War of Equals

The ant was scourging on the pavement

And randomly walked into my test-tube

It struggled, wiggled,

Holed through a gap 

Gasping for survival.

Persistent in my attempt,

I chased and tubed it.

She scurried up and down 

And down and up within the tube

Regardless, 

she was dropped into a jar:

Home to a praying mantis

And her performing prop.

The Mantis,

Hanging firmly from the ceiling of the jar

Watched her scurrying neighbour 

With a wicked smile and a mouthwatering delight!

As the ant climbed up the prop,

In a single snatch

The mantis hugged her neighbour close.

The neighbour felt strangled

And gasped for rescue-

She kicked and thrashed

With no avail.

It was an intense battlefield.

She waited patiently,

Holding on to her potential prey;

She waited patiently,

For the moment to free from the clasp.

I waited patiently

Bated breath to witness victory.

1minute grew to 2,

2 minutes grew to 5,

5 minutes grew to 10,

We were all still waiting.

As 10 minutes grew to 12,

In a millionth of a second,

The prey was thrown ‘ptung’

Onto the floor

And in a jiffy, the prey began limping:

Limped and limped she did,

All around the floor of the jar

Circling, squaring and pentagoning around.

The predator was in anguish

Rubbing her jaws with her frontal legs-

Was she tasting blood or cleaning up her hurt jaw?

Now, they set boundaries 

The ant on the floor 

And the mantis clinging onto the ceiling

Never bothering each other-

Both fit, both strong.

Do the fittest survive?

Or do the most patient?