BEE REAVE
[it is a custom to inform the bees about their keeperÕs death]

veiled
she picks her slow arthritic way
                                    where nettle
                                             hogweed
                                                  bramble
                                              snag and twist
beneath a furnaced sky

                           and

                           still

dry bleach seeded grasstraw
                               yields
if only reverence
and sombre on this blistering day
when life melts
and crumbles into ash


and you         would be forgiven
                   for thinking folly
                   at this   final   act
once promised
now              this compose widows chore

she

whispers   by the bee box


                                     whispers   by the bee box


whispers   by the bee box


                                                 whispers   by the bee box






                   
BEE STINGS
       [Beestinsg is the name given to the first milk
              drawn from a cow after parturition]


                        oozing

              this wrenched udder
  
                        ripped

               from the bee cow

                        pours

                  venomous milk

                      through

                         one

                    barbed teat

                    now we are

                       aware

                    of the pain

                          of

                                         separation




BEE ATIFIC
[Making blessed, blissful]

I too have done this
Òas   it   must   be doneÓ
and
glazed with serenity
eyed in a rising mead moon
raised aloft
each new come brood
and
blessed

I too have done this
Òas   it   must   be doneÓ
and
in milkwashed love
watched bees bubble like foam
from infant lips
as a gift given
and
blessed

I too have done this
Òas   it   must   be doneÓ
and
in praise of Plato
skyclad in DianaÕs presence
felt utter joy in being
waxed precious
and
blessed

I too have done this
Òas   it   must   be doneÓ
and
awakened at dawn
with eyes honey glued
and amber crystaled
risen fresh like dew
and
blessed


         © Richard Mais 2004