Threat

Camouflaged by the city, men on mopeds

sheathed in helmets and the immature roar of under-powered engines,

keep their dialogue to themselves.

With no idea we are being watched

there is no vulnerability,

no fear that we are profoundly exposed.

Strangers measure us through lenses we never see,

our casual movements recorded

and analysed in endless tabulations.

Privacy is a commodity for those with serious money;

public safety the pretext for surveillance.

Welcome to the daily cadence of the Earth.