The newest members of the colony
    stretch fresh legs from soft white larvae,
        the infant.

All labour for the greater good,
    standing guard around the brood and queen,
        the participant.

One emerges bent, antennae lost,
    still striving to belong within the swarm,
        the mutant.

Wisdom threads through every caste,
    from weavers to the tireless leaf-cutters,
        the consultant.

Before the magistrates’ mandibles
    stands a trembling plea for mercy,
        the defendant.

Declared unfit, cast from the nest,
    it wanders through the undergrowth—
        the immigrant.

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Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

Frenemies

Nothing worse than a wolf befriending sheep
But remember that you’ve been the wolf too
When the bad friend was worthwhile to keep
That’s when the frenemy became you