Human ants, thirteen less one
crawling burrowing deeper
clawing rock walls with iron
fingers, black bituminous bowels
no light here, above above above
carbon monoxide in, oxygen out
dissipating somehow, somewhere
seeping upwards to all the bright
day people; mothers, wives, children.
We know this darkness
in our blood, 10, 20, 30 years.
Don’t wake the dying sleep
daily our graves dug.
Now let us rest while others
tremble who buried
us premature - our lives
spent, stocks exchanged
inhumane profits
for another minute or two
of light.
