WriteOut Buggin’ Out

WriteOut Daily Create

Today’s WriteOut* Daily Create encourages us to look for small things, like bugs. The prompt is:

Take a moment to notice the smaller living things around you. Like, bugs. Then write a poem or prose piece about a bug.

Daily Create WriteOut Buggin’ Out

In our walk today the gnats are impossible to photograph, but we did find plenty of bees in our neighbor’s garden. I think its a honeybee, but there are plenty of native bees in Washington State:

• Okanogan Highlands poster
• Washington Native Bee Society
• WSU Bee-Identifier
• Crown Bees poster

Sunrise Pest includes a nice explanation of Washington bees, including the need for bees for our food. The Arboretum Foundation describes the most common types of bees in our state. Washington State Department of Health explains health issues and bee behavior. We know that bees pollinate plants so they produce seeds and continue to reproduce themselves, which means we and other animals also have food to eat! Bees — all types of bees— are important to living creatures survival.

How important are bees? I liked this Michigan State University article on pollination for its explanation of the importance of bees and how they pollinate. Take a look: Pollination.

Poetry

And so my poem today encourages us to thank a bee as we eat.

A little bee

a little bee
crawling on a flower
packing in pollen
in little pockets
on its legs
while sipping
a snack of nectar
as energy to
fly up, fly over
to another flower,
pollinating
as it flits from one
to another
so the flower
grows its seeds
to grow again,
and we
enjoy our dinner:
one bite
another bite
and one more—
for every three,
thank the little bee.

Sheri Edwards
10.12.23 285.365.23
Poetry/Photography

*JOIN IN!

This post is part of the October WRITEOUT adventure, October 8 through the 22nd, partnership of the National Writing Project and the National Park Service — a choice to enjoy the outdoors with poetry, prose, and parks for Write Out 2023. Organized as a public invitation to get out and create, supported by a series of free online activities, Write Out invites educators, students, and families to explore national parks and other public spaces. The goal is to connect and learn through place-based writing and sharing.  Check out this infographic for the flow of the two weeks.

Learn more and sign up: https://writeout.nwp.org

This is my sixth year with WriteOut with all my WriteOut posts here.

#clmooc #smallpoems #poetry23 #bees #nativebees #honeybee #writeout