when i was a child
there was a row of bee houses
in front of my own house.
they would circle
around their little planet
like tiny asteroid belts.
i've been stung by them many times
as most children are when they are young
and foolish
and the first time i cried
as i swiped the stinger out of my arm with
my mother's expired EBT card.
she assured me that it wouldn't come back;
it couldn't, because as soon as bees sting
they crawl away somewhere
and die.
i haven't given it much thought
until recently.
do they know that they're going to die
before inflicting that lethal blow?
apparently
they are programmed in their very genetics
to protect the hive
at all costs.
i relate to
driving myself to the point of no return
for a higher power that couldn't care less for me.
i have my fair share of experience with
destroying myself for someone
that in reality was just
another tiny star in the multiverse of things
awaiting me.
i didn't know any better.
the Earth will keep spinning.
the colony will churn out another batch of larvae
just as America will churn out another batch of soldiers
to lose.
still, the Earth keeps spinning
and it always will.
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the archives - a poetry portfolio
PoetryA light buzzing distracts you from whatever you're doing. There is an old, weathered monitor on a table next to you. You could have sworn that it had just *appeared* out of thin air. Out of curiosity, you stare at it for a moment. The screen flicke...
