last on (our) dying lips

when
we have killed all the bees
and there are no circles
left in which
to live

we’ll
have fake food
a while
and
then

the last
words might be I love you
said to someone
though there’s
only a dry
Earth
all around

and
the only one to hear be weeping there
and so not unhear
and would not anyway
have
believed

c l couch


for World Bee Day
(21 May)

photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash 
“Bee in a Purple Field”