| Though wounds were great, and respite scant
|
| Life clung to that wretched plant
|
| Its skin was scarred, its leaves were ripped
|
| Damned to wait, as roots were fixed
|
| For every hour, in hopeless fear
|
| It felt them leave then draw back near
|
| The insects drudged without a sound
|
| And tore the plant down to the ground
|
| Among them, one drone like any other
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| Stole away to meet another
|
| Far from the swarm, the two had hidden
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| Their unborn child, which was forbidden
|
| Spiteful mind and eyes unseen
|
| Betrayed unto to a ruthless Queen
|
| Condemned — the two would die alone
|
| Their egg was cast on to the stones
|
| An offering to slake the earth
|
| Despite its lot, the child emerged
|
| From hatching breath, its life was dire
|
| In every dawn, the sky brought fire
|
| It sought its kind, and as it roamed
|
| Out of sight and far from home
|
| A pack could see that, left alive
|
| The child would lead them to the hive
|
| Behind the hatchling, like a storm
|
| The giants fell upon the swarm
|
| With hungry teeth and gleeful hearts
|
| Those hunters pulled the Queen apart |