~

They cluster in order

To gather the nectar.

 

The goal

      For the whole –

            Survive!

 

Each one,

      Alone;

En masse,

      At home.

 

They strive

      That the hive

            Will then thrive.

 

Colony rectors;

Each one, protector;

 

For the six weeks,

      At least!

            They’re alive.

 

And six weeks,

      No longer!

Lest one becomes stronger

 

And she breaks,

      On her own,

            From her tribe.

 

Where then would we be?

      With a free living bee!

Which thinks

      The instincts

           Are jive?

 

In three years,

      All done!

The bee (and we) gone –

 

At what cost

      Was the loss

            Of her freedom?

 

Six weeks

      In a Garden

            Of Eden?

~

 

 

©2014, Marvin Welborn

17 March 2014.