It was the year before last that <br />I started to notice it. <br /> <br />Bees wandered into the house <br />then didn’t remember the way back <br /> <br />Bees. Whose sense of direction used to be <br />great than any Indian scout; <br /> <br />as if mankind had lost its most valuable gift <br />-what might that be? <br /> <br />Scientists are still working on the reasons. <br />There were more lost bees last year; <br /> <br />when they’re half exhausted and quieten down, <br />staying on the window pane for a few second more, <br /> <br />I take a jam jar and a piece of paper <br />and take them to the door <br /> <br />talking to them as I did when <br />I buried that baby swallow when I was four; <br /> <br />indecipherable words that I would use <br />to a cat run over in the road, <br /> <br />a child in pain; some sort of sounds <br />of consolation for what’s beyond words anyway <br /> <br />that only music could express. <br />It’s ancient: you should talk to bees; <br /> <br />tell them of all that affects the house, the family; <br />when there’s a death, you put a piece of black cloth <br /> <br />on the hive. In return, they do things for you <br />that are beyond your notice or their explanation. <br /> <br />How can I tell them, we’re so sorry for you, we don’t know, <br />when we do we’ll tell you; it’s probably our fault, <br /> <br />chemicals and stuff. So far this year, only one <br />huge bumble-bee, I couldn’t catch it; <br /> <br />it hid from me. Perhaps they’ve learned <br />whatever it is they had forgotten; <br /> <br />perhaps they risked their lives <br />to warn us: you too have forgotten <br /> <br />something that could kill your species: <br />you too, have forgotten the way back…<br /><br />Michael Shepherd<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/telling-the-bees-2/
