Last of the Leafcutters, by G. L. Walters

Below Us, photography by Jake Huang (Canada) contemporary

Last of the Leafcutters
 
Cold rain pelted our column.
Water spilled through the trees,
raining between storms.
We followed the scouts’ 
ghostly trace
by primordial art.
               We swerved,
               and back, over 
               and around obstacles, 
ever marching with a hum. 
As one.
 
Our exhortation 
from home 
had been “succeed.”
We held high hopes, 
stirring hopes,
beneath liminal;
we were a hundred feet 
of skein strung forth
earnestly crawling
over a dying 
forest floor.
 
A rivulet surged, sweeping 
away a group of our foragers. 
                         The 
                 column 
         closed,
erasing any sign of loss. 
We knew millions waited 
our return, 
and others like us. 
Losses were delible quanta. 
We marched. 
                           A deranged forager veered off 
                 misleading others, 
          yet soon sensing deviation, 
  the others fell back into line. 
 
And marched. 
 
The scouts’ scent grew 
stronger; recognition 
spread like 

​ 
 
a piquant rumour.
In other summers,
we would have stayed
in the nest in such 
weather. Forced
out, the rain at least
attenuated the terror
of desiccation. 
(One yet could 
be washed away.) 
Forward.
The scouts’ 
proximity was strong. 
signaling a portentous
congregation. 
The scouts rarely gathered.
When the scarce plants 
were finally visible, 
a quiver 
rippled the line. 
Gloriously, the plants were 
more than we could carry.
The scouts danced
over the leaves strewn,
thick and unblown 
in the damp.
 
Work commenced 
with iron mandibles.
The leaves were cut
for carry and entry 
into the fungus gardens. 
Within minutes, we 
were turned about,
marching home.
Each of us bearing 
multiples of our weight.
Heroes of an instant. 
Cold rain pelted the column,
making the leaves heavy.
We marched uncaring. 
Exultantly.

G. L. Walters

​G. L. Walters is a sojourner, holding a J.D. from Cornell, an M.M.A.S. from the School of Advanced Military Studies, an M.A. in English from SNHU, and is writing as a candidate for the M.F.A. at Lindenwood University.