The Beekeeper's Departure
29-page, limited-edition poetry chapbook
Published by the Backwards City Poetry Series, 2007
Backwards City Press, Greensboro, NC
Click to order. Only $5!
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THE BEEKEEPER'S DEPARTURE
By Jennifer Chapis
I want to say there was an animal sound,
but even I know that’s not true.
You simply rose into the sky
like a bone-bit moon.
By the time I arrived, there remained
no coast to speak of.
Even the bees silent.
History is not behind us.
I have trained myself to know
the open palm of your tongue
supple like a plum in its breath-blue bowl.
Burning logs shift
in a fire pit, grief’s weight
settling for gravity’s sake.
Think honey-bitter
bead of sap
endlessly drying.
I’ve known you better than anyone.
Roots pushing out of the sand,
longing blooms against black bark
before the new leaves sprout.
Ancient plum trees masked in sight.
Horizon, blister about us