Snapshot Poem 27 September 02006

this morning smells of cinnamon,
of nutmeg and nostalgia, the red
sting of striped wasps and afternoon
falling from the sky like maple

like oak, a yellow day, tasting
of lemons and the sharp songs
of sparrows, a round day, an oval
day, an egg day, the day takes shape

around me but i am an absence today
i am not here, i am not there, the day
passes brightly around this vacancy
an egg-shaped emptiness, yolkless

heartless, a finality here where there
is nothing but dreams, floods, refugees
thousands of lost children, pets, these
two wasps mating on the fountain

thinking not of drowning, no discussion
no political debate, no faceted visions
no fear of the future, only this essential
desperate and glorious gesture

So, I write this -- post this -- and then think, wait a minute...

Do wasps mate? Do wasps have Queens, like bees?

I have this all wrong, haven't I?

So what are they doing?

Comments

[Cindy]

Birds do it
Bees do
even wasps upon your knee
do it
wasps do it....

and here is some photographic reassurance for you!
http://images.google.com/images?q=wasps+mating&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images

[Ken]

OMG, I'm not really going to say this -- but, I'm a guy.

I wonder if they smoke . . .

Actually, I love the images! And, know the feelings.

[jillypoet]

the red
sting of striped wasps and afternoon
falling from the sky like maple

like oak, a yellow day, tasting
of lemons and the sharp songs
of sparrows, a round day, an oval
day, an egg day, the day takes shape

around me but i am an absence today

These are my favorite lines. Such a great idea to rearrange the senses in honor of nature and nature's funny little creatures. Thanks for noticing those nasty wasps!

[pepek]

Excellent! I like the picture, too. And your other posts are fine!

[madd]

I loved your description of an egg shaped day, sunny and yellow, yummy!

[desert rat]

Oh excellent, really well done. I love the first two stanzas especially. And the picture is lovely too. Wasps definitely mate, they get up to it in our backyard all the time (we have lots of fallen apples this time of year, so they're everywhere).

[Verity]

Who cares if wasps mate or not, it felt so true in your writing I believed it. And what a beautiful poem, a true feast of the senses!

My favourite lines, "an oval
day, an egg day, the day takes shape

around me but i am an absence today
i am not here, i am not there, the day
passes brightly around this vacancy
an egg-shaped emptiness, yolkless

heartless"

Wonderful!

[michelle]

This is a beautiful image:
an egg-shaped emptiness, yolkless

I think this resonated with me so much, because you did such a wonderful job illustrating how glorious the day was, the sounds, textures, oh gosh, the sky like maple! And then you feel with the narrator, experience the disappointment with him/her, as he/she realizes that amidst all that life, he/she is empty. Excellent.

[Nic Sebastian]

Very enjoyable read -- favorite line:

"afternoon
falling from the sky like maple"

All best, Nic

[SB]

Oh, thank you all, so much -- such encouragement! This was a fun prompt; a good reminder of what poems are for.

[my backyard]

I especially enjoyed your first stanza. Very creative!