Bee in the Poppy

Bee in the Poppy,
originally uploaded by Automania.

Years ago, when I was living in California, I was sitting out on the patio with my 2 dogs in the late afternoon as it headed into sundown. My patio was like a jungle with many, many containers filled with plants of all sorts, from a Fuji apple tree to ornamental Salvias to herbs of all sorts - and a few poppies thrown in there for color.

We were all lulled by the quiet and warmth of the afternoon. Suddenly, the sound of buzzing filled the air. Intense buzzing. I looked over at the dogs who were standing over a poppy plant, watching it quite intently. The poppy was in the process of folding up her leaves as the sun was going down and a bee was inside, gathering the last of the pollen before twilight.

The flower danced and hummed; the bee left just as the flower closed up. A poem came to me suddenly and I wrote down these words:

secret, sacred dancing
inside an orange petaled poppy tent
bee emerges
ecstatic

It's the small things I miss when I think about California...