Feb 15, 2021
Winter Guests
Somewhere deep beneath the snow
the ants are still alive—
I thought the freezing cold and ice
would not let them survive.
But every once in a while I see
an ant upon the floor
walking through the kitchen
or behind the bathroom door.
Outside it’s fucking freezing,
only seventeen degrees,
and there’s a solid film of ice
encompassing the trees.
The snow is so condensed and deep
it’s getting hard to tread,
which makes me think that any bug
that’s still outside is dead.
Which means I must accept a truth
that I fear to espouse—
the ants aren’t coming in, it seems,
but living in my house!
So when guests start to bug you,
it’s time, I do believe,
to crush or smash or poison them
until they choose to leave.