Saving a drowning honeybee
With a dried up leaf
At the edge of the pool
While my little cousin cries
“It’s gonna sting me!”
And gets out of the water.
I placed it gently on the cement
watched it flutter its wings
And wipe the water from its face.
It tried to fly away, enfeebled,
Falling right back into the water.
I quickly leafed him up again.
Poor little guy. Where’s all his friends?
I rushed him over to a shady spot
By the fence, under an elderberry.
At least he can’t drown himself again,
I think, as I walk back to the pool,
Wondering if I could have done more.
“Okay, the bee is gone now,” I say,
“Are you ready?” She says, “ready,”
So I toss her into the deep end again.