Ode to the Fire Ant

Thomas Quitzau

October 22, 2023

 Manor, TX  2023

Oh, gentle Germans who saw something here

In the 1830s without AC or OFF or lights,

Were you tickled by the tall glistening grasses?

It couldn’t have been city lights that now

Beckon and taunt, the “rip-off artists” or

The proud weirdos winding through the paved

Parallel corridors near the Little Colorado. 

How tough you must have been so long ago!

But, not as robust as this bride, rolling

Beneath the arbor, white dress flung up,

Swatting at some other migrants, stronger than

You, pound for pound, clinging to the lace train,

Dodging palms, stopping laughter, post-happily-ever-after,

Her maids circling her now, searching for the tiny

Anti-sycophants bonding with the popular gown

Before mom descends for one last rescue of her girl 

With a new last German name.

Thomas Quitzau grew up in the Gulf Coast region and worked for over 30 years in Houston, Texas. A self-ascribed member of the ZenJourno School of Poetry, Tom recently relocated with his family to Long Island, New York where he teaches and writes.