Tuesday poem: What I see is not forever
February 20, 2017
What I see is not forever
Around the world we hear
that sweetness is dwindling;
at least the bee-borne sort.
They’re in my garden though,
have claimed the bird bath
as bee bath, sipping relief
from forty harsh degrees.
Colonies are collapsing.
Sudden buzzless fields,
quiet stingless grasses —
husk bodies whisper warnings.
Yet here, this weird abundance,
writing a million hovering lines.
How long? I ask the bees.
But bees know neither science
nor faith, except, perhaps,
that this shallow bath
holds water, and may yet
cup a cool tomorrow or two.
PS Cottier
Read about hive collapse syndrome: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/australian-scientists-may-have-solved-the-mystery-of-bee-colony-collapse-20150209-13a6ss.html
I am always frustrated by the kind of comment to articles about climate change that says ‘Well it’s cold in [insert locale] now so global warming is nothing to worry about!’. This got me thinking that the abundance of bees in my garden may be something that could disappear quite quickly; that one person’s eyes are never enough to give a comprehensive view.
Whether the fate of the bees is directly related to climate change is something I don’t know, but their dwindling numbers is a worrying phenomenon.
PS Cottier 
I’m glad your garden has them. Mine doesn’t. 😦
Interesting, Rosemary, that they are not in all gardens. I wonder why.
Inspired, inspiring stuff. I recall reading a series of poems on climate change some time back: by and large attempting to say in verse things which have been said more effectively in prose. But here is a poem which speaks of it as a poem should 🙂
Thank you; I am trying to write s number of poems about climate change and the two dangers are being simply didactic OR just celebrating beauty without conveying the sense of loss and danger.
Both risks are very real, but I don’t see any way around them if the need to speak is urgent. Good luck.