I'm loving these--mostly new to me. Thank you so much.
("California / dimes" in S8 of the Dean Young poem must be a typo for "California / climes", no? It seems unlikely that he's referring to $10 bags of marijuana. It seems to be "dimes" in all the versions I can find online, though.)
Another bee poem, to add to the swarm:
Beelines
by M. A. Griffiths
Out of the drowsing singing vessel
comes the bee in neat-nap velvet,
black and gold, armed as fiercely
as a paladin. She possesses what
I lack, the call of purpose. She mounts
the air, homing in on golden gales
of nectar trails, draws her sisters
to her treasure, dancer in the templed hive,
the singing dome, packed with shining wax
and generation’s curl and clusters.
Out of the droning honeyed vessel
comes the bee, and another and another
on a quest through scented strata,
armed like knights, like amazons.
Out of the sleepy humming vessel
comes the bee, bright with purpose,
fast as a star in her task, emblem
of what I lack. Sister in the wind,
mistress of the sun, small dynamo
of summer. The power that I lack.
Out of the throbbing solar vessel
come the sisters, gold and black.
October 2004
Grasshopper: The Poetry of M A Griffiths, p. 36; although I've edited the above a bit, in light of a hard copy draft her friend David Adkins sent me a photocopy of.
Bees also feature in Griffiths' "Firstborn" (p. 119) and "The Poet's Wife" (p. 246). The latter poem was probably inspired, or at least influenced, by the relationship between Ted Hughes and Silvia Plath (author of the bee poem that Maryann posted above).