Tiny insects, small and brown,
Crept into a Southern town.
In the Alabama sun
They dug their way in one by one
And basking in the noonday heat
Began to search for food to eat.
It won’t help to lock the doors—
The Fire Ants have reached our shores.

“They can’t harm the likes of us!
They’re just insects, what’s the fuss?”
But without making any sounds,
The ants begin to build their mounds.
They spew forth like from volcanoes
And eat up Mr. Smith’s tomatoes.
Though now insecticides do win,
The Fire Ants have settled in.

Ever so their hunger grows,
Their birthrate never, ever slows.
Gardens will not sate their taste;
To other bugs they now lay waste.
They eat a snake, and moments later,
Eat a baby alligator!
A local farmer soon takes note
The Fire Ants attack his goat!

As their populations soar
The townsfolk gear themselves for war.
“Death to ants!” the people cheer.
“Who’s the fool that let them here?
Together we will surely win
Over armies hymenopteran!”
They torch the mounds from east to west—
The Fire Ants are not impressed.

In the White House, word has reached
Of homes attacked, defenses breached!
But at the news they laugh out loud:
“You mean to say a little crowd
Of ants is troubling you terribly?
We don’t have time for this, you see!”
That’s the governmental word:
Fire Ants? It’s quite absurd.

A city skyline looms ahead
Where Fire Ants now march instead.
They dig below the busy street,
Beneath the million stomping feet.
Here they birth a brand-new queen,
Undetected, unforeseen!
Things are looking grim at best:
The Fire Ants have made a nest.

Seeking sugar, ants did roam
Into a stately old folks’ home.
Crumbs were scattered here and there,
In the beds, the rugs, their hair.
After gobbling these with glee,
They ate a lady drinking tea!
People are so very sweet:
The Fire Ants like human meat.

Ants surge upward, trillions strong,
As people scream “No, this is wrong!”
The President tried to ignore
The people hammering on his door—
“The ants are still a threat, they say?
Just give it time; they’ll go away.”
Beware, for now the cities fall:
The Fire Ants will eat us all!

People flee the southern states
And their fear—it soon abates.
They think they’ve left the worst behind,
Out of sight, and out of mind.
But the ants creep northward more,
Leaving places drenched in gore.
Let them come, for come they will:
The Fire Ants are hungry still.

Disaster strikes the country’s heart!
The capital is torn apart!
Ants on Wall Street creeping near
Set alight a world of fear!
The President, with jaws agape,
Could not get out and escape!
Look on, country, and despair:
The White House is a Fire Ant lair!

The nation, then, has sealed its fate.
Help does come, but comes too late.
And so with a sad lament,
The people flee the continent.
Humankind has lost the war
With a more aggressive carnivore.
No one is left to lock the doors:
The Fire Ants now rule our shores!