Poem

A reader sent me this and I share it with you:

Sugar Ants

Nuisance armies swarm inside the walls

of my spick-and-span two-story home.

Millions of ants strut in straight columns —

coming out from behind kitchen cupboards,

through cracks on the second shelf,

and into the opened box of Ritz crackers

stored behind my cherished English teapot.

They march toward the backdrop,

lost in flowered chintz curtains,

navigate along red tile counters,

invading from nest sites

hidden deep in walls, ceiling, attic.

On hunt for sugar or protein

their antennae attuned

to what makes me crazy

forces me to shriek and squawk

as I bait and spray.

Following invisible pathways

I swab the black line

with wet paper towels,

spray with Windex,

hoping to make inroads

on this ongoing strife.

Sharon Lask Munson