Arden G Thompson

Watching Ants Arden G Thompson

The poems in Watching Ants fall into two groups - poems from the heart of a student and those from a teacher. That is why Watching Ants is divided into five sections alternating between student and teacher voices.

By far the greatest number of poems speak from the heart of the learner. That is why students relate to them so well; but so do adults, which makes one suspect that the child we were is still very much alive in the "grown-up" we have become.

Over the years, it has been found that poetry helps people understand complex thoughts in a fraction of the time that it takes them to comprehend the same thoughts expressed in multiple words. Painful thoughts can be expressed in very simple words with people accepting them as truth, because poetry reaches them not as words from an outsider but as words from a part of themselves - albeit a long forgotten part.

The artist holds up a picture frame and invites the observer or reader to enter themselves. Watching Ants will give teachers and parents an immediate and compelling way to talk directly with students using words immediately understood by all.