Screens (final edit)

A world held in my hand / of science fiction, magic
or religion / accessed through a touched membrane:
my lifeline and my treasure.  My Precious!

Its screens lie coiled in wait, back-lit by lithium-ion
in a vision of infinity set in darkness without shade
providing open outreach through prime encryption’s labyrinth,
screening depth’s illusions and parsing them in code
while cleaving direct ties, behind a veil locked by design
to take us away from beauty / with each scroll or turn….

….In that maze created by the modern-day Prometheans
reborn and reinvented / for the immediacy of now
then copied to us as a Trojan gift.  Das Gift.

Intended to unbind us, had we not abandoned forethought
in our pleasure and delight at screens we think we love
for they enhance our lives, but drain our life of power
through the cord that binds us closer to an enabled womb
we cannot bear to leave; so we serve our one-time servants
to join the zenith of control with a nadir of affection.

Surveillance

I have you in my view / unknowing
Through single lenses / multiplied

Driving quick quick slowly round the 25
Or waiting at the bus stop in the rain
Withdrawing paper money at the ATM
Going shopping with your older friends
And stepping out on the weekend
Avoiding all the homeless / drunks….

Tap tip tap: a recognised IP address
All-seeing, I traced you unsuspecting
As I tracked your footprints through the data
In whispered words and shifting patterns

Following the trends that interest you
Sharing moments in your social space
Filtering with care or casually unfriending
Swiping pictures / just-maybe-they’re-the-one
And browsing wider, with intent or idle hands
Self-censoring your secrets to guard some privacy

I watched you / little sibling
To keep us safe / from strangers