"Someone Dropped Their Soda"
I worked at a convenience store
in the inner-city
up until recently
One of my only good days there
I saved some bees
I had been drifting for some time
on the radiation waves and frequencies
waiting for something
I walked to the parking lot
to smoke a cigarette
and saw a group of some bees
Scattering on the hot pavement
drinking what they could of a spilled fountain drink
They climbed on the lid
sipping what they could from the liquid
Trying to get pollen from the asphalt
on a hell hot New England day
I went inside the store
and ignored the line of consumers
mixed some sugar into some water
fed it to the bees outside
a man sat on the curb watching me
he smiled
he said in a heavy accent
that in this country he saw that
people Killed the bees
and he couldn’t understand it
He explained to me that he had beehives in his yard back home
but he didn’t know the word in English
for beehive
he said la colmena
and made the shape of a hive with his hands
I understood him most when he said to me
that the bees
never did anything but help
And we smiled at each other as we watched the bees drink the sugar water
so they could gain enough energy to fly home
I went back inside and my fellow workers
were criticizing me for caring about the bees
one said she had allergies,
and would die if they stung her,
so she didn’t care.
I told her we would have nothing without the bees,
the plants, animals and yes, us, would all be affected by their extinction.
but she turned her head to me,
To look at her phone.
I stood at my register and became one with it –
Nothing
But
Machines.
The man from the curb came into the store
bought a bottle of water with a smile
Before I could tell him I would pay for it
instead,
he rushed out the door,
saying that the Bees were still thirsty.
