I Wish I Weren'T An Ant

I WISH I WEREN’T AN ANT by JOHN M. ARRIBAS I wish I weren’t an ant, my survival rate is scant Done in by a pesticide, or a shoe, as I gallivant A solitary figure, when I roam, I am seldom seen In Africa, in motion, we’re a devastating machine But that’s not my fate, I’m a sentinel at the gate Guarding the queen laying eggs at an alarming rate When I’m on a hunt for food I always leave a scent So I can find my way back home in rapid descent I may be small, but I can lift twenty times my weight Orts, meat, leaves or carcasses are typical freight We are constantly on the hunt for sugary sweets When acting in groups we perform incredible feats That’s enough about me, I’ve got kin you need to see They’re called fire ants once upon you it’s no mercy They overwhelm you, stinging, causing great pain Stumble across their mound; your distance maintain I’ve got giant kinsmen that are in our tribal clan Called carpenter ants habituating across the land Their name may give that group a sense of glamour I ask you, ever seen an ant carrying a hammer? We are always busy, maintaining a colony means work Soldiers, drones, workers, none allowed duty to shirk But always being busy causes my legs to get sore I’d like to be someone else, like the majestic condor Soaring high over the Nazca plains in southern Peru Seeing geoglyphs visible only from an aerial view I’d glide, dive and do inside n outside double loops High above Andean peaks with frightening swoops But alas that’s a daydream of mine nary to be seen As I forage seeking food for our egg laying machine