Remember the Bees
My Hometown Poem #100
When you feel you Cannot carry the load Even one more day Remember the bees. There she is today Lighting on the dahlia and the daisy Swarming on the sunflower Enveloped in sweet perfume Darting from space to place Collecting pollen. The task Of the female worker bee Is to gather food. She is not pollinating. She is foraging for protein. She lands on a flower And wets the dry pollen With juices from her mouth. She packs it onto the stiff hairs Of her hind legs. She packs and packs her pollen basket Until it is full. Sometimes she collects the fine particles Accidentally Brushing up against a flower. Is she exhausted from her labor? Do her tiny wings ache When she returns to the hive? The flower needs The bees the bats the butterflies and moths To create new life. She requires their help To move the sticky pollen Hidden deep inside her core With their very bodies. It takes the chain. The chance meeting. The momentary connection. The bee flits from flower to flower Bloom to bloom Carrying with her The golden dust The essence of fertility. She does not know She is indispensable. She does not know She is transcendent. All she knows Is that she is gathering, working. She is weary, so weary From the weight of her precious cargo But she keeps flying And packing and giving Even when she does not know why. What do you gather as you move From place to space. What do you leave Collecting and walking Moving and talking Stockpiling and packing Moving air, moving dust. You are an essential piece of a cycle. You may not comprehend That you are divine But you are Part of a miracle Yet to be revealed A blossom yet to unfold. When you feel you Cannot carry the load Even one more day Remember the bees.
Love this ode to bees! 🐝 Have always been amazed by them. I knew a woman administrator who wore a bee pin everyday- reminding her that they should NOT be able to fly and yet . . .
So touching. When my shoulders ache, I will remember those tiny wings!