Danielle McMahon

The Scene of a Strange Migration

After a full-page advertisement for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in National Geographic, August 1953.

Little black ants &
mouthfuls of pink candy fluff:
how does medical science explain
a slender cedar?

Today, for instance,
an aerial highway
against the moonlit sky –
a heightened sensitivity.

Not a disease, but a
strange disorder
disappearing amidst
the upper branches

littered with dead &
dying ants.

About the Author

Danielle McMahon is the author of four poetry chapbooks and two micro-chaps. Most recently, her micro-chap rowhouse song is part of the 2025 Ghost City Press Summer Series. Her chapbook irl is forthcoming from Stanchion Books in 2026. Find her on Bluesky @dehm000.bsky.social and online at d-mcmahon-writes.net.