Bees

Editor's Note:

Bees' is a Shakespearean sonnet about how Islamic spirituality is reflected in Nature, by San Jose poet Christopher Patrick Nelson.


Bizarre bees buzz in black or golden brown,
Or both in bands, bring pollen-swollen bags,
Uncanny in their purr, their fur like down,
Their flight when minds of science say it drags; 

Odd insect bodies with their compound eyes
Perceive what humans cannot see of heat,
And hang their homes of hexagons so high
As hive minds quiver, queenly creed complete;
But apoidean drones drink nectar soon,
And when the flowers’ fluid yield congeals,
Beekeeper arts confirm Koran when spoons
Of yellow, sweet, and sticky vomit heal. 

So, studied stings and wings will tell it twice,
The God of Nature strange, yet so precise.




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