Who Could Need More Proof Than Honey

Fullness is the word that comes to mind today: the bus trips to OT; the classes that Satch enjoys; the impromptu pizza and play dates; the wonderful surprise visits from friends; the spirit-sister 2290 miles away; the belated birthday brunch from P and the subsequent movie with my boy cub and papa bear; the warmer days that lure us outside; the crunchy patches of snow and the mud for squishing; the ever expanding fairy village that Satch calls, "Pixie Hollow"; the flowers he brings each week from the market; the wintry soups and roasted squash; the homemade gnocchi I vowed 20 yrs ago I would never make again; the house guest rescued from the first frost; the mug that Satch made at our community center and immediately deemed, "glorious"! In light of tragic recent events abroad, I'm clinging to all things sweet...

Joy by Julie Cadwallader Staub

Who could need more proof than honey—

How the bees with such skill and purpose
enter flower after flower
sing their way home
to create and cap the new honey
just to get through the flowerless winter.

And how the bear with intention and cunning
raids the hive
shovels pawful after pawful into his happy mouth
bats away indignant bees
stumbles off in a stupor of satiation and stickiness.

And how we humans can't resist its viscosity
its taste of clover and wind
its metaphorical power:
don't we yearn for a land of milk and honey?
don't we call our loved ones "honey?"

all because bees just do, over and over again, what they were made to do.

Oh, who could need more proof than honey
to know that our world
was meant to be
and
was meant to be
sweet?