Ode to the Honey Bee

by Ethan Kenvarg

  • Poetry
decorative header image
Cropped from an original photo by Jon Andelson
from Volume IV Issue 2 · Spring 2018

Blessed be
The honey bee:
Miniscule
Cacophony.

Darting ‘bout
Lazily,
Carefully,
The stamen’s jewel.

Blessed be
The winged beast
On tiny joints
And fuzzy breast.

Bathing sweet
In nectar fields,
Happily
In apathy.

Blessed breeze
That disagrees
And blows away
With haste and ease

The sacred thrum,
The holy drum,
Its restlessness
Impetuous.

The pitch and yaw
Of pollen crown:
A pirouette
On blossom’s breast.

Blessed be
This honey bee:
The flower’s own
Soliloquy. Rootstalk leaf-bug icon marking the end of the article's text.

About Poet Ethan Kenvarg
Portrait image of Poet Ethan Kenvarg.
Ethan Kenvarg is a Chicago-based writer, artist, and musician. At Grinnell College, Ethan released the collection, Bruised Light, and twice received the Selden Whitcomb Prize for Poetry. He has also created multimedia work as an artist-in-residence at Grin City Collective, and produces and plays music with the band Ooraloo. Ethan’s work has appeared in The Grinnell Review, Grinnell Magazine, and The Seneca Review.