The Potent Remains

Raider ants don’t have queens,
But they do have mutants

Expressing super genes
As nonfunctioning wings

And queenish behavior
Like staying in the nest

And waiting to be fed
Rather than go raiding.

It was assumed these were
Parasites, another

Species masquerading
To exploit the raiders,

But no, they’re just mutants
Unmasking the latent

Genetic instructions
For queens that raider ants

Probably did have once.
Life is conservative

As an auto junkyard
That way. The discarded—

Vestigial tails, eyes in caves,
Cannibal behaviors—

Leave heaps of rusted parts
That sometimes get re-used.

Remember raider ants
When undead politics

Like parasitic queens
Or absolute god kings

Spring back to zombie life.
The potential remains.