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?