In Memory Of ...

The Ant Explorer
by C Michael James Dennis

Once a little sugar ant made up his mind to roam
To fare away far away, far away from home.
He had eaten all his breakfast, and he had his ma's consent
To see what he should chance to see and here's the way he went

Up and down a fern frond, round and round a stone,
Down a gloomy gully where he loathed to be alone,
Up a mighty mountain range, seven inches high,
Through the fearful forest grass that nearly hid the sky,

Out along a bracken bridge, bending in the moss,
Till he reached a dreadful desert that was feet and feet across.
'Twas a dry, deserted desert, and a trackless land to tread,
He wished that he was home again and tucked-up tight in bed.

His little legs were wobbly, his strength was nearly spent,
And so he turned around again and here's the way he went
Back away from desert lands feet and feet across,
Back along the bracken bridge bending in the moss,

Through the fearful forest grass shutting out the sky,
Up a mighty mountain range seven inches high,
Down a gloomy gully, where he loathed to be alone,
Up and down a fern frond and round and round a stone.

A dreary ant, a weary ant, resolved no more to roam,
He staggered up the garden path and popped back home.

One of my favourite poems which I first chanced upon during Voice Production class in NIE, where we had to dramatise a poem as a group. Great fun then!

This talks about an ant's journey, much like what life is...where we leave the safe havens and plunge into something totally new, totally wild, just to satisfy that wanderlust in us. Perhaps there's more to it? Perhaps.

I used to dramatise with my class, read it in class. Thereafter, made the kids make a little map explicitly showing the route that the ant took, and made ant models too (One clean ant for when it started its journey, another dirty one on the flip side of the ant for when it resolved no more to roam.) As their group dramatised the poem, ther other member was to take the ant for a walk along the path that they had drawn.

Amazing what some groups could do, the pictures just displayed so much colour and imagination. More often than not...just with a brief explanation and some photographs to mark out the locations that the ant took...the class took over with their creativity and drew like never before! Others just dramatised the poem so well, marching up the mighty mountain range, seven inches high and so on and so forth. Somewhat like a little Hi5 show.

Each group was unique in what they presented, some with much zeal and vigour...others were shy and reserved. But...they did it, they lived out the journey that the sugar ant took and after which, had to write a short write-up on how the ant felt before taking the trip and after taking the trip.A little experiential learning class...everyone laughed, some sulked, immaculately and beautifully drawn pictures, others plain. It didn't matter, what mattered was that the sugar ant got to live in them for that little while.

Fly, imagination...soar to the sky.

I miss that, miss my classes today...very much. In memory of the classes which I took, thank you for being a part of Mr Lee's life. It's certainly been heartfelt and you (all of you) will hold a special place in my heart.