On:

There was a legend that one hundred years ago our population was cut in half when a cloud of creatures descended from the sky, set down upon our village, and drove our people into madness. It was a story told to children. “The Night of the Swarmed Eclipse.” “The MillionsContinue Reading

On:

You were golden at birth, Ambrose,a swarm of bees settled on your face,leaving behind a single drop of honey. We’ve heard this before, bees landingon the breath of baby Zeus and Bacchus,Virgil and Plato, foretelling sweetness of speech. As sermons drip from your honeyed tongue,we gather nectar, beat our wingsContinue Reading

On:

On Saturday morning, not too early, really,Sarah and I drove North, up out of the city,to leave it. The reason wasthat on this particular day, last year,both of us broke up with our respective partners.By accident (of course)they happened to be on the same day.Our breakups did.By happier accident, SarahContinue Reading

On:

The Spring equinoxhas come and gone green shaftsof iris and tulip have stabbed throughlayers of earth. Yellow heads of daffodils and purpleflashes of crocus have opened to the sun.Yet here it is the first day of April and the windchill is twenty three. We’ve had scatteredflurries, and I wonder whatContinue Reading

On:

Sitting with bees, Irrepressible energy hums like the sun Poured into Spring’s burgeoning blossoming. Honeyed sweetness is gathered in quickness, But, Ah! It’s been cold for them now. Many have drowned in a late April hail, And each day they drop out their dead To the doorstep. I am stunnedContinue Reading

On:

As it chewsthroughthe nurseryloaves,hatching broodtunnels throughan immaculate darknessimmured withcareful clippings. Its birth intothe light bristleswith a certaintyunknown to uswho wakeinto an opacityso densely vacuousthat we subsiston sifted memories. Estée Arts Crenshaw is a doctoral candidate in the department of Writing & Rhetoric Studies at the University of Utah. She receivedContinue Reading

On:

dreamt a country of wild beesduring the usual restless sleeponly, they were augmented by the troubleof domestication, that in mind’s countrythe systems are kept in line, in delicate assemblage when I woke, I wished this world to be madeof hexagonal prisms, a honeycomb we could climb throughand lay up againstContinue Reading

On:

I am waiting for a day that is warmand without wind. I need a splitfor my mediums, a spring swarmto find my trap and deign to use it.I’ve painted boxes, placed lavendersprays in line to wick the top feeder,used lemongrass oil as lure. Howeverempty my frames are now, I shallContinue Reading

On:

When bees are born, we’re told we have a singular purpose: to serve the colony. Worker or drone, our job is to make sure the future of the colony is secure. In plain terms, we exist to support the queen. And if she ever stops doing what her singular purposeContinue Reading

On:

A firstborn sorrow buffers its descendantsIn the same way early bees in a hiveSmear propolis into every crackEncasing the queen in darkness Estée Arts Crenshaw is a doctoral candidate in the department of Writing & Rhetoric Studies at the University of Utah. She received her MFA in creative writing fromContinue Reading