Seeing the Xylocopa bite the base of these flowers
Fills me with the smell of nectar
When I learned to pull the florets from the heads
Of sweet clover,
Taste that barely sweet liquid before it is reduced
By bees for food for their young.
And I should be filled with good comforting thoughts
Of my innocent times and my first crush on a girl.
But standing among the Xylocopa all I can think of
Is hurting you without thinking
When I wanted to fit in with the boys.
And suddenly I smell a nectar
Better suited to the flies.
This is my submission for this week's Poetry Thursday and this week's theme of food. Not exactly a food poem; a more foody poem is at my poetry site: http://staff.jccc.net/pdecell/personal/poetrywind/meditation.html
Neither of these are comfort food type poems. If you want comfort today, look elsewhere. The Xylocopa poem is new as of this morning and the trigger for the poem came yesterday when I was at the greenhouse where I teach taking pictures and there were all these carpenter bees(Xylocopa virginica) some of which were doing what this one was doing-biting the bases of flowers to get at the nectar and that reminded me of this little thing I did when I was small-picking a bunch of florets from clover and eating the bases to taste the sweet nectar.
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10 comments:
"But standing among the Xylocopa all I can think of/Is hurting you without thinkingWhen I wanted to fit in with the boys." I like this turn here - adds so much depth to the poem. I also like the rhythm of the lines. Nicely done!
Funny though,
Some poems just write themselves, but I think you are right to zero in on those lines.
Flowers and bees seem very romantic, but of course there is as much savagery there as anywhere else in nature. I enjoyed both the poem and the photo.
Nectar, yes, that's sufficiently foody for today's theme. And I can only echo twitches' smart appreciations--exactly where the poem turns, tilts, vibrates for me.
Yes, this is definitely a food poem. Like the little drop of honey that forms when you behead a honeysuckle flower...and lay it on your tongue. Only more so. Good job.
Beheading a honey suckle...now there is a line. I have never tried doing that. Should be good since honeysuckle flowers have lots of nectar...and in my garden it so happens they are in bloom.
Great poem! I love how your poetry mixes the scientific wth the poetic--it adds so much depth to your work.
Very tender and such unique imagery! Lovely work.
take care~dale
Thanks Dale!
Wait a minute! Flatasapancake? ...that's about 200 miles west of here in Kansas. ;-)
re: your linked food poem, ugh! The imagery is very well done - it had me squirming here! I like how you 'dissect' the topic with such cold scientific rationalism.
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