The Story Of Ants Poem by Hassanal Abdullah

The ants got scared
They do not go home
They do not eat daal, nor dried rice
Are not moved by ticklings of the wind
Ants are not going home.

Once molasses
Smell like tobbaco leaf,
dusk's sugarcane,
They no longer eat.
The ants got scared
They do not go home.

If rain, thunder comes to drown them, they drow—
Do not rise in protest.
If the burning heat comes to burn them, they burn
If still alive—dig earth again.

'Look at these ants
Standing up with hands and feet up.'
Why not eating?
Why not eating?
Why not going home?
Ants are in meditation all through midday.
They do not go home.



Translated from the Bengali by Nazrul Islam Naz