May 17, 2022

Poem by Robert Hampson

  TRANSMISSION 1: FLIGHT

 

I. remote staff

we work without leaving our homes

workstations fitted to check for infractions

complete with random scans

& photos stored for up to 20 days

 

II. dark intelligence

 

the department is painted white

with glass partitions

we were tested / every day

but couldn’t touch

simple things

like hugging / without thinking

 

III. missing from desk

 

they can detect any violation

of company rules

via facial recognition software

illegal mobile phone usage

triggers a real-time show-down

 

IV. sets & settings

 

she remembers her family / in survival mode

strong lights / night shifts / no replies

we had asked all the wrong questions

now we were awaiting / further instructions

 

she remembers the scanning

the faces / the documents / the photographs

 

to help us with risk & data security

violence will be used / violence will not be used

you don’t have the choice

 

V. systemic dysfunction

 

rather than remain

in the grave

as most humans

tend to do

these ghosts

reach out

into the market

 

VI. buckshee

 

now they think they can dance

there’s a problem with definition

gig economy workers

are redescribed

for men who believe

they are always right

it’s cost benefit analysis

every time

 

VII. dissonance cuts

   

it’s better for us to escape

for our thoughts to go wild

given present biological limitations

 

she was heavily into bad habits

like reading the tarot pack

contemporary thought patterns

animal tracks in the sand

 

he kept going on

about his terrible behaviour

his multitude of defects

the real-time feel of space

 

if you click / it will show

the four core elements

solidarity / compassion

fairness / resistance

the way we take

possession of our narratives

 

Poem by Stephen Bett

Novel Lines 101:  101 alphabetical poems, each riffing on the opening line of a postmodern novel or metafiction. Antonio Lobo Antunes, Act o...