I only remember
The general outline
Of the plan
The why and the how
Now
All faint etchings
Worn away with time.
Not even
That much time
But enough
It doesn’t take much
As it
Turns out.
The action
On the other hand
I remember
With perfect clarity.
They were
Private school girls
Who
We knew
Through some twists
And turns
That wouldn’t interest
Anybody
But us.
But we knew them
And they were studying
For their final exams
Of high school
In the middle
Of the bush.
They were staying
At that camp
For the whole week.
An intolerably
Long time
For two boys
To endure.
It was Nathan
It was always Nathan
Who cooked up the plan.
A simple plan
But simple
Can also mean not
Particularly well
Thought through.
“We’ll park
Before the gate”
He said.
“That way
Security
Won’t see us.”
That made
A lot of sense to me.
Why I was
Suddenly
In a position
Where I needed
To dodge security
Was less clear.
Nathan told me
Not to worry
He had
Thought of
Everything.
That sounded right
To me.
So we met
At my place
Dressed ourselves
In all black.
Because that was
What we decided
One did
During
A night
Incursion.
He had plotted
A route
For us
Through two
Kilometres
Of scrub.
That route would,
According to him,
Lead us straight
To the girls.
A tactician
A mastermind
A genius
Of our time
I consented
Without question
To the perfect
Plan.
And so it was
Him and I
In the undergrowth
Adrenaline
Coursing
Evading a
Security force
I wasn’t sure
Existed.
Why would
A study camp
Need such precautions?
Perhaps because
Teenage boys
Were constantly
Absconding
With their students.
I didn’t
Ask these questions
Until much later
And that was a good
Thing
Because it meant
I was living
I was alive
The why
Had been sacrificed
Upon the altar
Of action.
And while I didn’t
Know it then
Eventually
I would stop
Paying worship
At that
Particular
Altar.
I would later
Reflect
That me
No longer
Doing that
Was where
I lost it
If I had
Ever had it
To begin with.
That would come
Much later
Though.
For now it was
Bushland
And a map.
No compass
Just guesswork.
Scratched and
Wet and
Tired
Against all
The odds
We found the camp
Perched at the
Perimeter
Eyes ablaze
Teeth grinning
Amazed at our
Own
Ingenuity.
We had done it.
Incredible.
The camp was
Quiet
The girls
In bed.
It was just us
And the cicadas
And security,
Apparently.
“Now what?”
I asked Nathan
Because he
Was always
The one
With a plan.
“I don’t know”
He said with
A shrug.
“I didn’t think
We’d get this far.”
So that was it.
All that work
That planning
Those deft
Maneuverers
Those black clothes
In service of
An objective
I didn’t even
Understand
Properly
For a goal
I wasn’t
Even sure
I cared about.
And you would think
That I would have learned
From that dampness
From those scratches
From the fatigue
Yet I grew up
And I spent the
Better part
Of my life
Doing the exact
Same
Thing.