Two White Mice

Within the walls that have become my home -
Not too big a change
From the walls that were my birthplace -
I count my luck
And ration it out to myself
Day by day by day,
So that I will never run out.

Sterility becomes these men
In their long white pelts
That are hairless and stiff;
They are nothing if not clean -
And we are nothing to them
But a project
And a profit.
I understand why I am here
More than you think.

Days pass but we are still here -
Together.
A blessing will never be recognised
Until it is taken away,
And I have recognised
The power over my heart
That my companions have
When I am alone.

When the lights that pass for suns here
Finally dim and then darken completely,
We are still together -
Two white mice
Curled up in a cage,
Taking all the comfort in the world
From the smell of each other's fur.