A Poorly Written Entomology Lab Report

 Foreword:

Fact 1) The "ant in a circle" experiment is a commonly performed biology/entomology experiment used to demonstrate the sensory capabilities of insects such as ants. When surrounded by a drawn circle of ink or pen, the ant perceives the boundary as an impassable barrier due to its sensory limitations.

Fact 2) Humans love metaphors.

A Poorly Written Entomology Lab Report

 

Limbs six

and landlocked

by a halo black –

tell me, Carpenter,

 

is this not unjust?

 

Does not your thorax bleed

a river of antipathy;

does not your mandible dribble

the sputum of malice –

 

for he who has splotched

this dye upon the Earth

you walk –

in all its extravagant excess

and flamboyant meanderings –

 

which, now,

has imprisoned you?

 

Do you think him

not to possess such animus,

or say, industry –

 

only to question who,

then, emblazoned this mark

behind your retinae,

such that only you

see these walls?

 

Do you mourn

the flourishing memories

not spent with friends?

 

Do you loath

your own fruitlessness?

 

Do you wait - patiently, eagerly -

for the ink to drown you out?

 

Or:

is this choice?

 

Was it your paintbrush

that fell upon this canvas?

 

Did I mistake

your gates for bars?

 

Do the other workers pass you by

wishing to join you –

 

you, who dances dressed

in gold monocles and grey top-hats

with joyous disregard

for how they frame your face;

 

you, who exhausts their time

learning six-stringed instruments

and decorating the hands that play them;

 

you, who is free.