Watch/listen to Kevin read “Bee Mine”
Bee Mine To Leah – Christmas 2022 Of all life on earth, only humans imagine all life on earth as themselves. No beehive’s been found adorned with paintings of cute bee-like humans in attitudes of industrious devotion. This postcard of a portly male drone pulling down a heart-flower for his beloved beneath a pearl-rose moon in daylight—this utterly non-evolutionary gesture has caught his companion by surprise. There’s no nectar in there, I hear her say. He knows that, right? She hesitates between flying off for some more promising flower patch or partner and searching through all her instincts for how to accept this offering. “Delicious,” she buzzes, probiscis making the fake slurps of children at a tea party. “You’re amazing,” she waggle-dances, legs bedazzled with silver-gold glitter for pollen. “What would I ever do without you?”
See a sample of the book
Intro, TOC, and 10 of the 40+ poems
Notes on “Bee Mine”
Backstory
I got Leah this card from my sister’s bee-themed shop in SLC. Here’s the card from the artist’s Instagram:
Form & Techniques
It’s a jaunty free verse ekphrastic poem, ekphrastic being a Greek word essentially meaning “description” and referring to poems written about pieces of visual art.
Explanations
One measure of true love is when you graciously accept someone else’s completely sincere but utterly impractical gesture of devotion—and then, a step not featured in this poem, gently and patiently help them to offer something based on greater attentiveness to you and the wider context. This poem suits Leah because she’s good at this and very funny as well.
Buy the Book
Available from Greg Kofford Books. $9.95
And check out the rest of Greg Kofford Books’ fantastic catalog:
