It's Still Life

The Ants Go Marching One by One

The morning after the night that
Dad got up in the middle of the night
to piddle in an empty Heinz beans tin,

obviously, away from our new tent that

he’d bought it at discount price because
it was missing a support pole and pegs,
but never mind about that because

Dad cut branches from a spruce tree

but when he came back from his piddle,
he hit the spruce pole with his head, and
the whole tent came down on top of us.

Mum screamed. Dad shouted. My sister slept.

The morning after that, Dad declared
We’re going home after breakfast!
Mum said, No! I want a holiday!

Mum hated camping, so that was odd.

They argued, and I ate my breakfast.
My sister poked an ant hill, killing most
of the ants before Mum stopped her.

Unsurprisingly, we didn’t go camping
again, and that reminds me of my
favourite Girl Scout camp song….

The Ants Go Marching One by One

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Revised 7/5/23 10:01. Written for SOC Saturday prompt “a childhood song” – AI Digital Artwork is created using Midjourney. Imagery and poems ©Misky 2023