Stressed young bees that are forced to grow up too fast could largely account for disastrous declines in populations of the insects around the world, research suggests. Photograph: Qmul/PA --The Guardian, February 10, 2015 |
At first, it’s a funny thought:
worker bees leaning back from desks,
loosening neckties, rubbing that ache
between two disco ball eyes.
Drones discreetly opening
opaque bottles of pollen pills.
And everywhere the hexagonal:
the creaking swivel chair,
keys on the keyboard.
The ceiling tiles overhead.
Even love is a six leg scramble
with one winner.
No wonder the young fly out
into the geometry of the world
before rain is artillery,
the wind a map to home –
where death stings just once.
Gus Peterson lives in Maine alongside the Kennebec and works in sales. Work has appeared various journals online and The Aurorean. Recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize, his first chapbook, When The Poetry's Gone, is forthcoming this spring from Encircle Publications.