Heart Of The Swarm

When I got back this night, I was greeted by a rather spectacular sight: Thousands of flying ants had decided to swarm around the lights at the apartment block opposite mine. They probably started swarming due to the heavy downpour earlier today. It was quite something. Intimidating enough that most passers by were quite reluctant to pass through.

Naturally, I saw this as a photo op too good to give up, so I grabbed my camera and stood in their midst to take some shots. Strangely, the insects were quite reluctant to get in my hair and nostrils and all that. They barely touched me. If anything, they started swarming towards the other lights, leaving me with a dwindling pool of subjects. This seemed to be quite the opposite for most other people, who were frantically swatting bugs from their bodies. I figure the bugs thought I was a horrible nutter who was inclined to eat them or something. Despite the rather intimidating appearance of the swarm, my impression was significantly different. It was almost like being in the presence of fairies, with wings fluttering to a unified cadence, illuminated by the warm lighting. I don't think I've ever been in the midst of so many beating wings.

But the insects also reminded me of the ephemerality of life. These are due to be dead by the next morning. All the evidence of their existence are their half-eaten carcasses and wings littering the floor. As my friend so succinctly put it: Having sex, then dying. In the big picture, humans are very much like that. What makes a human? Strip away philosophy and learning and achievements, and you find a swarming creature that lives only to reproduce...