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In Texas, in April, the Ants

 

1. Fire Ants

That self is a fiction of neural programming.

Proofs

Poets do the murders.

Old Marxists play football on television.

The uncomprehending sit quietly on folded chairs.

 

2. Sugar Ants

That we are step-down filters for the Big Juice, constructed for survival, not communion.

Proofs

The summer heat.

She constructs fables of domesticity.

Those lips as big as sausages.

 

3. Termites

Yet form is a talisman against disintegration.

Proofs

I stand very close to him and say, "Listen to me. If I ever see crack cocaine around my children, I'll kill you." As he walks away, I say, just loudly enough, "I'll blow your fucking head off."

Sleep.

Pain always roves.

 

by Joe Ahearn