Poetry Friday--Bees

Since the world is abuzz with bees and blooming trees, I thought I'd share some bee poems today. The first is by John Ciardi:

Bees and Morning Glories

Morning glories, pale as a mist drying,
fade from the heat of the day, but already
hunchback bees in pirate pants and with peg-leg
hooks have found and are boarding them.You can read the rest here.

I never would have thought of comparing a bee to a pirate! Genius, pure genius!

The next by D.H. Lawrence:

Song ("Love has crept...")

Love has crept into her sealed heart
As a field bee, black and amber,
Breaks from the winter-cell, to clamber
Up the warm grass where the sunbeams start.

Love has crept into her summery eyes,
And a glint of colored sunshine brings
Such as his along the folded wings
Of the bee before he flies.
The rest is here.

Ah, I'm sure you've seen a bee on a flower and noticed, too, the "colored sunshine" on its wings--lovely.

This one is by Katherine Mansfield:

Voices of the Air

But then there comes that moment rare
When, for no cause that I can find,
The little voices of the air
Sound above all the sea and wind.

The sea and wind do then obey
And sighing, sighing double notes
Of double basses, content to play
A droning chord for the little throats—

The little throats that sing and rise
Up into the light with lovely ease
And a kind of magical, sweet surprise
To hear and know themselves for these—

For these little voices: the bee, the fly,
The leaf that taps, the pod that breaks,
The breeze on the grass-tops bending by,
The shrill quick sound that the insect makes.

Spring is time for reacquainting yourself with little voices, so make sure you get outside!

I certainly would be remiss if I didn't include at least one Emily Dickinson bee poem. She is the queen of bee poems!

The pedigree of honey
Does not concern the bee;
A clover, any time, to him
Is aristocracy.

Anastasia is the hostess of this week's Poetry Friday Round-Up, so buzz on over to Picture Book of the Day.

Have a BEE-you-tee-ful weekend!