COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER

Bees are dying mysteriously. A bee hive is one of the most sterlie places on earth and a sick bee will not contaminate the hive, taking itself off to die elsewhere. Audio version: http://snd.sc/HFpzOX

 

(Deep in hive where bee poet is addressing his sad Queen)

 

           Can but try

Do no good

          Can but try

They will not listen

          Can but try

They can not listen

          For the hive

My hive is dying

          For other hives

Will be no other hives

          Don't cry royal Queen

Who are you?

           But a bee

A dying bee

          Your loyal bee

My poet bee

          Say the word my Queen

I need you here

          What can I do?

Comfort me

           I will come back

No, you know you won't

          Perhaps not

We're dying, poet, all dying

          Don't cry Queen!

What else is there?

          Try to make them listen

They have no ears, poet

          I must try Queen

Then go poet, if go you must, fly to them!

          With your blessing?

With my blessing poet

          Gracious Queen!

I will miss you poet

          I will be back Queen

 No, poet, no

          But I must...go

I know, I know

          I will find one who will listen

I hope you do poet, hope you do

          Farewell Queen, may Summer's kiss...

Farewell sir poet, go. Go!

(exit)

 

(Deep in man's mind staring at face in mirror while shaving)

 

Right ear lobe to chin

Draw razor across face

To chin: three strokes...one, two...three

Rinse razor

Five or six lesser strokes beneath lower lip

Buzzing?

Left ear lobe to chin

One smooth stroke of blade

What IS that buzzing?

Pay attention

No nicks, not today of all days

Focus man

That EFFING buzzing!

February, frosty?

Central heating woken a sleeper

Rinse razor

Five strokes beneath nose

 

(Man flinches on glimpsing flight of insect in corner of eye, but being late, persists with shave until... Bee lands on head of electronic toothbrush standing on glass shelf beneath mirror. Man studies bee in amazement.)

 

How baroque!

And how you dance, sir bee, as bees are want.

Is that not so?

The dance of a bee?

Is this what I see?

The dance of a bee?

And how your antenna do twitch!

As if...

As if what?

Come on bee!

As if what?

 

(Bee falls from the toothbrush onto sink beside brushed steel tap, lands on back, struggles, lays still, struggles anew, turns a circle on his back, dies.)

 

Unbelievable!

What was that about bee?

 

(Man, now late, gingerly picks bee up by wingtip, holds up to examine closely.)

 

Amazing.

The death ... of a bee.

 

(Man drops bee into toilet, flushes toilet, looks round for towel, dries face.)

 

Audio version on soundcloud: http://snd.sc/HFpzOX

 

Author's Note

Audio verssio: http://snd.sc/HFpzOX

Reviews

[Bubo]

Orlando
awesome brain you have..........this is brilliant.............I felt sorry for the bee's in the first part, such sorrow........

Comfort me

I will come back

No, you know you won't

Perhaps not

We're dying poet, all dying

Don't cry Queen!

And I am not a fan of bee's, I had no idea hives were in trouble!
Then the twist of the distracted shaving man, who ponders, reflects no more as the bee is flushed away............I had no idea bee's won;t return to the hive if sick. So he came to die.
Such a sad piece, and thats amazing you made me think, and feel for a bee, feel sad!!
I will no doubt see bee's differently now.........
wonderful work.......loved the way you set this out, like a story, a play..........short life of a bee.

[The Winter Grey]

I love the idea, the construction, and the interplay... the tempo was downright contagious in places and I felt myself reading to an unseen, infectious beat. The story itself was fascinating, and the execution no less so.

[rosemary keogh]

Omg that was amazing to read. So enjoyable.

[Liza]

this was beautiful, it made me think of my incident and blog story entry with my run in with a bee; they are our foundation; it is honey that keeps us immune and how much we will suffer if we lost them

[Dayran]

You came back to something previously that reminds a person of Aeneas' conversation with Venus before he set up Rome. Have you done your duty poet? Nicely done!

[Ruth]

PS Reminds me of a tunneling bee I observed for many weeks last year in the summer, how they used a plant hanger to make their home, I watched the bee carry leaves to the plant hanger for insulation, made me feel humbled to watch! Their determination and strength held in fragile balance!

What are we without bees, truly?! xoxo

[Ruth]

Oh goodness!

This is so wrenching love! The whole piece...cleverly done hon, the bees...the shaver...the death...how that is reflected...and another massive piece of our survival gets flushed away ...

You know, the chemtrails, as I mentioned to you, makes me wonder what they are spraying and how many bees die through them, also, if thats the case, what are we breathing in also?

The death of a bee indeed is a ripple that affects us all! That ripple shall become a stream of regret flowing, eventually, into a river of uncontrolable remorse!

Humans have always seen things too late!

Remarkable piece :) Touching and saddening, carried potently! xoxo

[just is]

I feel this goes much deeper than a bee,
it's used like a metaphor.
Such an amazing write.

[FoolsGold23]

A loss if but a bee, a dear, loyal poet bee, is tragic enough. Poor Queenie,
This one is a seeping poem, the meaning grows in clarity as you read,
then at the end, BAM bee does finally die, and the human is oblivious.
Amazing how things tie into each other, almost intrinsically,
we observe but do we really see? This is the question.
sad and well done!~P

[Wildfleour]

Orlando - This was literally an experience to read. Like the flight of a bumblebee, I bounced along at a rapid speed which lead to an unexpected conclusion.

[Eclectic Ichthys]

And why shouldn't bees have poets, too? A poet bee to comfort his queen, to connect with the unknown, and as a lonely envoy sent to save his race. To describe such bee pleasures as a Summer's kiss...