Playing God

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were younger

my brother and I

summer had come

our family poor

vacations were few

we had to find

our own amusement

taking short walks

riding our bikes

exploring each rock

we soon became

bored and restless

imaginations exhausted

we'd sit in the grass

watching ants crawl

over and under 

our small little toes

creating an underpass

a militia of ants

red, black, and brown

marching to and fro.

 

Suddenly,

inspired by thought

my brother looked up

breaking my daze

reading his mind

I picked up a cup

the ants crawled in

we carried them up

they scurried around

confused and enraged

nearly a scream

but way too small

to create any sound

they tried to escape

without a lid

I used my hand

trapping them in.

 

We stood before

a trough of water

black water bugs

swam freely below

watching from above

the sun felt hotter

burning our faces

we dip the cup

below our reflection

ousting the ants

scrambling  below

floating back up

little specs of color

swimming for dear life.

  

Motionless now

using the same cup

we gather the ants up

placing them on top

the dry sidewalk

eagerly we wait

what once was still

begins to twitch

an antennae here

a leg of another

one laid infantile

some stayed paralyzed

a few walked away

disoriented maybe

staggering with vertigo

a few carried the dead

cannibalism at play.

 

The theater of morbidity

came to an end

my brother and I

amused and enlightened

we began our search

for more ants

we would not discriminate

red, black, or brown

there were many

sacrifice would be few

besides.................

there was nothing else to do

but play God.

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

This isn't exactly a poem, but not really a story, I don't know what you call it, I just hope you like it?

Reviews

[David Scott]

It is a twistEd but common misconception of how God treats humanity. Things feel this way for sure... It is not Hus character.
I loved the write though. Children have great capacity for love, empathy, anger, etc... They just live out what occurs to them. Is this innocence?
I'm thinking... ;-)

[joshua deathdealer]

An awesome write Muse. It reminded me of my childhood. Me and my three sisters came from a poor family and we would design our own amusement as well. I remember my mother had a set of camouflage blankets and I talked one of sisters into stealing them and then I cut them into poncho's and we used them for our pretend wars. Of course eventually my mother discovered them missing and started questioning us. We were so scared that we buried them in the woods and to this day my mother has no idea what happened to those camo blankets. Sometimes she will speak of them as if something supernatural had happened to them and I'll just look at my sis and we'll smile. One day someone is gonna dig up some rotting cut up camo blankets and be like wtf.Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful write Muse. Really like the pic as well.

[TJ]

Perfectly exemplifies the human desire for control! Great story!! (I'd call it more story than poem, but poem too;a hybrid! Lol)
We love to have life and death in our hands.

[Clay Feet]

A wonderful look back into the innocent play of childhood. Little did we know that we were causing great pain and death to our squirming and frantic tiny friends. It was much more a game than any intended malice. I do remember a common refrain from my childhood concerning ants. It warned, "Step on an ant and you will bring rain". Been a lot of ants stepped on in recent weeks around here with all the rain and flooding.

Wonderful reminiscence, Muse.

[ImagineItAll]

Aside from the awesome content of the poem, there is a sense of something much more. Apply this to the real world and it's really something. Wonderful, wonderful write.

[Eile MacIntyre]

Very fun. I remember doing things like this as a child. This was fun to read.

[KimLove "The Beautiful ..]

I love it, reminded me of a day when kids where really kids, they went outside to play and found things to amuse themselves. Now instead they play God by killing everything on the xbox or playstation or whatever anything but that go outside and play... What's That?????

[Blue Moon Ice Cream]

I like how this is kind of a blend of prose and poetry. It works really well and I like the way you told the story, relating something simple to something more complex. I know they're just ants, but it was kind of gruesome the way you described them as they twitched on the sidewalk! I never tried putting ants in water when I was young, but I ate the tiny black ones a few times...I think that was because of watching "The Jungle Book." :)

[Neva Flores Smith - Cha..]

OH MY GOD! I am so proud of you for admitting that you did these things as a child. I will admit it too. In our innocence we had no idea we were hurting them and taking them away from their families. The devastation we caused must have been tremendous. Now many will say they have no feelings but I believe that anything that breathes has a soul and I feel bad now for hurting these little guys. Makes you wonder though how our own lives are played with though, doesn't it? Well penned!

[Helpless]

concept and the picture really were thought provoking