Upside-down ants
and two-headed turtles in puddles
trees in drawers
upside-down ants
ravage
the dry earth in slow motion
televangelists
request the heads of ants
excluding the Azteca
and of those surviving in gardens and on stones
upside-down ants
with arithmetical arguments
in summer overweight
tread on other ants
tracing trails on road lanes
limping ants, faded jungle flowers
upside-down ants
lacking fables
showing claws
trafficking in termites
at times, in dull rhythm
they walk with upturned legs –
scent of death in the debris
they hate stems and crumbs
they suck on broomsticks in sewers
their nests form thick clouds
upside-down ants
termites on their own terms
hegemony of identical ants
to the Nth power
Bonvicino, Régis. “To the Nth Power.” Trans. Odile Cisneros. Beyond the Wall. Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2017, pp. 102-5.