Salutations to the Divine Bee (after a Hindu chant: The 108 Names of Devi) Om You whose compass is the sun Om You of impeccable hexagon Om Round-dancer Om Waggle-dancer Om Yellow-faced avatar Om You of a thousand looping miles Om You, loaded, low-flying slow Om to the One who needs no passport Om to the One who departs her hive at sunrise Om to the One who empties pollen-baskets Om Glittering tibia Om Colony Om Aggregate Om Division of Labor Om Stingerless drone Om Nurse-bee Om Baby Om Honey Om You of bountiful eyes Om You of striking proboscis Om You of Yeats’ bee-loud glade Om You of Beatrix Potter’s Bubbity Bumble Om You of beckoning petals Om You asleep in saffron bells Om You asleep under snow Om Tears of Ra Om Bhramari Om Ah-Muzen-Cab Om Aristaeus Om Melissa Om Matriarchal clan Om You of haploid and diploid Om Supersister Om Vulture bee Om She who enters a carcass through its eye Om Delicacy of toad and shrike Om Tawny miner bee Om Orchid bee Om Cellophane bee Om Forager Om Leaf-cutter Om Builder Om Scout Om Guard Om Robber bee Om You breaking into the capped cell Om You ferrying stolen honey to your hive Om Gymnast Om Acrobat Om You who have solved the problem of the traveling salesman Om Forewing Om Hindwing Om Gold-dusted swarm Om Bijou helicopter Om Delicate mechanoreceptors Om You who carry a comb wherever you go Om You carefully grooming your antennae Om Stubbled fur Om You who are adapted to both chewing and sucking Om Cucumber bee Om Blueberry bee Om You of thistle and rose Om You, Supreme Alchemist Om to the One who sips Maraschino-factory runoff Om Hot-pink honey Om Consort of the Queen Om Queen Om You of countless eggs Om Wallace’s giant bee, big as a thumb Om You of the 37-year disappearance Om You of slender waist Om You of amber-striped abdomen Om Puddle-drinker Om Sweat-licker Om You in our birdbaths Om You patching cracks in the hive Om You on three pair of legs Om Great banded furrow-bee Om You, last of your kind Om Bombini Om Buzz Om Fuzzy bum Om Humblebee Om Haphazard bumble Om Drowsy hum Om Maze-master Om Tree-nester Om Seeker Om Stinger Om You who are free of delusion Om You who are ever at peace with your devotees Om Caffeine-lover Om Tipsy neighbor Om Picnic Crasher Om Backyard Flashmob Om Iridescent surprise Om Field Pixie Om Jewel of the orchard Om Bee-heart Om Bee-breath Om Ragged-winged elder bee Om Slow-wave slumber Om Sleep-deprived stumbler Om You on the rim of my bowl Om Bringer of Luck Om Keeper Om Kept Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti
Sudasi J. Clement is the author of the chapbook, The Bones We Have in Common, Slipstream Press, 2012, and the former poetry editor of Santa Fe Literary Review, 2006-2016. Sudasi’s poems have appeared in Rewilding: Poems for the Environment (Split Rock Review & Flexible Press), Calyx, Sky Island Journal, Room Magazine and pacificREVIEW, among others. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Amethyst Review 