About the Poems - BS
About the Poems
by Brenda Sieczkowski Insect pathogens, mites, pesticides, malnutrition, migratory beekeeping. Cell phones. Not even the experts are entirely certain what is causing mass disappearances among Western honey bee populations (aka Colony Collapse Disorder, aka Honey Bee Depopulation Syndrome). Metaphorically, I’m particularly sympathetic to those who attribute the disappearances to a preliminary stage of Rapture, a preparation for a long after flowing with honey. < Late last year, I began reading obsessively about CCD—and beekeeping culture more generally—culminating in this series of poems, / end notes /. Bees, like frogs, are considered “indicator species.” Early warnings. But these warnings led me as much into the past as towards the future. I began to realize that what I was actually writing was a serial elegy, an elegy of pseudonyms. Loss without a single name. < Thanks to Nathan, Eryn, Kathryn, & Geoff; without their unwavering feedback and support these poems would not exist.
