August 2022
Michael Minassian
mikialminassian@gmail.com
Bio Note: My poetry collections A Matter of Timing, Time is Not a River, and Morning Calm as well as my recently published chapbook, Jack Pays a Visit, are all available on Amazon.

Quote of the month:  “The biography of the bee/is written in honey” - Linda Pastan

I Will Speak for the Bees

I rode in an elevator
from street level to penthouse,
a honeycombed hive—
sweetness a bitter potion,
the worker’s devotion,
the queen’s empty grace.

She wears red slippers
embroidered with dragons,
reclines on a couch 
covered with flower petals;
her wings vibrate the air 
with the scent of pollen
and a humming noise
designed to drive 
drones mad with lust
as they sign up to mate
with her in flight, then die.

The heart knows 
what it wants
but not who it wants—

I will speak for the bees,
the sting of love 
fierce on my tongue.
Originally appeared in slightly different form in Artifactuals, 2021.
©2022 Michael Minassian
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