Dealing With Ants

I could not quite tell
where they came from
Their little black 
dresses
starting fires between 
abdomens
faces glittering
with honey
like blades of grass
like newborn pups
I told them to leave
yelled at them really
until even my dog uncoiled
but they wouldn't leave
so 
I placed a second 
dish of honey
on the table
it was both the plate
and the food
They came by the thousands
so ravenous all they
lacked 
were frothing lips
I wondered 
if I would benfit
from a photo of an ant
since they wordlessly
took my honey
I would happily
take their image
so I tapped the 
sleeper
out of it's daze
and zoomed upon a single
ant
til I could make out
the dancing strings
rooted above black
eyes
A train it seemed
I countred three cars
though I now little
of trains, 
recollection informed
me the back one was a cabose
the ant was 
to me
little black grapes on a
string
spewing dented yarn
from pinpricks
a memory arrived
me 
as a child
twisting water balloons
till pressure stretched the 
plastic tight
I could see that the 
ants only kept in
their tiny ant guts
with their little black 
dresses
seams ripping
examining the ant
up close
made me tingle
with ant feet
little invisible
bugs
freckled my goosebumps
after a one second internal
board meeting
I decided not to 
take the photo
of the ant
shoving the 
screen away
I continued 
gazing at the ants
my eyes followed them
staggering back
across the table
some untied the black belt 
on their waist
honey threatening to
make the ants 
pop
and then I saw it
how could I have missed
the cord of ants
up the window frame
there was a dead ant
holding up
the rest
I lept from my chair
it wasn't a dead ant
it was 
a doorway
I skidded down 
the hallway
only to return 
stuffed with 
weapons
ducktape
and Model Majic
the two most useful
inventions since sliced bread
(sorry iPhone, you didn't make the list)
I plugged the hole
with blue clay
a few ants on the doorstep
turned to look at me
but it was too
late
the ducktape groaked
and now the raindrop
army coated me with 
beady gazes
but it was too 
late
a few minutes later
not single
ant stood by 
the watering hole
but wait
the cat's tail
started to lenghten
down the wall
the savage beasts had chewed
a hole
in the clay
I knew the turn
was mine again to 
take
but I laid down my weapons
and sighed in 
defeat
and the hole in
the wall
let out a breeze
at least I knew
if I ever needed
a speedy exit
I could use the 
ant hole

 

AvaClaire

VT

19 years old

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