Royal Sisterhood
In aerial mines of manna,
probosces probe goldenrod
profusion. Humming along
fencelines, tigered she-workers,
suspent by unstained glass wings,
harvest nuggets in baskets; after,
on repeat, they bend for home.
When cooling breeze calls
tired sisters, beelines converge
en route to their royal abode.
“Bee and Goldenrod” photo by Ted
I am today’s host of dVerse’ Quadrille Monday. The prompt is to write a 44-word poem (not including title) using the word bend.
Tao Talk 
Goldenrod is the colour of sunshine, Lisa, and the image you’ve chosen is sunny! I love this bee poem, and the way it follows the she-bees in the lines:
‘…Humming along
fencelines, tigered she-workers,
suspent by unstained glass wings,
harvest nuggets in baskets…’
I especially love the ‘tigered she-workers’ and ‘unstained glass wings’. The only thing I’m not sure about is the word ‘suspent’ – did you mean ‘suspended’?
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Kim, yes it is, and it’s in full bloom here right now. There is no containing it either, just like sunshine. Thank you. I learned more about bees today in trying to get their anatomy and function right. Suspent was a nod to the first poem example I gave. It is arguably a word ;)
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A lovely poem, Lisa. Our bees are out in full force.
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Robbie, thank you, and I love to see them hard at work. I wrote another poem about bees earlier today, for POPO2024. You’ll see it when I post them in Sept — Nov. Happy your bees are out there in full force.
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I also like bees although I am allergic to them so have to be careful.
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vividly painted Lisa – I like how you used bend as wending the way home
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Thanks much, Laura :)
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Gotta love those bees😉
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Cheryl, it’s a good thing they are so focused, or I think a lot more people would get stung ;)
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“tigered she-workers,
suspent by unstained glass wings,”
Love these. Brilliant.🥰
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Melissa, I’m glad you appreciate those. I did also :)
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What a great description of bees!
suspent by unstained glass wings,
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:) Thank you!
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Wonderful write Lisa. Bless those busy little bees. Our lives depend on them. 🐝 I was fiercely allergic to goldenrod as a child. 🤧🙂✌🏼🫶🏼
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Rob, thank you. I treasure them. Sounds like you got over your childhood allergy? Hope so.
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“tigered she-workers” — the “royal sisterhood.” i absolutely LOVE thinking of those bees as sisters on a mission. beautiful!
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:) thanks, ren!
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What a glorious golden picture you painted with your words Lisa! I love the image of the tigered she workers …. bending for home ❤️
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Christine, thanks much <3
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Bees and goldenrods seem to be a perfect match this time of year. We need those bees to stay busy. I can see them working through your words.
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They never seem to rest until cold gets here. Thanks, Truedessa.
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I’m sneezing! That’s the way my body tells me autumn is on its way.
But the bees are a wonder. (K)
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Sorry the goldenrod gets to you. Yes, the bees are wonderful. I think fear of “silent spring” is just as much about them as it is about birds.
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It is. We need insects of all kinds, but bees especially.
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Wonderful description!
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Max, thank you :) Hey, guess what my granddaughter saw this weekend? And fed? Prairie dogs! They went to a “zoo” where they have a group of them. Son was telling me one of them was blind, but he said the other group members guided him around. Pretty wonderful and amazing.
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Oh COOL! If you lived near us…we have 2 she could feed right now. We are babysitting. Glad you got to see them closeup! Martha even is begrudgingly liking her….OR him. We think she could be Rudy not Trudie
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I wasn’t with them on Sunday, but yes, she would love that. Are the two in the same enclosure? You may have babies if so. I remember having hamsters as a kid and they multiplied very fast. We had to give them to a pet store, who happily took them.
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No we have them separated places since they are brother and sister plus they can be territorial about their home….but they do get along well. They fight every now and then for 3-5 seconds and are fine after that.
Female Prairie Dogs have one hour a year where they can get pregnant…thats it.
I never had hamsters before…my mom would not let me…that plays a big part on why we have a zoo now lol.
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Max, I’m agog that they only have a one-hour window. I wish humans were like that! Can you imagine the hoopla that would be built around that hour? Imagine getting stuck in traffic on your way home and missing it.
Hamsters are fun and cute when they are tamed and not protecting their young, but a mama hamster bit me once and I never forgot it.
One good thing about being an adult is you can do what you want and if you want a zoo, you can have one.
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LOL…that day would be bigger than the super bowl.
Yes…one bite from an unsocialized prairie dog…I’ll never forget it. It was like a vice. They sure have personalities… I would imagine hamsters are like them.
After the Kinks thing I’m going to do a post on our prairie dog and the bearded dragon.
Yea I felt guilty at first but after seeing their life span…especially for females in the wild…I felt a little better about it.
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Cool on the critter posts. I remember you saying the prairie dog females don’t live that long in the wild. I’m sure your little friend gets treated with TLC and will live a long happy life.
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Great wordplay, poetry with emphathy…nature at its finest.
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Thanks much, Ain. I could watch them all day. The seriousness with which they seek the pollen. I wonder if they ever get a chance to play.
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Excellent pairing of this photo and your poem
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Thank you, Sadje. The goldenrod pic was out in the yard, and it took me awhile to find the one with the bees. Thanks for noticing.
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You’re welcome. 💖💖💖
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Very nicely done, Lisa. I like the converging bees line!
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Dwight, glad you liked that line, thank you. Would like to follow them and watch them all land at home for the evening.
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It becomes quite a crowd!
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Oh I love the bees, their ‘harvest nuggets in baskets” is wonderful
💞Suzanne
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Suzanne, thanks much <3
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I love that ‘unstained glass wings’ image!
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Thanks, Jane. At first I had stained but then knew it wasn’t so and said ok unstained works :)
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It’s more original too.
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oh my goodness, Lisa. your word choices in the piece are inspired. I wish I had written this piece.
~David
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:) Thanks
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Exquisitely worded description of the scenario!
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Reena, thank you very much <3
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Wow! Just gorgeous poeticism, Lisa. 😀
I’m looking forward to seeing the goldenrod in full bloom, along with the asters. (I actually wrote a poem about these two wildflowers at the start of autumn last year – https://elderberrytea.wordpress.com/2023/09/20/goldenrod-and-asters/)
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Thanks much, Nicole. I tried to get slick with it ;)
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Exquisite descriptions and word choices. Love all the bee business, how you honoured them so majestically and the clever use of your quadrille word.
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Someone, thanks so much. Glad you enjoyed it.
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Yellow and green are so beautiful together. Especially this particular yellow. 🤩
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:)
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I love goldenrod! You captured the beauty of the late summer in Michigan. Love the bees, too!
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Colleen thanks very much. Went over to “the gardens” today and the change from 2 weeks ago is noticeable. Now I want summer to stay!
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LOL! The heat is coming back next week! LOL!
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:::munch scream::: nooooooooooooooo!
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LOL! I know. I love the cool temperatures.
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I see we both like bees :)
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Indeed! :)
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Nice
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Bending for home – sigh
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:)
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Beautiful pictures 🎸🎸
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Thanks!
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I never made it to your quadrille party on time, Lisa, although somewhere in my file-paper mess there is a gestating poem still to type up and share.
On the other hand, or proboscis, your giftng here is right on cue for Yellow Petal Touch ( Facebook name for my offered self-care practice) to publicise.
May I please share a link to your royal sisterhood/site?
Hugs xxx
NB i use here the UK spellings for practice (noun), publicise (verb). A pedant speaks!
https://writingpresence.com/2017/08/28/practise-practice/
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your goldenrod takes the ecological niche with you that the dreaderd Ragwort, Senecio jacobea, takes here in UK. Poisonous to a lot of critters, but food plant for larvae of Cinnabar moth, which use the leaf toxin to crete stripy warning signs to deter predators. They look as if they have on sports jerseys!
https://sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/cinnabar-caterpillars
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