Midday the desert’s surface has climbed
Not even the tiniest patch of shade
Few have strayed too far from their shelters
Collapsing from exhaustion under the Saharan sun

Saharan silver ants
Burst out of their nests
Into the blazing noonday sun
Resilient to the heat

They march around scavenging for food to eat
For all of the colony to survive
Or just enough to raise another like themselves
As they go on their lonely hunt for food

They simply do not walk
Instead they are like a beachgoer who forgets their flip-flops
Alternately sprinting and hip-hopping
Across the burning desert floor

Some may find dead and dying creatures
Maybe even healthy prey such as a caterpillar or two
Returning with 15 times their weight or even 20 too
After an exhausted hunt they scoot back into their hole, pulling grains of sand behind it to close