Telling the Bees

    by Deborah Digges

    It fell to me to tell the bees，

    though I had wanted another duty—

    to be the scribbler at his death，

    there chart the third day's quickening.

    But fate said no， it falls to you

    to tell the bees， the middle daughter.

    So it was written at your birth.

    I wanted to keep the fire， working

    the constant arranging and shifting

    of the coals blown flaring¹，

    my cheeks flushed red，

    my bed laid down before the fire，

    myself anonymous² among the strangers

    there who'd come and go.

    But destiny said no. It falls

    to you to tell the bees， it said.

    I wanted to be the one to wash his linens³，

    boiling the death-soiled sheets，

    using the waters for my tea.

    I might have been the one to seal

    his solitude⁴ with mud and thatch⁵ and string，

    the webs he parted every morning，

    the hounds' hair combed from brushes，

    the dust swept into piles with sparrows' feathers.

    Who makes the laws that live

    inside the brick and mortar⁶ of a name，

    selects the seeds， garden or wild，

    brings forth⁷ the foliage⁸ grown up around it

    through drought or blight⁹ or blossom，

    the honey darkening in the bitter years，

    the combs like funeral lace or wedding veils

    steeped in oak gall¹⁰ and rainwater，

    sequined of rent wings.

    And so arrayed I set out， this once

    obedient， toward the hives' domed¹¹ skeps

    on evening's hill， five tombs alight.

    I thought I heard the thrash and moaning

    of confinement¹²， beyond the century，

    a calling across dreams，

    as if asked to make haste just out of sleep.

    I knelt and waited.

    The voice that found me gave the news.

    Up flew the bees toward his orchards¹³.