The Day the Ants Applauded Me - funny children's poem by Daniel Gauss about being able to choose the emotions we feel

My children's poem The Day the Ants Applauded Me was published in this fine journal of children's literature: BLJ issue 14 by BALLOONS Lit. Journal - Issuu

You can find it on page 35.

Here is a copy of the poem:

The Day the Ants Applauded Me (published in Balloons Lit. Journal)

By Daniel Gauss 

I stepped on a snail and heard it go crunch

But 10 minutes later the ants had their lunch.

Poor little snail could not have seen

That my clumsy old self did not want to be mean.

I was just in a hurry to catch my ride,

Not seeing the guy, I did not change my stride.

My heart was broken when I heard the shell crack,

I wish time went two ways and I could go back.

But happy, happy as they could be,

All the dear ants applauded me.

“I’m no hero,” I said to their gathering throng,

“Indeed, I feel I did something so wrong.”

“Do not feel so guilty,” the queen ant said,

“It’s much better for us that we found this guy dead.

We’re not into killing or chewing alive,

We wait for such accidents and on them we thrive.

You killed one fat snail, and we know how you grieve,

But please share our joy in this meal we receive.”

So a lot of people enjoy reading the poem and think it is clever and funny, but when I ask them what it means to them, they are not sure.

Well, to me, it is about our right and capacity to choose our own emotions and how we are going to respond to events in the world or things that happen to us.

The person in the poem clearly has two choices: he can feel guilty for accidentally stepping on a snail, or he can feel joy and celebrate with the ants.

Which choice would you make?