Counter Ant
There is an ant on my counter—
I would prefer it dead, but I would feel guilty.
A brain that small can’t hold much more than binary.
I can’t really fault an on/off zombie for its actions.
Even if its squirmy body squicks me out,
I cannot kill this unintentional invader.
I would like to issue a formal apology to the ant I so callously slaughtered at 9’ oclock last night.
I did not fully anticipate the impact your death would have on your ant-family.
It was wrong of me to act so rashly without considering the ramifications of my choice
—even if your little sticky legs were better broken.
I have erected a monument to the ant
I so gruesomely desecrated last Tuesday.
Again, I am sorry.
This statue will serve as a testament to the dead ant.
As long as it stands, so too will our commitment
To the ant community.
The ant-memorial-conservation-organization has fallen upon hard times.
To support us in our continued effort to maintain the ant statue,
Please make a tax deductible donation today.
Lilla Bozek is a sixteen-year-old from Newmarket, New Hampshire, USA, and state champion of the 2021 Poetry Out Loud competition. Their works explore identity in the modern age through a semi-whimsical lens. When not writing poetry, they enjoy other pretentious stuff, like indoor gardening and Wes Anderson films.
