Ant is a short portrait of an ant, built from a string of small, punchy descriptions. The poem follows the ant through a kind of journey: it climbs a stalk of grass like a mountaineer, goes out foraging, brings supplies back for the group, helps build the nest, and finally returns home to a warm welcome.
The speaker clearly admires this creature. Everything about the ant is made to sound grand and heroic, from "miniature mountaineer" to "solid solder," which seems to mean soldier. A blade of grass becomes a mountain, and ordinary work becomes an adventure. Notice too that many of the descriptive lines begin with the same sounds, like "Futuristic forager" and "Terrific tunnerler," which gives the poem a playful, bouncy rhythm.
The mood is upbeat, proud, and a little whimsical. The ending, with its "queen" and the "glory of the nest," suggests that belonging to a community, and working for it, is something to celebrate.