COSMIC ANTS’ WORK IN PROGRESS
Aishwarya Srivastava is a full time content writer and a part time fiction enthusiast. Her short stories and poems have been published in various journals including the Flash Fiction Magazine, The Antonym, The Roadrunner Review, Litgleam Magazine, and Literally Stories. Her biggest achievement yet is becoming the favourite human of a Labrador who absolutely despised her at first.Â
your life
the cosmic ants
it’s the way they borrowÂ
blocks from others
I am almost 23Â
and so far they have builtÂ
me
a rented home
and the knowledge of howÂ
you turn your clothesÂ
inside out
when you hang them to dry
and I heard themÂ
whisperingÂ
about borrowingÂ
more blocksÂ
from my Nana’s life
soonÂ
I will scold
every little child
for running fans
in empty rooms
and cut cucumbersÂ
as the true sign of affection
and I will lose
my closest ones
to kindness and a
disobedient tongue
soon I will start
to give all I have
to anyoneÂ
and everyone
the cosmic ants know
what they areÂ
doing
if you ever feel it’s random
remember
cosmic ants see in five dimensions
Artist Note
Recently, there was an ant infestation in my house. While my flatmate and I found ant-genocidal ways to end their tyranny, ants slowly made way into every thought I was having.
I started thinking about how they were borrowing things, grains and granite, from everywhere to create something. Something they had meticulously planned.
That reminded me of how everything I am and will ever be- which is always a work in progress, believe me, even after death- is also made up of small building blocks borrowed from what others around me are. As if there are some cosmic ants that are constructing my being as I get older.