"Sitting with Bees"
from Arbor Vitae 3.1
by Karla Huston
The buzz and fumble, bellies
brushing yellow fuzz, potentilla
blossoms with butter stamens so close
I can feel heat sizzle,
see the furious legs trembling,
yet bees scarcely notice me
in the corner of their fuming,
book of poems in my lap,
tapping pencil counting,
measuring lines
of wasps, sweat bees, yellow
jackets, bumblebees — even flies
so busy with business,
the commerce of sweet making.