Bees

[BobBradshaw]

Bees


I first worked in the nursery,
tenderly stroking
my sibling larvae.

My next job
was to dispose
of rubbish,
family slumped
on the hive's
floor.

O my dead sisters...
"Hurry," I was instructed.
"There are deadlines
to meet."

With help I pushed them out
through the hive's
entrance,
an omen of what
was to come:

a plague of moisture
slipped into our world.

Desperate,
we swarmed.
For days we clung
to a branch,
covering our Queen,

warming her
as our sisters
on the perimeter
saw their wings stiffen,
their bodies whiten
to a pale frost.

Papery,
they flew off like petals,
like shredded documents,
their records
lost.

[Michael (MV)]

Workshop re the close -

Papery petals
they flew off
like shredded documents,
their records
lost.



Michael (MV)