It worries me.
That queen bee lying ill in the street.
Too weak to fly.
Looking like she’ll not survive.
Get back to her hive.
Lay her eggs.
Organize her colony.
It worries me.
Those tanker trucks.
Full of herbicide.
Driving through the neighborhood.
Spraying mulched turf.
To keep down weeds.
Snuff out dandelions, buttercups.
Garlic mustard blooms, figworts.
Wildflowers heralding spring.
Giving color to the land.
Providing pollen, nectar.
In the chain of life.
It worries me.
Landscaping companies believing their work noble.
Spreading symmetry, order.
Risking bees, flowers for flawless lawns.
What do you do?
What price will you pay for perfection?
What’s its true value, worth?
When it poisons plants, insects?
Exterminating Earth?
Lynn Benjamin
May 7, 2024
