Best Ant Poems
There once was a little mighty ant
Who was extravagant and arrogant
Known to be exorbitantly militant
She was so combatant and petulant
They nicknamed her My Commandant
One day she came across an elephant
Elegant and obviously dominant
She started on her typical rant
Then stopped and decided to recant
Both agreed it was all very insignificant
They chatted, it turned out the elephant
Was actually the ant's aunt
Suddenly the intolerant ant
Has become cheerful and exuberant
And now routinely breaks out in chant
Read on air by invitation ~ May 26, 2020 'WORDS & MUSIC'
AP: 2nd place 2020, Honorable Mention 2020
When I was a young child I studied ants
I loved their formation on ground and plants.
Like tiny soldiers lined, disciplined well,
They worked hard all day, from what I could tell.
Their strength was awesome, things they could carry,
Never wasting time, all day they'd tarry.
One time as I watched two lines in a row
In opposite directions they did go.
Then as I watched them, like a friend of mine,
Two friends stopped to chat then returned in line.
Ant's personalities, unique to see....
How akin these small creatures are to me.
I love their work ethic in an ant farm....
A splended tool to teach kids not to harm.
They work together harmoniously
And will protect their nest defensively.
Please teach your children the value they give.
Not to destroy their nests, please let them live.
They work to keep other insects at bay
And help till the soil in their special way.
I know households do disdainfully reject,
Yet these small insects gain my full respect.
They have survived millions of years on earth.
There-in lies their beauty, proving their worth!
11-2-18
Insects Poetry Contest~First Place~ in a winning list of seven
Sponsored by: Angela Tune
Note: Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera.
Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the Cretaceous period, about 140 million years ago, and diversified after the rise of flowering plants.
It has come to light according to a new study, that ants produce their own antibiotics to deal with diseases that can be used to treat humans as well.
Ants do a lot for us and the environment in general. A single
large colonel of ants will pick up and or kill 100,000 other insects a day for food. So they're the pest control themselves of the insect kingdom. Many species of ants have a mutual relationship with plants that the ants may benefit from in some way. Over 12,000 species of ants have been scientifically identified. Ants are known to be a good source of protein and ingested in several countries.
You may not be as tall as others
You may not have the prettiest face
You may not have the many riches
You may not have gods given grace
By your actions you're the tall one
A smile that lights the dullest day
A kind heart that's always helpful
Share the last of your hard earned pay
By your thoughtfulness you're the fair one
Any small deed you are asked to do
Even the smallest ant, cast the tallest shadows
You live to help others your life through
So riches and stature are not important
Fair of face will wrinkle when old
The way you live your life however scant
Shows your many riches as life unfolds
On a hill, by a pond, by a tree, in the woods,
underneath a shining sun, tucked away and overlooked.
There stood a line of ants that had come from far and wide,
and with them each, a flower, for the Queen perched at their side.
what a marvel to the eye, to see the colors in a row,
from all creatures, save for one, who held fast close a pebble.
The other ants were curious, and some questioned the motive,
still, he had no taste for Daffodils, Tulips, or Roses.
This pebble he clutched closely was by far the least impressive,
no unique shape did it take, and not two colors caressed it.
It smelled of nothing special and lay heavy in his hands,
and the steps he took were short within the long parade of ants.
But no regrets had he, and no doubt would strike his heart,
for he would proudly shield his prize from rain, and light and dark.
And thus, the day arrived when it had come, at last, his turn,
so there, before the Queen, he laid his offering to her.
The Queen looked down upon the gift, then quietly to him,
she asked what had he brought to her and he returned with this;
"My Queen, it is a symbol, and no ordinary rock,
it is the ground, of which, I worship, upon which you walk.
It represents the love I have for you in its stern face,
though one color it contains, that color will never fade.
It will not dry and crumple up or ever blow away,
it shall stay for generations, and endure and not decay.
-and I know I'm one of many, but I’m grateful just the same,
my dear Mom, my Queen, my highness;
have a Happy Mother’s Day!"
The Ant.
The Ant bit the Elephant
Elephant laid down,O'no,
Exclaimed! the Ant ,I didn't mean........
bright green spears appear
early april’s sweet prelude ~
nature unfolding
delicate perfume
still life of sunshine and rain ~
tiny ant’s palace
Spring Flower, Bird or Butterfly Haiku x 2 Poetry Contest
2nd Place
Tania Kitchin
2/15/23
Howmanysyllables #34
i wonder- when the people you’ve seen once upon a distant memory ask how i am, what do you say?
do you say we don’t talk?
do you say the truth?
do you admit to your sins like a devil in the church-
do you feel a charcoal burn on your soul when you see soul in the wind?
the charred burn on my soul remains forever.
a battle scar of your anger- our great war.
i like to think we’re biblical,
like my soul was the great garden you terminated with your unholiness,
bugs crawling our of my beautiful garden of a soul- with the chemical burns of a thousand souls from your extermination.
On one sultry August day
In a clearing in the woods
Within a long delay
for salvaged auto goods
Amid decaying vans, under glaring sun
High above one ant, homebound, on the run...
Along a rugged trail
of micro hill and dale
Between pebbles and sprigs
Over shards and twigs
For seconds brief, beneath a leaf
‘Round a rock, willy nilly
Root outcrop, dilly dally;
Up the maple, fast
With head-on-haul in grasp
In and out of bark
Inside crevice, dark
Astride the edge, at last
Across a lichen patch
Behind broad leaves of dark green hue —
To my chagrin, beyond my view;
Out from under the shade
Into the open glade
Within the reflective collage
of glinting metals and shards
Beneath the tranquil sky — recharged!
A little boy and an ant became great friends one day.
But how to live drew them apart, and this is how they ran astray:
In the Ant’s heart was strict authority and constant work to rule the day.
Why wasn’t the boy toting behind someone, collecting for the food array?
The ant would always build everything in exactly the same proven way.
The anthill, underground, protected them perfectly as shown, every day.
Not adding to the hive was a horrible crime, none would ever display.
The ant knew all would be perfect, if everyone did their job, and obeyed.
But the boy wanted to build bridges and trestles, just like his Dad, each day.
All of them out in the open, none of them under ground or hidden away.
Inventiveness came with the notice, of new and exciting things in daily play.
His life was really cool, not boring, as standing in a line would convey.
He’d invent, ponder, and build in exciting, new ways, to fit each new byway.
Quick minded, resilient he’d build, many fascinating and unique causeways.
The boy and the ant eventually went away, not happy with how the other lived.
They thought the other shortsighted and scorned, at what the other could give.
But they went away without realizing, how very similar were their lives.
For each would spend their time endeavoring to help others with their drive.
But understanding is a harder concept than building a bridge or storing food.
It takes a true gift to see the world as others do…
The moral to this story is really quite easy for all to see:
You can’t expect others to live lives, how you want them to be.
Each was adding to their different worlds, only they could see.
One building for a smaller, singular hive, the other the hive of mankind, you see.
Each in their own way: truly cast a long shadow to fill… an important need.
The elephant was walking through the jungle one day
Swinging his trunk, this and that way.
He dragged it along not caring where still
And then dragged it through, a large Ant hill.
His trunk started to itch and annoy him a bit
He wandered around for somewhere to scratch it.
He found a tree and wrapped his trunk around
The leaves and the fruits all dropped to the ground
The itch it then moved, it was now up his nose
He needed to rub it on anything that goes.
He found a rock and rubbed with all his might
It was covered in insects and they all took flight.
Apart from a butterfly that dropped on his tusk
She lay there broken smelling faintly of musk
The itch moved up onto his head close to his eyes
He heard a voice which was quite a surprise.
Hey you be more careful you great big beast
You’ve ruined my home and knocked off the giraffes feast.
You’ve forced insects to flee from the rock where they lay
And you have a broken butterfly, now what do you say?
The elephant stopped in his tracks and looked around
He couldn’t see, from where came the sound.
He shook his head as the itch moved to his ear
Then the voice said it’s me stupid, my voice is quite clear.
The elephant stopped and begged, please keep still
You are making me itch and it’s making me ill
Please show yourself and let me apologise
I meant no harm to you or the butterflies.
The ant crawled from the elephant’s ear
He said, I need you to return to my anthill I fear
I must check on the wounded and dead
If you do this for me I’ll stop itching on your head.
Ok said the elephant I’ll do that for you
But what about this butterfly, what can we do?
I’m not sure said the ant in the elephant's ear
We’ll sort it later when we get near.
They set off and discovered the squashed ants and hill
The elephant cried it made him feel ill.
The ant said we need a new home and quick
Especially for the butterfly, she is quite sick.
The elephant was sad and offered what help he could .
You can move in my trunk, I promise I’ll be good
Thank you we will said the ant, just for a while
And we can help the butterfly, he said with a smile.
So together they set of all content and happy
The elephant the butterfly and the little Anty.
A fly and ant, upon a sunny bank,
Discuss'd the question of their rank.
'O Jupiter!' the former said,
'Can love of self so turn the head,
That one so mean and crawling,
And of so low a calling,
To boast equality shall dare
With me, the daughter of the air?
In palaces I am a guest,
And even at thy glorious feast.
Whene'er the people that adore thee
May immolate for thee a bullock,
I'm sure to taste the meat before thee.
Meanwhile this starveling, in her hillock,
Is living on some bit of straw
Which she has labour'd home to draw.
But tell me now, my little thing,
Do you camp ever on a king,
An emperor, or lady?
I do, and have full many a play-day
On fairest bosom of the fair,
And sport myself upon her hair.
Come now, my hearty, rack your brain
To make a case about your grain.'
'Well, have you done?' replied the ant.
'You enter palaces, I grant,
And for it get right soundly cursed.
Of sacrifices, rich and fat,
Your taste, quite likely, is the first;--
Are they the better off for that?
You enter with the holy train;
So enters many a wretch profane.
On heads of kings and asses you may squat;
Deny your vaunting I will not;
But well such impudence, I know,
Provokes a sometimes fatal blow.
The name in which your vanity delights
Is own'd as well by parasites,
And spies that die by ropes--as you soon will
By famine or by ague-chill,
When Phoebus goes to cheer
The other hemisphere,--
The very time to me most dear.
Not forced abroad to go
Through wind, and rain, and snow,
My summer's work I then enjoy,
And happily my mind employ,
From care by care exempted.
By which this truth I leave to you,
That by two sorts of glory we are tempted,
The false one and the true.
Work waits, time flies; adieu:--
This gabble does not fill
My granary or till.'
Jean de La Fontaine. Translated From French By Elizur Wright 1882.
There once was a tiny little ant
that was so, so very small
To him, every other single ant
was great big, huge and tall
He tried to help the best he could
as they all lived in their nest
The other ants would push him aside
and say, " Why don't you take a rest "
There's nothing here that you can do
said, the ants that were passing by
He knew that he was way too small
yet, he knew that he should try
To help his family do their chores
after all he is an ant
But, no matter how hard he tried each day
they all told him, he can't
They told him he was way too small
'cause he could fit on the head of a pin
They said to him, " Just go away "
" You never did fit in "
That sad and heartbroken little ant
decided to leave that day
He would rather live all by himself
Than to be treated in that way
He traveled across the countryside
and, for days he never stopped
Then, a great big wind came and lifted him high
to a tree limb he was dropped
A storm was brewing, the wind was blowing
and he knew that he must hide
He saw a tiny little hole
so he ran, then crawled inside
He found a little tunnel
that led him deep within the tree
It came to a great big opening
to his amazement he did see
Another colony of little ants
that seem to be like him
But, it was hard to see within that tree
'cause the light was very dim
He had to get much closer
He had to really see
Are they really little ants?
Are they just like me?
He saw, they were just like him
as his face began to grin
He asked if he could live with them
so they happily took him in
There's a moral to this story
about this tiny little ant
You can always do what you put your mind to
'Cause there's no such thing as, can't
Everyone says the government will be the first to develop mind control, (or that they already have) but it seems as if a species of fire ant (Solenopsis geminate) has beaten them to it. Entomologist Anastasia McKay noticed that animals tended to avoid Solenopsis geminate nests; this made her wonder, what causes the animals to stay away? After studying the chemical releases of the ants she found that they continuously release small amounts of epinephrine and norepinephrine; the chemicals that create a fight or flight response often known as fear in most animals’ brains, including ours. When the animal’s brain registers the chemicals they will veer away from their path, causing them to completely avoid the fire ants’ nest. “This form of natural protection is ingenious and unheard of.” McKay says. So, the next time you feel an unnatural fear you know that either the government has finally developed mind control, or you have come across a Solenopsis geminate nest.
7/7/13
It tip-toes around
Or buzzes above
Its wings trailing behind
Like a bridal train
But unlike the bride
Walking towards new life
Your life is short and uneventful
In a few days
You will be dead.
As if you wish to deny your fate
You lift you bridal train
It transforms into a pair of wings
Which you spread towards the skies
And then you
Fly.
Minutes later you’re back
On the ground
Staggering around
Your beautiful train is gone
You were a hopeful bride
Now you’re a desolate widow
And your delicate gossamer wings
Lie next to you
Like a torn
Useless
Train
Beauty that was once your
Is no one’s.
In the last minutes of your life
I should like to think
That you’ll look back fondly
On your short
But glorious
Flight.
A Grasshopper mocked an Ant all the day long,
because the Ant thought to be busy and strong
And the Grasshopper thinks this all is silly and wrong.
An Ant can carry thrice its weight ,even a big, big crate.
An Ant travels far and wide, and needs no other for a ride.
An Ant works well in teams, and gets much done by the streams.
They have no King ; They have no guide.
They have instinctive chemicals inside.
They spend all day doing profitable things,
while the Grasshopper lies around the Springs.
An Ant will travel with their food in a line;
and this works very,very, fine.
The Grasshopper waits to be served before it'll dine.
By Wintertime, the industrious Ants are well-prepared.
By Wintertime, the lazy Grasshopper becomes all scared.
How will he eat; he thought not ahead? Perhaps he does not know.
Perhaps he'll humble himself , and off to seek the Ants he will go.
December 19, 2008
Copyright McCuen 2008