Bees come from Hampstead, from Medina, from Milan and Singapore. From everywhere and more. It’s bee time, bees en masse buzzing like celebrities at Cannes. Sound means vibration, vibration equals quiver. Quiver turns quake. Bridges bounce. Streets split open. Buildings are falling down. People stand outside their vanished houses. Some in fancy dress, many naked. Naked people in their gardens outside obliterated homes. Bees everywhere. In the quake toppled city, a long, long aftermath. Hum and buzz-buzz in the blooming gardens. Bee-loud, bee-thick, bee-glad.

Richard Baldasty lives in Spokane. Recent work online in Spelk and the Journal of Compressed Creative Arts. On Twitter @2kurtryder.

Photo by Jari Hytönen

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