BEE QUIET

Dark shoulder length

Toddler boy - hair flies

Pell mell in speed

Crafted windy lies.

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Daddy! Daddy!

What’s up Laddie?

A twinkle in my eye;

In my heart, a tender sigh.

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Standing from a stoop,

I hoped this wasn’t related to… … p.o.o.p.

Itz a bee, Daddy! A bee!

You gotta come fast…You’ gotta see.

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Taking my heart’s tiny hand,

Little fingers curled in,

As we trod across the land.

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Where little Tiger? I dare to ask

As in the son’s warmth

Of radiant love my soul may bask.

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Right dere Daddy…

on a perty red f’ow’er.

Stopping, I leant over

Upon my face a funny silly glower.

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Wait there son,

Let Daddy check.

But it t’ain’t movin’ …

Wud da hek!

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Crouching I spied …

With my own

Pinched tired eyes …

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A bee perched,

Indescribably still

Upon bright red

Like an advertisement bill.

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Perfectly carved

Gorgeously placed,

It just sat there

All natural,

Majestic grace.

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Inching closer …

I peered.

Flower bee?

should have winged…

Frightened away,

Mightily a’feared.

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Not a molecule moved,

Except by a breeze.

Like a shirt on a clothesline

With a waving friendly sleeve.

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My digits shifted

Of own unconscious accord.

Leery of a stinger

Tiny yet dangerous sword.

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Looking closely,

As not a shift was made,

I finally did

As wondering mind bade.

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Carefully, slowly…

Algernon was plucked,

Still, he didn't…

Not for a millisecond buck.

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Standing from my crouch

Above my warm son

I prepared to drop

Algernon, flee, run.

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Peering at the bee

Encapsulated promise of flight

I shifted the flower

Nearer into the light.

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A husk…, perfectly tendered,

Empty of life.

Yet … miraculously,

Beautifully rendered.

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A universe of beginnings

A galaxy of endings;

A natural rendition

Mother Nature’s mendings.

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Nostalgia immersed my tired thoughts

As I took Algernon wonderingly in;

Dangerous beauty

Couched in a child’s sin.

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Such I had seen in the past.

For little Callahan, a first …

for me, now, just perhaps…

Maybe a last.

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In his little hands

Crimson flower was placed.

Algernon quietly accepting

Two year old’s danger he faced.

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Callahan’s eyes were wide:

Brimming; with wonder filled.

I was aware that Cal’s natural soul

Was being fertilized - tilled.

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Will he sing me?

No Cal, Algernon Bee isn’t home.

This is just his shell

Elsewhere he roams.

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Is Alganon in bee hev in?

No, Al outgrew his shell

Left it here and flew away.

Like you for school

One day when you’re seven.

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But datz forever Daddy…

Ruffling his hair, I smiled …

Yep, Callahan me laddie.

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Algernon is somewhere

Still pollinating flowers

To this day.

Just as you’ll grow each year

Until you can make your own way.

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Cool, Cal stated.

Somehow I knew that …

Cal finding …

A preserved flower for Algernon

Had indeed been fated.

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Dedication: For my newest grandson … 3 month old Callahan.