Woman

Hive wood vibrates Woman I press my ear against the cedar Every wing is folded in Your headlights stop beyond the furrows You say "We have till morning" Woman You park the truck without its headlights The first hive worries at its seams The sprayer starts when day comes up Take every box you mean to keep I ask who made the booking You take the handle Not my eyes We smoke the entrance Strap the cover Walk the cedar through the rye Woman Keep the smoker low and steady Keep the frames from leaning wrong Whatever waits beyond the hedgerow They are working in the dark Woman Wake the bees gently Keep the queen against your coat Let the hive stay one warm body While we take it from the grove By dawn Every open blossom Will hold the thing you chose tonight Wake the bees gently Get them clear before the light Woman You say the moths took half the apples One more season takes the farm I say "The hives did nothing to you" You say "I know Don't tip your arm" The smoker dies; you cup the ember I fit the screen across the door For one breath The anger between us Has to balance with the box Woman Keep the handles level through the ditch The whole hive pulls against our hands Neither debt nor good intention Makes the poison understand