The Bee

author's note:

"Buzz!  Buzz!"
        — Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew


THE BEE

Years ago
while searching for beliefs
that would give our life meaning
I said “yes” to this idea:

a plan exists for each human being.

Yes—the life stories I heard
often seemed to confirm that thought.
Many times the wise design was so clear.

However

when I looked back at my own tracks
I couldn’t even see a vague outline
in that gnarly mess.
No sense, just nonsense.

Finally in frustration
I stood up from the table
and walked in a straight mile
to the clover field—

I would lay myself down and allow
that laid-back expanse
to lull me into a sweet nap.

But the brilliance of the sun
kept my eyes open—
amid the green, I spotted a bee
zigging and zagging and zigging.
No apparent pattern in its avid track
and yet
it found one small white flower after another.
Restlessly relentless—
that bee was me.

I’m still trying to see
the grand design made for me.
However, now I don’t doubt
my life serves a purpose.
Consider this indisputable fact:
mad-active bees load this hive with honey.

mythsteps · The Bee

Searching for my best beliefs: poetry book
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© 2024, Michael R. Patton

The Bee Machine Responds to the Demands of its Spirit

author's note:

Buzz!  Buzz!
          -- Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew


THE BEE MACHINE RESPONDS TO THE DEMANDS OF ITS SPIRIT

In deep quiet I find
someone much more peaceful
than the one I usually am

and yet
I don’t linger down too long--
though I sometimes try
I can’t ignore the desire to rise

but maybe erupt is the better word--

to go a thousand different ways
until overladen with all I’ve taken in
like the bee weighted with pollen.

then I’ll feel the need
to cleanse myself again

in a deep solitary pool of quiet:

striving for a supreme silence
I can never completely reach
because in short time I’ll feel compelled
to leap back up once more.

Some would judge this pattern of behavior
as programmed mechanical action.
In other words:
I’m not just like a bee, I am a bee.

To that idea
I say what my silence has told me:
I’m a bee responding to the demands
of an energy beyond my understanding.

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© 2021, Michael R. Patton

A Beer / A Bee

author's note:

Instead of teaching our children about "the birds and the bees"...

...we should teach them about their bears and their bees.


A BEAR / A BEE

When I saw the news photo
of that man laid out on the ground
after an encounter with a bear...

once again, I felt
that invisible paw press
down hard on my chest--

once again, those memories
swarmed my mind--
the bittersweet times
of my history of love.

However
I've learned through honesty:
I'm the one who claws my heart
and stings my head--
not anyone from the past.

But I just can't stop myself
from stirring the swarm
from poking the wound--

driven by a deep desire for resolution.

But though I analyze
and attack from various angles
I'm repeatedly defeated
in this fight for peace--
so frustrated now, so fatigued.

Solitude can only be temporary solace
when the real war is with yourself
so I might as well surrender my hermitage
and offer myself up--
wounded, troubled, flawed, unresolved
though I be--

once again, I'll be
a honey bear among honey bears--
a honey bee among honey bees!

I will slowly push against
the rusty hinges
until the gate of this cage
breaks.

I must create
new memories for myself--
sweet, bitter, bittersweet--whatever
will add some flavor
to this stale history.

© 2019, Michael R. Patton
what I learned while alone: poetry ebook