When see you ants swarm around,
What thoughts enter your mind?
Do you think, "Just bugs on the ground"?
Or "An interesting group I have found!"
Our world's sophisticated-
So full of activity.
The community we've created
Is as complex as yours, you see?
Ants' homes have many sections-
Many tunnels criss-crossing and such.
If you haven't a sense of direction
You really are just out of luck.
It's easy to get lost and adrift,
In this maze that's so hard to track.
When I went to start my first shift,
It took two weeks to find my way back.
We make a huge society.
Our leader, the Queen, is in charge.
But oh my! All the anxiety
To be part of a group that's so large.
Thousands of us in one home,
All in one colony.
The only men here are the drones,
And they are the Queen's property.
Do you know what it's like to be living
With a thousand or so of your sisters?
I don't want to share my misgivings,
But it would be nice to have a few misters.
Since we basically all look the same,
We cannot quite tell who is who.
We would be so awful at names,
So each one of us is simply called "Sue".
Sometimes I just need some space,
Some time to just be alone.
To not see another ant's face
Is not something I've ever known.
I am deep at heart introverted,
But everyone chats all the time.
At the end of my shift I've exerted
So much energy it should be a crime.
I can hold 50 times my own weight.
I am strong, but my spirit is weak.
You'd think ant life is just great,
But I find my own mind I can't speak.
I wish we could do our own thing,
But we are ONE colony.
My own needs just do not rate
In this insect society.
We're all given tasks in our corps
To benefit us as a whole.
And I have tried to ignore
My personal hobbies and goals.
I see why our world works this way.
Danger lurks outside, it is true.
An anteater came yesterday
And sadly had eaten poor Sue.
We focus on colony,
So I leave my interests behind.
I've been told this quite solemnly
And to just do the job I'm assigned.
A poor ant's reality,
It is sad, but it is true-
There's no individuality,
I am no different than Sue.
Ant's lives? Imperfect, I admit.
Others on this subject mislead.
But I confess, there's one benefit-
In a line-up we're never ID'd.
