Donal Mahoney- A Poem

Blinking Like Ferrets

I've been too busy

the last two years to chat

with anyone in the office.

Today, however, I pause

at the pencil sharpener

while my co-workers

calculate and jot.

It makes no difference, you see,

if I remain silent until retirement

or if suddenly I start talking again.

All we must remember is

that we decay together,

that this charade

we give ourselves to

doesn't require that we speak,

that all we must do, really,

is calculate and jot.

If we calculate well,

if we jot well, the charade

will carry us through.

In the end, we'll see what is true

when blinking like ferrets

we emerge in sunlight,

gaping and gasping,

free of this maze created

by the family of man.