.
.
It has come to this:
three ants, seemingly separate, seemingly aimless,
wandering on a shelf.
.
They've appeared and disappeared for days between jars and bottles.
Luckless, they move without pausing.
.
A single breath-puff could send any one to the floor.
How distant they must be from the nest -
yet none consults with another,
none turns to the others for reassurance or warmth.
.
In their cold bodies: calcium, carbons, a trace of nickel.
.
Inexhaustible solitude, how did you come so far
to waver on the slim antennae of these my sisters?
.
~ Jane Hirshfield
.