The Ants came and we strived to annihilate them – they were in the way of everything, and once they came, they were relentless. Getting rid of ants takes more science than guile. Amidst the quiet lives of humans, the ants come and go, their highway is filled with the traffic of busy workers doing purposeful things. Pausing every so often to keep in touch. We would be shamed in comparison. And yet, despite these attributes of industry and discipline, much admired by man, we are in a struggle and conflict, David and Goliath, Jack and the Beanstalk – two worlds that cannot exist together – onto death would the vanquished be consigned to, and without much of a whimper.

In any case, the mythical power of the ‘concoction’ now bears down on the workers like an unsuspected dragnet – and now – they are caught in a frenzy of the Siren, like sheep to the slaughter, not quite understanding the guile of man, as science defeats without much of a after-thought.

I could not but look at the unskilled imagery, stark and blurry from less than ideal photography, frozen in a melted Kafkaesque drama, like the nuclear epi-centre in a mist of congealed bytes.

Tomorrow we will return to our lives, comforted once again in the privacy of our sugary existence, undisturbed and unperturbed, yet not knowing what the final scenes of destruction were – of empty nests, and hollow exoskeletons, relegated to the dust of the earth, and not even a history to record their passing.

Lumix GX85, M Zuiko 75-300, Raynox M 1.5 July 2020

See https://www.thesimplereflections.com/the-breathtaking-journey-up-mount-bromo-java-indonesia/