Scribophile

The Fly and the Bee

Actions
Bookmarking
Remove these ads
poetry
1st
Draft

Published on:

August 22, 10:19pm

Word Count:

286

Last Edited:

August 22, 10:21pm

Work Description

It began with a bud...

This work is archived. This work is archived and isn't accepting critiques or comments.  Why?
Page: 1
Print WorkPrint

There was a bud in the field;
in the field of fields,
in the bulk of the bulk,
in the earth of the Earth,
came viridian scenes,
and the shiest wind that ever burnt skin.
She came like an erotic bee,
buzzing in her slender point;
I came as a fly,
with a purpose to die as she perched on the bud,
starch yellow as the silken sun,
and we sat on that bud,
sousing our nerves and the prodding bird,
with honey so sweet a flood, our nectar was blood—
And then light fell onto her bodily shell,
I then felt the nectar swell,
sacred smell—
Heaven, Hell, from the bud we fell,
like chocolate ticks,
the orchard witnessed,
desensitized to our freckled discussion,
but darkness never prowled,
so we were never prey;
See, it was likely still that we were never safe.

Never accepted in night’s aged cloak,
when it never came, I’d tighten my throat,
gain haste like an infant,
but I was only a mere, unfortunate event,
a swollen stomach of dirt,
she was the holy taste of mint—
But there was a bud in the field;
in the fields of all fields,
in the ink of the ink,
in the bulk of the bulk,
as black as charcoal,
as red as my soul.
She came as an erotic bee,
I came as a fly,
birthed from a sigh of a sky with a purpose to die,
but cruising a curve to hunt her hive,
a fractured thought, I told to my mind,
of this adventure to recall on a noon so fine,
where all along was I, and mainly I?
Was she a bee, and me only a fly?

Page: 1
Rate This Work

Your honest rating will help the author improve, and you'll earn a little karma too.

Please log in to rate.

Discussion

I really enjoy the rhythm of this poem.  I'm not at all an authority in the world of grammar/punctuation/anything else pedantic, so I'm going to go through the critique more from the perspective of a reader, giving hopefully useful feedback on how this strikes me.

There was a bud in the field;
in the field of fields,
in the bulk of the bulk,
in the earth of the Earth,

beautiful, but then

came viridian scenes,
and the shiest wind that ever burnt skin.

I'm slightly confused.  Wondering how a shy wind of any kind, let alone the shiest wind, can burn skin...maybe I'm just not understanding that part... still moves along well lyrically.

She came like an erotic bee,
buzzing in her slender point;
I came as a fly,
with a purpose to die as she perched on the bud,

I love this, it unfolds like an epic ballad and pulls me further into this slightly unreal feeling world, but I believe it all the way.

starch yellow as the silken sun,
and we sat on that bud,
sousing our nerves and the prodding bird,
with honey so sweet a flood, our nectar was blood—

excellent imagery and, as usual, vocabulary.  I find my mind thrumming along with all of these D endings bud/prodding bird/flood/blood.  I like how, even though there doesn't seem to be a fixed meter, the rhymes and sounds all fall at the perfect place.  I couldn't help reading it aloud, because it's just so good to the ears.

And then light fell onto her bodily shell,
I then felt the nectar swell,
sacred smell—
Heaven, Hell, from the bud we fell,

like chocolate ticks,
the orchard witnessed,
desensitized to our freckled discussion,

The music continues, and my mind keeps on thrumming, but then I realize, wait, what's happening here?  why does the light cause such chaos?  Is it the light of understanding?  It wouldn't be the sunlight because that's been there the whole time... This probably should be clarified because as it stands I read up to this point and the music and the meaning have been dancing along just fine together, then suddenly I get this confusion and I lose the meaning, but the music keeps thrumming on and I follow that and stop paying attention to the meaning because it's a lost thread...

I don't know why but it reminds me of an insect version of Dylan's "Tangled Up In Blue" where he says "we drove that car as far as we could, abandoned it out west/ Split up on a dark sad night, both agreeing it was best/ she turned around and looked at me as I was walking away/ I heard her say over my shoulder, "we'll meet again someday/ on the avenue.""  It has a similar tone I think...

but darkness never prowled,
so we were never prey;

excellent alliteration and it pulls me back into the meaning along with the music...still work that other part out because I still would love for the whole poem to click...thematically, it is a little bit strange for both darkness and light (not all light, just certain undescribed light) to both be negatively portrayed here, unless you were going for a relativistic thing here...

See, it was likely still that we were never safe.

this doesn't flow as well, but it's completely acceptable where it is, at the end of the stanza.  As a sentence though, it seems mildly awkward....I think it's the See that throws it a little. It doesn't need to be capitalized I don't think...and it just seems a little out of place.

Never accepted in night’s aged cloak,
when it never came, I’d tighten my throat,
gain haste like an infant,
but I was only a mere, unfortunate event,

This is another case of disconnect of music and meaning.  I don't know what is happening, but it sounds good so I'm gonna go with it even if I don't understand it.  The it in the second line, is what does it mean?  Is it night's aged cloak?  is it something from the former stanza?  Something else?  Maybe just a little vague, I like the tightening of the throat even if I don't understand it completely.  The rest seems to express regret and if that's what it's about then it works well.  And again the whole thing sounds good...

a swollen stomach of dirt,
she was the holy taste of mint—

beautiful, mint came out of left field, but I love surprises.

But there was a bud in the field;
in the fields of all fields,
in the ink of the ink,
in the bulk of the bulk,
as black as charcoal,
as red as my soul.

She came as an erotic bee,
I came as a fly,
birthed from a sigh of a sky with a purpose to die,

Nice repetition.  Good change up too with the black as charcoal/red as my soul bit.  I'm digging it.  I lost the meaning back there somewhere, but based on the music, my understanding of the poem's setup goes something like this: the speaker tells the main story in the first stanza, the second stanza is where the feeling is filtered into an understanding, where the speaker regrets it for a moment and then decides that it was worth it for the memory of the experience, then wonders what the significance is and what the roles of each character were...

but cruising a curve to hunt her hive,
a fractured thought, I told to my mind,
of this adventure to recall on a noon so fine,

This is where I get that all of that was a memory and this is closest to now that we get...

where all along was I, and mainly I?
Was she a bee, and me only a fly?

I love this, but there's one thing that's bugging me.  I think it would both sound better and become grammatically correct if you changed the word me in the second line with I...there I go ending on a pedantic note.....oh well, I hope at least some of that was helpful to you and also hope that this isn't raving gibberish.  I haven't slept in 24 hrs if it makes a difference.  I really enjoyed this poem though.  The musicality is definitely there.

 Thanks for taking the time to critique this, and a lot of it is very helpful actually. It'll be a little while, but I'm working on a second draft as I speak (uhm..type). I'll definitely take into account much of what you said Thanks again!

Remove these ads