Apology to the Wasps
Terrorized by your stings,
I took out biochemical weapons
And blasted your nest
Like it was a third world country.
I was the United States Air Force.
It felt good to be so powerful
Until I saw your family
Trailing shredded wings,
Staggering on disintegrating legs,
Trying desperately to save the eggs.
You had stung to protect.
Sara Littlecrow-Russell
This poem was stolen from the link: Writers Almanac editided by Garrisson Keillor, a fine human being indeed who appears regulary on NPR (national public radio).
My comment: Are you a bee or a wasp?
Do you solely defend yourself, or do you also produce honey?
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13 comments:
Salamaat,
how about a wasp who is in the painful process of metamporphing into a bee?
or wanna-be-bee who sometimes produces such sweetness it intoxicates; and sometimes just hurts too much to offer anything but frustrated tears?
i hope you are having a gorgeous day Zee :)
bah i can't spell..metamorphing?
Well, thanks! There is one being built as I write on my daughter's window pane..so I guess that means I cannot be a wasp huh?? hmmm..
Ingrid
Nice poem.
I react to wasp stings and we had a bizzillion nests around this summer. I confess to taking out the spray can and murder. (I did get stung twice too.)
All creatures have as much purpose as I have, which is either none at all or to live fully, according to our nature.
I think I'd like to be a tree if I come around again.
I'm more like honeysuckle..
I make a form of honey, but without all the hard work ( and I thrive under any circumstances)
I dont understand aggression just so you can be the top man..
I dont understand forcing your will on anyone ...using brute force to get your way..
I'll never be able to wrap my head around any of this.
arggh..
Btw..I love NPR...
I didnt allow tv for my kids when they were wee..we listened to a lot of NPR.
Cynnie
i'm sort of hybrid - a wee.
yes, me too - had to destroy a nest of wasps inside the eaves last year. they were a pest at barbecue time and then one day i got stung, minding my own business, just reading a paper on the patio - and so they had to go!
I don't like wasps, they are not good for anything, not even the birds feed on them ...
The bees are a metamorphosis of the wasps from thousands of years ago. Those are the creatures I adore.
that's a beautiful poem. and the question you posed is even better. and a very hard and tricky to answer.
I would like to think that I also produce honey. I hope I am right!
I produce honey, zee!! However, if need be, my sting hurts enough to warn the "enemies" to stay away ;-)
You are funny Ingrid...
As a honey bee you sting once - then you die, the utmost self-defense, a sacrifice of dire urgency. A wasp on the other hand is continuously moody, egocentric and can sting multiple times and get away with it, flies and screams: hahaha, gothcha, will get you again!
Bees by nature are very peaceful if you don't radiate nervousness. During the warmer season they sometimes get lost and trapped in my studio. I go with my bare hands and catch them, carefully, and with loving patience then deport them out of the window towards freedom.
So far I have never been stung!
Compared to bees, wasps are scum - an useless appendix from nature.
I am thrilled that you produce honey Ingrid, but remember - you can only use your weapon once.
Maliha, Salamaat to you as well.
The process you describe, the metarmorphosis from wasp to bee, occurred about 12,000 years ago, a process guided by humans. In todays language you would call it biogenetic engineering, or something like that. In those days they probably called it wise interaction of the initiates.
Anyhow, the parable or image that sticks to my mind is, that whatever happened within the development or separation between wasps and bees is happening now in human civilization. No, this is not an Nitscheian attempt of dividing races or cultures, it is an attempt to describe my observation of pending dualism in every culture, every nation and religion.
So as a conclusion I can say, that humanity is gradually splitting into either wasps or bees ... for a lack of a better imagination.
Haha, that's exactly what I need - a Glacier Cruise, sublime! How did you know Mis/Mister Spammer?
I like this.
Can relate to it.
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