Killing the Ants
2 Poems by Wes Civilz
Killing the Ants 1
You’re working at the counter, spreading mustard
And mayonnaise on luscious sandwiches,
When here are ants: sleek, shiny, black, unflustered,
Guided by pheromonal messages,
Moving in lines along the counter’s lip
Which criss and cross like braids to bring both food
And information back to, bit by bit,
The colony. You find you’re in the mood
To squish and squash, and many ants soon squirm
Half-dead, headless, legless, blind, dark goo, writhe,
Thorax distorts, the garbage can an urn.
You have become Big Death (grim robe, black scythe)
Crushing the little exoskeletons,
Black husks returning to the elements.
Killing the Ants 2 (Using Store-Bought Bait)
You’ll need the ants to smell the bait and eat
Some and return their sick and poisoned selves
Exhausted to the writhing hill and feed
The sugared bait to any ant that delves
The hill, but most of all the sluttish Queen
Whose flagrant reproduction angered you
And caused the colony to swarm and teem
And dig a deep inverted Xanadu,
And so you wait for several patient days,
Leaving the ants alone. Know less is more:
Do not disturb the lines of ants with sprays,
Less poison will get carried to the core.
Soon you’ll look for another hill to snuff.
Killing this colony won’t be enough.
Wes Civilz is a poet, who is featured in many publications, primarily this one, who also plays the “Other Guy” in “Me and My Victim.” You can find Wes Civilz on Instagram
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