Poem: “Purple Hearts”
2017 January 12
“Purple Hearts”
Was it Atticus
who said,
“Shoot all
the blue jays
you want…”?
In Michigan,
you may now
aim your rifle
at a gray wolf;
but let those
rusty patched
bumblebees
be! I hiked
off trail and
cupped an ear
to capture
the busy buzz
of their bodies,
nature’s secret
password,
within the late
perennial asters
spread across
a clearing like
purple hearts.
Without notice,
a gunshot cracked
in the distance.
Then, howls—
a pack, but
no swarm.
Jan. 12, 2017
NPR: “US Puts Bumblebee on the Endangered Species List“
CC photo courtesy of mwms1916 on Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mmwm/
bumblebee on purple aster, 14 Oct 2014
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