As we crossed a trackless plain
directed by camera –
our only record
as we crossed a trackless plain
directed by camera:
repeated.
A cluster of legs accelerated
numbers heated by bodies
heated by bodies
ready for the quick stamp panic attack
of gas attack.
Repeated and played and watched
by men and women tracking us
senior officials with senior and sensitive facts
about our lives and loves
repeating to themselves
it was good for us to be watched
and after the attack to conclude
there were now less of us to track.