SUMMER DREAM/ Poetry Potluck #31

"THESE ARE A FEW of my favorite things..."  Can't get that song out of my head...although I sure will try so that I can get to POETRY POTLUCK #31.  And one of my favorites is....


SUMMER DREAM

Hum a tune to me, July,
brush a peach
a plum
a cherry
against my waiting lips.
I will share the taste
with the eager hummingbird.

Let honey drip
its coy sweetness
onto my finger tips.

Redbreasts and bees
alight on my hand,

as flowers come into bud
for summer's birth.


copyright/all rights reserved/ 2011


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THE FAIRGROUND/ Poetry Potluck #29

                             Fairground/ Dora Carrington/ 1921


THIS WEEK'S prompt for Poetry Potluck #29 asks us to feature Photographs, Memories, and Nostalgia.  Seems to overlap for me...


THE FAIRGROUND

The barker's pitch
hums across the fairground,
pulls me in.
Just stand there he says, pose
right there in front of the paper tree.

You won't feel the August heat.
Smile for me.

A field of wheat wraps around the park
like flaxen hair,
a painted bunch of pears and peaches
on a backdrop
fools a bee buzzing.

Don't worry
about the children running by.
Smile pretty now.

As I look at the early moonrise
I take an apple from my pocket.
The barker snaps that shot,
gives it to me.

I decided to go on without you.
So long ago, still I remember
a spider underfoot
and I let it run free.


copyright/all rights reserved/ 2011


http://www.minblu.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/lynxny

RED BEES...

A young lady has been raising bees in Red Hook, Brooklyn.  Keep that word, Red, in mind. 

Since May, her bees have been returning to their hives looking quite different, with odd stripes of color where a mellow touch of amber usually showed through the membrane of their stomachs.  What always was a honey color, suddenly became a brazen red.  The honeycombs were also strangely red. 

It was thought at first that the bees were hanging around some sumac, or an odd tree or two.  But then a friend suggested (being funny) that maybe the bees were lounging around Dell's Maraschino Cherries Company over on Dikeman Street, in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

It seemed impossible to believe that the bees would travel a good distance, bypassing mother nature, to fill up on junk food.  Hmm, sounds a bit familiar.  We humans seem to favor overlooking the natural for artificial anything!
But bees, too?  What's the buzz here?

An apiculturist found, through samples taken from the bees, that Red Dye # 40, was the same dye used in the maraschino cherries.  And some folks came forth with the news that lots and lots of bees were hanging around Dell's.

It seems that bees will dip into any sweet liquid in their flight path.  It's thought that the bees were slurping up the runoff at the factory.  The question became if the bees would abandon the bright red, abundant sweetness, for some natural nectar.  Perhaps putting a screen around the cherry factory might help to prevent the foragers from hanging around, which is proving to be a huge nuisance! 

It remains to be seen if the best real nectar can be a match for this hot tamale red, excessively sweet, artificially enhanced treat.  Because the yield from this last summer did indeed produce a honey, bright red, that was sort of metallic, and too sweet.  The upside is, that in the evening, the bees glowed a lovely crimson.


Original source: New York Times, 11/30/10


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A Little Haiku...

ADD A LITTLE HAIKU TO YOUR LIFE

Droning bee strokes wings

on petal, flies from orchid...

stinger pointing out. 

Ice cubes bounce in glass,

bubbles rise like pink balloons...

my mouth tastes gaiety.

c copyright/all rights reserved/2010

http://www.minblu.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/lynxny

Apis Mellifera

HONEY BEE
X
I would give up a day of my life
to go where the bee goes.
To sip the nectar of milk thistle,
hear the sigh of petals stirring
as the cluster welcomes me
to sink within its pollen.
x
I need to taste the virgin wine
but daylight dims.
x
The approaching night
and a mockingbird plan my demise.
x
My wings risk the gamble
as I powder myself in clouds of dust
to fly, to fly...
x
I hear the Queen singing,
come back Apis Mellifera,
don't bend to the assassin.
x
And I race away enraptured
to set my gift before the throne.
x
x
c copyright/ all rights reserved
x
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