The Ant Empire

on the side of
an old mango tree
the ants built their empire
of
soft sand and
porous soil where they
hid their Queen
where the soldiers
heavily guard
where every worker
brings the food

one night
a heavy rain falls
and flood comes
and the empire
in an instant
is gone

the Queen is nowhere to be found
the soft sands level like a desert
the porous soil nothing but mud
the soldiers all dead.