Even under the rain that throws a fine white blanket over the mountain and the lake
And smothers the green islands and soaks the grass and makes a solid slow dripping
Trickle in the sycamore; even under the rain that’s general all over the valley and beyond;
Even under the steady rain measuring my life here on my perch beside the big window;
Even under the remorseless singleminded grinding and colonising hegemony of rain

The bees are out there among the furled or open flapping skirts of the fuchsia bells,
Drifting till they find a fresh one, then settling and entering, gathering what they need
In a slow deliberate shuddering of their whole body shaking suddenly the honey-core
And then extracting themselves in silence — a little heavier, their thighs gilded with pollen —

To go on cruising under the dust-fine deliquescence of damp that is the falling rain.

 

 

 

EAMON GRENNAN is from Dublin and teaches in Poughkeepsie, New York, where he is the Dexter M. Ferry Jr. Professor of English at Vassar College. His latest collection is Still Life with Waterfall, published by Gallery Press, and in the US by Graywolf.

©Copyright of this poem remains with the poet: please do not download or republish without permission.

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