Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ANTS, by DAISY WRIGHT FIELD


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ANTS, by                    
First Line: I read of a man who was tied down
Last Line: By the little things.
Alternate Author Name(s): Field, Wright
Subject(s): Ants; Duty; Insects; Women; Bugs


I read of a man who was tied down
And the ants ate him;
His fingers, his ears, his eyes, his tongue .....
All were eaten by the little things,
And, at last,
They emptied the bony cavity that held his brain,
Sucking and sucking ......

I am tied down, and the little things are eating me ....
The friend who calls me on the telephone and talks and talks,
The agent with new mops,
The husband who insists that I make love to him when I would make a song of love,
The children who quarrel and will not do their lessons,
The avalanche of sewing that threatens to smother me,
The letters from Cousin Anne and Brother Ben and Aunt Hattie, that must be answered,
The ice-man's short weight and the butcher's carelessness,
Even the rosy baby at my breast,
All, all, are slowly, relentlessly eating me alive!

My fingers no longer obey me,
My ears cannot hear;
My eyes cannot see;
My tongue cannot sing;
And slowly the bony cavity that holds my brain
Is being emptied ... but my husk smiles and smiles
So that no one knows
I am being eaten
By the little things.





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