Saturday, August 13, 2016

"Refinement"



 Refinement

It may be wine country, 
but honeybees and lavender fields
offer bounty sweet, less floral, even dark
from thin-stemmed blooms
as drunken workers with tiny purple floret's prize
fly to hillock hives.

Honey-lavender lemonade soothes my tongue,
assured worker bees have but one sting
as I tour magical fields nurturing gold.
Aggression rare, protection key;
ambassador of peace I'll be
as self-indulgent anger hastens their mortality. 

From blooms renowned for love,
devotion and purity
reverently should we sip such grace,
reflect inward, internalize and become.

by Margaret Bednar, August 13, 2016



This is for "Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - Sunday Mini Challenge - Which Bee?"  

12 comments:

Fireblossom said...

Wonderful confluence of subject, images and words, M.

brudberg said...

I have never seen a lavender field for real, but I can smell the bloom... And that honey.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Wonderfully done. Nothing like lavender....lucky bees who get to live and work in a lavender field. Love the reflections in your closing stanza.

Magaly Guerrero said...

I just spent about an hour walking lavender fields--savoring chocolate and lavender tea, listening to the honey makers--I can taste all of it in your poem, see the bees, appreciate their work... and your words. Naturally tasty.

Jim said...

Taking pride in their work, those bees. I suspect it is hardly safe to walk through a lavender field for all the bees. I used to tell my students that they would be working for a long time so they should choose a job they enjoy working in. I liked all of mine.
..
..

Anonymous said...

I picked a small sprig of lavender and carried it around with me for a few days - so calming. I can almost taste that Honey-lavender lemonade!

Rommy said...

You've painted a corner of the legendary Peaceable Kingdom with your words, where the beauty and work of nature is simply appreciated without any desire to control it.

I love the scent and taste of lavender too. I feel like I ought to make some lavender shortbread before the summer is done. :)

Anonymous said...

This is beautifully penned - hypnotic in its rhythms.

Jim said...

Second visit, Margaret. This time, at the lines,
"Honey-lavender lemonade soothes my tongue,"
I was placing myself in the boots of the brown bear
having just raided the beehive. Right on through
to the end, most of it works. Try thinking thus?
..

Anonymous said...

oh the peacefulness of lavender - it felt it thoughout your piece

Margaret said...

Hmmm. Not sure if bears reflect or need to "become" ... I think of them as creatures of instinct - they live in the moment - as opposed to humans who hopefully learn from the past (certainly hold onto it with memories) and dream of a future.

Helen said...

Yes ~ this is simply beautiful. One of your finest, Margaret.