THE BIGGER THING

Jest yesterday I watched an ant A-totin’ in the summer sun; I saw him puff an’ pull an’ pant With little burdens, one by one. A wisp of straw acrost his way Once kept him busy fer an hour, An’ ant-miles long he walked that day To git around a bloomin’ flower. The sand he carried grain by grain— Great boulders thet he had to lift— An’, with his engineerin’ brain, He sunk his shaft an’ run his drift. An’ then at night a Bigger Thing, To which the Little Thing must kneel, Creation’s self-appointed king, Wiped out the anthill with its heel. O self-made boss of things thet creep An’ walk an’ fly, an’ yet are mute, When I consider how you keep Your kingdom of the bird an’ brute, When I consider how you speak Your will among the smaller folk An’ send your message to the weak In flyin’ lead an’ flamin’ smoke, When I consider how you stalk The quiet wood with evil breath An’ leave behind you, as you walk, A path of pain an’ trail of death, I wonder how ’twould seem to you, The silent people’s lord an’ king, To tremble when you heard it, too— The comin’ of some Bigger Thing?