The Termites’ Mom
The High Queen of the termites
Swaying to the cellulose bites,
Rested, pleased, serene underground,
Shimmied to all crunchy sounds.
So proud her children chose careers
As structural un-engineers.
Ajax the Awesome
Ajax, warrior hero of the Greeks,
(robust, tough with distinction)
Leader of gallant stalwarts,
Demoted by Shakespeare to the pun
A-jakes: a privy
Today reduced from mythological figure
To useful household cleaner.
Ant’s Moves
When you spot one ant out alone,
Was it running away from home?
Took a short cut? Went the wrong way?
No work today? On holiday?
A duty detective on the case
To find routes’ pheromones misplaced?
Does ant speed as agent for the queen,
Blending in, incognito, unseen?
In a marathon to share directions
To just discovered fine confections?
Where our thoughts move in turn,
Ant moves on without concern.
Z the Last
Why is Z always the last letter?
Are the others better?
The letter seeks lively companionship,
Its sound to slip over tongues and lips.
Those words beginning with Z
Twirl imagination’s keys,
Then proceed and lead
To wonders and promises of mystery.
The Transit of Icarus
Few noticed Icarus that day,
Heard from high clear air long unlucky cries,
Saw with hard squinting, disbelieving eyes
One splash after a ballet of disarray,
A person fast descending from the sky.
Ascending minds now knew a man might fly.
So those amazed fledged a new tale to tell:
That now charmed, lucky Icarus survived,
Popped up, gasped, sputtered, puffed, blinked, revived.
Minstrels honed and heightened, then spread the spell
How a myth can turn into metaphor
The Fates can whim a second chance to soar.
*****
George Renn is a former college math and English instructor, travelled the seven seas, and wrote and illustrated whimsical stories for the young of imagination. He published short notes on Chaucer’s use of folklore and science. He worked on a medieval archeological dig, painted slum schools in Brazil, Sierra Leone, Spain and Haiti, made bricks in Egypt, repaired wheelchairs in Lebanon, and entertained children in Chile. He finds delight in repairing old cars and vintage bicycles, occasionally successfully.
