National Poetry Month occurs every April, first introduced in 1996 to bring awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States. In recognition, we’re sharing five poems throughout the month to celebrate the power and beauty of poetry. Enjoy!
The poem of this week reflects on the human struggle to communicate and a longing for the simple understanding of bees.
Bees Were Better by Naomi Shihab Nye
In college, people were always breaking up.
We broke up in parking lots,
beside fountains.
Two people broke up
across a table from me
at the library.
I could not sit at that table again
though I did not know them.
I studied bees, who were able
to convey messages through dancing
and could find their ways
home to their hives
even if someone put up a blockade of sheets
and boards and wire.
Bees had radar in their wings and brains
that humans could barely understand.
I wrote a paper proclaiming
their brilliance and superiority
and revised it at a small café
featuring wooden hive-shaped honey-dippers
in silver honeypots
at every table.