Lessons from a Bee

I, Allison Young, am pleased to bring you Carmina's very first post. We are now officially commencing our weekly poems! For most of you, this is your first time to visit, so please explore! There's not much to see yet, but read all about us and link back if you like what you read.


And now for the first poem.

Lessons from a Bee


Walking by an apple tree, 

I came upon a honey bee.

She rubbed her legs and flicked her wings

with the charm of all small things,

then drank the nectar of a bloom

within its airy petal-room.

I bent and watched, beneath the tree,

my happy black and yellow bee,

until she fell up to the air

and floated off without a care.

I thought about her for a while,

wand’ring down a grassy aisle.

I should have pondered on my ills—
on burning hearts and clashing wills;

yet I could not rid my mind

of this small bee and of her kind.

If I could be as meek as they,

I’d drink from flowers every day;

and men perhaps would learn from me

what I’ve learned from this little bee.

Allison Young, 2012