ant hero

the most heroic feats in history have gone unobserved
along the muddy leaf tangled floors
of the speckled woods

over the mossy logs
and the twisted twigs
dead dried worms
were lugged by hook and crook
home to the nest
by a solitary unrelenting ant

her mandibles locked
her legs straining
to pull the old worm
up over the next damp root

was there ticker tape
when she got home to the nest?
was she given a rare audience with the queen?
did the other workers speak of her along the back passages of the nest
in hushed tones?

there goes the hero.
there she is.
look at her go.
the worm puller.

did the young larvae squirm after her
wishing her to squirt formic acid on their faces by way of an autograph?
did posters of her hang on the walls of their egg holes?

did the stern and industrious workers of the colony
chasten their lazy colleagues,
the ones who could barely bring themselves to carry one single grain of sand
up out of the hole every day?

look at that hero.
there she is.
look how she works.
the worm puller.