago?

Must my sense of who I am,
Be just how I think that others see me?
It’s become so very complicated
To be or not to be!

Personally, I struggle
With any kind of message on my body,
Be it icon or text,
The very thought of it gets me quite vexed

Tattoos, Logo T-shirts, and Designer labels are not for me.
While others make themselves a billboard,
Advertising for Free, what I cringe to be identified with:
Calvin Kline, Armani, Benetton, the BNP

Of course I need to say,
That I, am an Engineer.
We dress in drab,
Proud of our immunity to fashion.
While others think that We are odd.
The triumph of Function over Form.
That’s our God.
Friends wish that I might smarten up,
And Fashion be my norm.

Richard Epworth 2/3/2007