I am the Contact Tracer,
The Clinical Assessor,
The Second Guesser,
I decide if you live off rice and beans,
Sorry, you’re not eligible,
For priority food deliveries,
You’re not actually ill,
Not yet,
Don’t fret,
But you were stood next to,
Someone who hadn’t,
Obeyed the rules,
Now you’re caught,
In the cross lines,
Of the Contact Trace,
I am the Contact Tracer,
The Data Processor,
The Great Assessor,
I fill in the gaps of who went where,
Who they shook hands with,
Who breathed the same air,
I input the data,
It gives me a score,
I decide if you can cross your door,
I am the Contact Tracer,
The Data Implicator,
The Social Experiment still in Beta,
I work with Palantir,
Though it’s a name,
You will probably never hear,
In 20 years time we’ll be able to tell,
Who you stood next to,
When you went to the shops,
I am the Contact Tracer,
The Privacy Eraser,
The Modifier of Behaviour,
I assess your degrees of separation,
I tell you be prepared,
To be indoors for many days longer,
I am the Contact Tracer,
I input the data,
I output how things could, or should be?
I make predictions based on…
What? Who might have lied?
How many more in your postcode have died?
I am the Contact Tracer,
And I’ve got you caught,
In between,
The fear of Covid,
And your Civil Liberties…
By Leila Hogarth | @LeilaHogarth