Tangles & Tails: Tracey Kiff-Judson's Blog

Ant Farm

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Written by: Tracey Kiff-Judson
Category: Blog

On a dreary, February morning, at the SCBWI conference in NYC, I dragged myself to the gym. 

The windows of the hotel fitness center looked across the street at people working in an office building.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It reminded me of an "Ant Farm."

You know - one of those double panes of plexiglass filled with sand and ants building tunnels?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


                               Source: uncle-milton-large-viewing-area-ant-farm-1.jpg (1500×1500)

As I pedaled my stationary bike to nowhere, I peered into these strangers’ work lives. 

I took my nosiness a step further, and I snapped a few pictures and wrote some phrases about what I observed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That evolved into the following poem, which I fear is a little dark, especially for a Valentine's Day post. My apologies!

 

Ant Farm

sand-colored walls
support the maze –
carefully constructed
to prevent collapse

workers drag and drop
bit by bit,
opening windows
behind windows
that don't open

some climb higher
some burrow deeper
everyone works
to expand The Colony

The Colony must grow
to support The Queen

does she live
a privileged life?

no, she’s in
the boiler room
pumping out eggs
it's a sweatshop
down there too

a worker delivers food
to the top floor
everyone swarms
around The Crumb
hoping for tales 
of The Outside:
    is the sunlight intense?
    do waterbombs fall from the sky?

they don't love
sand-colored lives,
but at least
they’re secure,
warm,
dry …

until The Giant Hand
shakes their world

© Draft 2024, Tracey Kiff-Judson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On a happier note, it’s Poetry Friday! 

Please visit the wonderful Linda Baie at TeacherDance for a poetic stroll down Musical Memory Lane and this week's roundup.

36 comments

  • Wow, Tracey, thanks for showing us the creative journey you took with this! Very imaginative! 
    "The Giant Hand shakes their world" is a great ending. "Carefully-constructed to prevent collapse"...where's that crying emoji when I need it? 
  • Interesting analogy!! I could just see those "ants" swarming around a crumb. I've always been amazed that ants can lift 50 times their weight. Better to serve a queen than a king with an orange face who has a sidekick wielding his giant hand.
  • Tracey, it's both dark & also funny, but now I wish we could read it to those workers, to see if it fits! I love the reference for "everyone swarms around The Crumb". Sadly? it may be the highlight of the day! I do wonder why that bottom floor is empty? You have a great imagination! 
     
    • Ooo! That would be interesting, Linda!! I do wonder what they would say. Haha, maybe The Crumb is a box of doughnuts, in which case, I might join The Swarm!
  • Tracey, your process has served your resultant words quite splendidly. You have used the spark of what you saw through a window (many windows, in fact) to create an analogous poem of great impact. Humans and ants conduct themselves in many similar ways and your poem adds such clarity to these similarities. Great poem!
  • Wow, what a metaphor connection! I like how you used your photos to develop your ideas. That queen in the boiler room image really hit me.
  • "t's a sweatshopdown there too"
    I love these lines...they are funny in a perfectly wry way. What a great prompt--that office building. I love the photos and I think there could even be more poems in them...maybe even a collection?
    • Thank you, Linda! Yes - I kept wondering about that guy standing alone in the corner. What was he doing there for so long all alone? Was he happy, sad, bored? He could be a story all on his own!
  • I do love a process post, and you nailed it with this one! Thanks for showing us how this parable-of-a-poem was born. Our "ant farm" has definitely been shaken by The Giant Hand!

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