Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith

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Poem: "The Prairie in Central Park"

This poem was inspired by a prompt from red_trillium.  It is presented as today's second freebie poem, courtesy of new prompter bodlon and new donor Christian Young.

Now, the bumblebee in this poem is a New Yorker, with a vocabulary and attitude to match, so I'm putting this below a cut.  People unfond of coarse language may prefer to read something else.  I sympathize with the poor bee's predicament -- but I consider the poetry student the winner of this altercation.  Also, the quoted lines are by Emily Dickenson.


The Prairie in Central Park


A student sat on the grass,
reading poetry in Central Park.

"To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,"
she intoned solemnly,
looking around for the ingredients.

A bumblebee blundered from one white flower to the next,
its tiny wings propelling it into impossible flight.

"One clover, and a bee,
And revery."
The student gazed at the bee.
"Hey, you -- we're making a prairie!"

The bumblebee turned to her and said,
"Lady, we're in New York fucking City!
Do you see any prairie  around here?  No!  This is a LAWN.
All I have to eat is clover and frankly it tastes like exhaust fumes.
So get the fuck off my dinner table,
before I shove that book up your ass!"

The student took her book and moved
to a section of lawn devoid of angry bumblebees.

Then she finished softly,
"The revery alone will do,
If bees are few."

Tags: bleu, cyberfunded creativity, fantasy, fishbowl, nature, poem, poetry, reading, writing
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  • 25 comments
>>I've tried suggesting to my family that I should try apiculture, but they're strangely opposed.<<

Many people are. Perhaps you could find somewhere to practice that would be away from your family?

>>Do not fear the bee. <<

In fact, bees seem to dislike people who fear them. Apparently the fear pheromones smell bad to bees. Bees prefer people who are calm.

>>Just...well, don't fuck with the bee and you'll be fine.<<

I like that about bees. Most of them (except for the insane Africanized ones) are not aggressive but actually rather laid-back. An armed society is a polite society, seems to be their opinion. They could sting me, but they don't. I could hose them with pesticides, but I don't. I provide them with flowers and they pollinate my fruit blossoms. I prefer symbiotic relationships to combative ones.
My pear tree agrees.

As do my plans to add more bee-friendly flowers to the front garden this year.
My mature fruit trees are a pear, a crabapple, and a pie cherry. I have some others that are still saplings. Then there are the berry canes. I have herbs and other bee-friendly flowers too.

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