Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Bump

(Image credit: http://redwasp.net/)
Another dVerse OpenLinkNight, hosted by the illustrious Claudia Schoenfeld. Making connections. Here, I make a connection with a red wasp. We are not so different after all. Post your poem and join in!


Bump

In my pickup waiting,
window open to the day,
a red wasp lands
on the dusty dashboard
to clean her legs, rubbing
them earnestly on her
heart-shaped head.

Bump Bump Bump
She tries to take off,
lifting her cinnamon body
upward only to bounce
off the windshield. Again,  

Bump. She pauses, puzzled,
seeing the same blue sky
above, the familiar yellow
pine dust floating, the ordinary
soft air just overhead.

Bump.

With something akin to rage
her stinger pulses, in and out;
and I, with utter gentleness, lift
her to the open window,
knowing what it is
to go Bump.


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31 comments:

  1. Janine BolléeMay 14, 2013 at 6:20 PM

    You were brave.
    Kind but brave.
    Maybe it was obvious you meant well.
    Glass is such a hazard to birds and insects.
    Bats are getting pretty useless at dealing with it these days.
    Must be the telephone masts interfering with their signals.

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    1. JeffMay 15, 2013 at 7:34 AM

      Thanks Aprille. Every once in a while a finch or titmouse flies into our glass storm door. So far, nothing harmed but avian pride.

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  2. GraceMay 14, 2013 at 6:37 PM

    How well you understand the rage and the bump on that windshield ~

    Good thing you lifted her to the open window ~ Good to see you Nico ~

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    1. JeffMay 15, 2013 at 7:39 AM

      Thanks Grace--I've had my run-ins with these little critters, they are extremely territorial and hot-tempered. But just this once . . .

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  3. Brian MillerMay 14, 2013 at 6:44 PM

    nice connection you make with the bee...and the glass ceilings we all bump into as well...lucky not to get the stinger...we dont always think straight after a few bumps you know...smiles....

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    1. JeffMay 15, 2013 at 7:40 AM

      Thanks Brian--interesting that only female wasps have stingers. Is this a lesson from Nature as well?

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  4. Laurie KolpMay 14, 2013 at 7:25 PM

    This is about more than just a wasp, as was mine about more than springtime love. I'm so glad you caught on, Nico!

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    1. JeffMay 15, 2013 at 7:42 AM

      Thanks Laurie--the best poetry tries to see and express just this "more" you speak of!

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  5. MaryMay 14, 2013 at 8:43 PM

    You are very compassionate, Nico. I really love the way you treated the wasp...says something about you as a person.

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    1. JeffMay 15, 2013 at 7:46 AM

      Thanks Mary--to be honest, I often just smash them into oblivion. I've been stung too many times to feel a consistent pity for them! But on occasion, as long as there is a chance we can coexist without stinging or smashing each other . . .

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  6. RMPMay 14, 2013 at 10:06 PM

    that windshield really can hurt like a ...; it was quite kind of you to brave the stinger in order to release the frustration. it would be nice if there was a hand that could do the same for us. and while I could argue with myself and say there is One, sometimes that physical-tangible touch is ... I'm not sure what word I'm looking for, so I'll just let it trail off and close with...

    I enjoyed this and though I'm not sure I'd like to "connect" with a wasp, I did feel the link here.

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    1. JeffMay 15, 2013 at 7:48 AM

      Thanks RMP. It would be nice to have such a hand. Some advice in dealing with wasps--never trust the business end.

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  7. AnonymousMay 14, 2013 at 10:52 PM

    Great analogy. Superb write. Very well done. I bump quite often. I like the sound effect.

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    1. JeffMay 15, 2013 at 7:49 AM

      Thanks Henry--ha, if you can learn to appreciate the sound of the bumping, you've gone a long way to earning a happy life!

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  8. ClaudiaMay 15, 2013 at 12:44 AM

    this made me smile...yeah...flying against glass and being confused why we see the sky but can't reach it...i can relate to this as well...and glad you helped her out again...loved the cinnamon body..

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    1. JeffMay 15, 2013 at 7:50 AM

      Thanks Claudia. It's hard to say what her little wasp brain was thinking, but it's always interesting to speculate.

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  9. J Cosmo NewberyMay 15, 2013 at 7:26 AM

    Waspish empathy! I wonder what story the wasp told when it returned home. You may be a God in wasp-land!

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    1. JeffMay 15, 2013 at 7:55 AM

      Thanks Cosmo, great to see you. I could get used to the idea of being god in wasp-land.

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  10. UnknownMay 15, 2013 at 9:54 AM

    UTTERLY AMAZING! You take a little insect tale and teach the world a life lesson. You are a gift to all of us today.

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    1. JeffMay 15, 2013 at 3:39 PM

      Thanks Kim. Some of my favorite authors have written about little bugs having big lessons--Aesop, Thoreau, Solomon ("Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise").

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  11. Arron ShillingMay 15, 2013 at 11:09 AM

    heart-shaped head.

    the pleasure I get from such a line
    is measurable by the weird faces
    that I pull!

    I was reminded of one of my favourite Blake poems 'the fly'
    because of the sense of the moment, man and insect and where my mind clears in the spaces of that dialogue.

    cheers nico.

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    1. JeffMay 15, 2013 at 3:57 PM

      Thanks Arron--I should have known you would have a favorite Blake poem, one of my favorites as well.

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  12. AnonymousMay 15, 2013 at 2:10 PM

    Isn't it wonderful how the simplest of observations can inspire such as this one? And how well you express it!

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    1. JeffMay 15, 2013 at 4:24 PM

      Thanks Victoria--it is wonderful indeed!

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  13. mrs mediocrityMay 15, 2013 at 9:11 PM

    You are a wasp whisperer... Smiles. Love the allegory in this... Spending a lot of time bumping against the glass myself these days.

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    1. JeffMay 15, 2013 at 9:39 PM

      Thanks Jo--maybe I can get my own cable show. Hope a kind hand comes along every so often to show you the open window.

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  14. flaubertMay 16, 2013 at 1:30 AM

    A gentle and kind write, Nico.

    Pamela

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  15. rallentandaMay 16, 2013 at 2:57 AM

    Solomon's ants.. maybe...but a wasp,SMASH!They are very attracted to perfume...just thought I'd let you know..perhaps you should go easy on the Gucci after shave:)

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    1. JeffMay 16, 2013 at 7:49 AM

      Thanks R.--most of the time we just leave each other alone, but we have had some violent moments. I have a funny story to tell about one of those episodes. After shave? What's a shave? I'm working on my Lee Sklar beard. (Look him up--all-time best musician beard, puts ZZ Top to shame.)

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  16. rallentandaMay 16, 2013 at 7:18 PM

    Yikes! He is a very good musician...beautiful technique..hand position like classically trained guitarist..thanks for the intro...feel very embarrassed I have never heard of him...what else do you know that I don't know ? :)

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    1. JeffMay 16, 2013 at 9:53 PM

      Don't feel bad. No one hears of the bassist unless he or she is screwing up. When I first started playing bass he was one of my first big influences, partly because he played on pretty much everything. Incredible timing, his lines flow, never intruding. Maybe I learned something about poetry from him as well! And good God what a beard!

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