Warrior Red-Ants

I crushed some warrior-ants to death,

And wondered what, others would do;

And very promptly, came more ants

To investigate scene of crime!

These ants build nests upon the trees,

By gluing leaves with strange substance;

Their nests look like army barracks,

With sentry-ants guarding smartly!

The dead ants lay all strewn about;

A few of them were moving still;

And very soon, they too lay dead,

Like soldiers killed in battle-field!

The scout ants went from ant to ant,

Perhaps in search of ones alive;

Some went back fast to convey news

About the tragedy they saw!

And very soon, arrived more ants

To check if dead were truly dead;

Somehow, these ants smelt death itself;

They did it so effortlessly!

Each one of them lifted the dead,

By proboscis and sped back home;

Each ant with carcass upon mouth,

Ran back as fast as legs carried.

And in a trice, the dead were cleared;

The scene of crime was clean by now;

The work was finished in moments;

Yes, ants are truly busiest!

Oh, what respect ants show their dead!

How fast they rescue comrades hurt!

They proved they respected their dead;

Do human beings do like-wise?

Copyright by Dr John Celes 5-15-2008