Small Tiny Ant

A small tiny ant
was sat on a leaf
in the bough of a mulberry tree,
watching his brothers and sisters
carrying random debris.

Small ant had a thought:
'If this all comes to nought,
I'll grow some ant wings and fly yonder.
I'll build an ant home
and live on my own
and stroke my antennae
and ponder'.

As he watched the ants climb,
up the tree,
in a line
the small ant could not help but worry.
About their egg sacs,
the debris on their backs
and the fact they were in such a hurry.

'Hang on' said small ant
'I really just can't
get my head round this rushing about,
we scuttle and carry,
we're told not to tarry,
and invariably end up with nowt'.

'And the eggs that are carried
when us ants get married
are all great when they're still a foetus,
but when they are born,
if we're weak or forlorn,
nine times out of ten they will eat us'.

So he made the decision
with ant-like precision
to fly off around nine or ten,
but just to remind him
a deep voice from behind him
said:
'Worker...daydreaming again?'

It was a soldier
considerably older, thorax straight
and antennae upstanding.
He said with a sigh
'It's so easy to fly
but you better watch out
where you're landing'.

'Over there are some ant eating crickets
and the termites will eat you alive.
Just up the road is a gigantic toad
who’ll tonge-lash you
before you arrive'.

'There’s a scrillion ant eating spiders
who will bully you on the web,
a Machiavellian vole
who'll eat ten of you whole...
curiosity starting to ebb?'

Small ant looked at the soldier
and (considerably bolder) said
'I may become bitter and hackneyed
but for now I'll just climb
up this tree in a line,
could be worse...I could be an arachnid!'

15th September 2013
Silly