Ants (Austria 1914) Poem

Cutting summer grass
Egger-Lienz peasants
with long curved blades of
steel flashing fresh
in the summertime sun
releasing the grass
clover and wild-flower smells
and the dark dank smells of earth
when one swished point
grazes the hidden nest
of ants –
and leaves
its scar upon the ground.

Some stop work
to see them running
crazily around.

The rest
swish on –
bend their knees
dip their shoulders.