Poetry For Your Wednesday

The yellow jackets and paper wasps are incessant on our farm. Mark has spent many hours hunting and spraying them and even with all of his effort it is sometimes impossible to sit on our porch in the heat of the day. Ben is terrified of being stung, so in an effort to give his some control we got this bug zapper for him before we went camping this summer. I must say I'm a little ashamed of the pleasure I have derived from killing them.

As much as I'm a lover

of nature, I cannot abide

the attention of this yellow jacket.

The incessant humming drowns out

the song of the birds

and I do not want to share

my coffee with anyone.

I am here looking for solitude.

But who is the intruder really?

Me, with my decadently scented

beverage, my cork-soled shoes full of smells

of faraway. I am enticing.

I have learned to live

with bees this summer. I give them

a wide berth and a flick of my hand.

I soothe my terrified children.

I put bubbles in my bird bath and hope

for death. Just because I fear the sting.