Scattered indicators matter

Scattered indicators matter –
The Census at Bethlehem
offers a dozen cartwheels
Each is set with thirteen spokes
turning fortunes for one unborn

You play Gustav Mahler’s
Symphony Number Five
in C-sharp minor
at a rolled-up volume –
to entreat my bloody senses

A record of your being here
will eventually be found
under wrist-spins of microfiche
by sharp-eyed descendants
who never knew of you –

but they will itemise your turns
of date born and date died
and try to fix found gaps
between registrars’ comments
to know your place before them