Martin Sonenberg
Resurrection of the beekeeper
No-one knew what made his widow
raise a Doric temple on his grave,
complete with wedding photo.
A hive would have been better.
Deep below the turf his sting-riddled corpse,
buried with helmet and gloves,
lusted after warm honeycomb;
his maggot-gnawed entrails
craved yellow dripping sweetness.
So it was that, seduced
by distant droning,
lured by drifting bumble musk,
one wet Summer’s night
he forced the coffin-lid
then twisted and slithered to freedom.
No-one saw that death’s head,
in soiled Sunday best from Burtons,
move like a priest through the graveyard
and teetering among tombstones,
raise skeletal arms to the moon
in silent tribute to the Queen of Hives.
Page(s) 55
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