Exploitation by numbers
Figuring it out at 60 + 5
When I was 6 there were 10.
Now that I am 60 + 5 there are none.
I say there were 10 but some relics still remained
Let’s say 4 but there may have been more
But now I am 60 + 5 there is none.
When I was 10 + 5 there were 31
a class room emptied and the children
of fathers dead underground gone.
A year later and the children were gone too
and an empty classroom except for 1 or 2.
Then they were gone.
When I was 10 + 6 there were 144
then they were gone.
When I was 10 + 6 I was nearly gone
Almost drowned by my own body.
When I was 10 + 9 I was gone to another place
away from here where I could breathe.
When I was 30 + 2 I returned and there were 2
But now there are none.
When I was 30 + 5 — one came back again
But now that one has gone too
And now there are none again.